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Blade Tracking Issues with Hard Hickory
Question
Forum Responses
The solution is a blade with a larger gullet. Some folks also like a special gullet design that keeps the sawdust moving within the gullet. Note that old gullets can have worn edges, which helps spilling, so keep the edges sharp. As with all saws, sharp teeth are best. I had one mill that ground off every other tooth. This meant that the remaining teeth took a bigger bite, the dust was larger and spillage was less, yet the overall power was the same. Of course, the gullet must be large enough to handle the larger bite. I have not seen this approach recently, but for cuts that are not too deep, I would encourage someone to try it and report back.
From contributor B: We’ve sawn quite a bit of hickory over the years and it’s always a gamble. Some saw just as nice as any oak or other hardwoods, while others will give a sawyer fits. I find pignut hickory logs are generally better to saw than shagbark. One thing to add is to watch for sap buildup on the blade and the side of the teeth. Hickory is bad about sap buildup, as is ash. Use lots of water and your best soap mixture. We’ve been real happy using Murphy’s oil in our water tank. But maybe Pinesol or windshield wiper fluid mixed in would work better in this case. Whatever it takes to keep the sap off the blade. 7 deg DoubleHard would be my blade of choice. .055s would probably work better than .045, if you have them and can run them.
From contributor A: Maybe I am just living right, but I cut it all the time with 10 degree blades. Even old dry logs will cut with the 10 degrees. The new 7s have a bigger gullet. There are blades that have 1 1/4 tooth spacing instead of 7/8 and have a larger gullet. They say the 4 degrees are for really hard woods, but I cut hedge with 10 degrees. From contributor B: I have a few more ideas. The 15hp electric has not been an option for many years, so your mill must have some age on it. So you may want to check your blade guides and make sure they’re in good condition and adjusted properly. Also, inspect your main drive belt and make sure it’s in good condition and up to proper tension. It’s easy to let a main drive belt get worn and a little too loose. It’ll saw easy stuff just fine, but when it comes to hard cutting, it’ll slip. Even a little slipping will reduce the blade speed and dramatically reduce the cutting power, thus producing wavy cuts. Contributor A, is that with Wanda or the LT70? We’ve used 10 deg blades for years but have now standardized on the 7 degree – finding they cut most everything better than 10 degree. But we saw almost all hardwoods and a few ERC.
From contributor A: I use them on both mills but the LT70 has 0.055 blades while Wanda uses 0.045 blades, but sometimes 0.055 for metal filled logs. Sometimes too much lube is worse than not enough. On dry logs you just gum everything up with too much lube. 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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