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Blade Options for a Circle Mill
Question
Given the fact that bits and shanks seem scarce for a blade this thick, I am contemplating just purchasing an entirely new insert tooth blade. Is this a good plan, or should I stick with my thicker blade, despite the larger kerf and the limited selection of teeth? Also, if I were to buy a new one, what gauge should I go with? 7/8? 8/9? What teeth would folks recommend? B? F? 2-1/2? I own 124 acres of timber land in the mountains of eastern Washington, with a mix of ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, larch, hemlock, and cedar. (My land has several distinct micro-climates, in case you are wondering how I got such a wide mix.) This is what I would be sawing. Most logs are between 10" and 24" in diameter. I do not have a debarker, though I do use a pressure washer before running them through the mill. Any advice? Forum Responses
From contributor J: You will get a lot of opinions and guidelines, but with the motor you have, you probably want to go with an "F" style. I run 2-1/2 and love it... No problem with hard or soft woods, and the gullets clear fine with heavy feed rates, but it does take the HP to run. I pull a 54 inch blade with 125 HP. From the original questioner: Thanks for the feedback thus far. I took a look through the book listed above. Based on the materials, I'm leaning toward a 7/8 blade with F style shanks, using 5/16 bits. Does anyone with experience with such a setup care to comment? Also, any thoughts on type of bits? Blue steel? HSS? Carbide? I'm leaning toward carbide, but I'm curious about people's experience. From contributor J: I run carbide bits from Arsaw... and I have a grinder to sharpen them on the mill. I also keep a set of steel bits for questionable logs, since I don't like hitting metal with the carbide teeth… It will get expensive. From Professor Gene Wengert, forum technical advisor: I like HSS and an F (Standall) style. Unless you have a debarker or other means to thoroughly clean the log of debris, HSS is better than carbide in my opinion. Would you like to add information to this article? Interested in writing or submitting an article? Have a question about this article? Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below? 
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