News
Variable Pitch and Depth Bandsaws
Variable Pitch and Depth Bandsaws
By: John Eisenhut
A bit of background on myself, I’ve been in the Saw doctoring industry for quite a few decades now and in those years I’ve experimented a little outside the box with many things over those years.
Several in particular:
- Hit and miss tipping
- Variable kerf, something I have a huge passion for.
- Variable pitch band saws off older cam Technology grinders.
Now most of us know and I would think agree that reducing vibration in a saw is beneficial.
A Variable Pitch or Variable Pitch and Depth saw will run quieter than a standard pitch profile. There is no doubt about this; it’s an actual fact and has been documented well over the years.
So a few points to consider
Firstly: from a health and safety point of view, quieter saws in the saw mill are an immediate benefit in itself, and for most in the industry reason enough to make the change to a Variable Pitch saw.
It is common to receive feed back from the operators that they can’t hear the saw and in the next breath say I don’t like it, I can’t here it how can I cut fast and smooth if I can’t hear it?
What he is actually saying is the saw has changed its cutting pitch.
This is nothing that a re-adjustment period and a bit of reassurance and coaching over a few days won’t fix and it is definitely not something that should dictate not changing to the Variable Pitch concept.
This is a free advantage, no outlay, no more expensive than a standard saw.
Old technology grinders or standard cam grinders can grind a three pitch scenario with not too much effort, so the gain is there for us all.
Another benefit from a VP saw is the ability of the saw to decrease or eliminate completely any wash board that may be occurring… This. again is achieved without any other investment or modification being required. It’s a free fix.
Some of the myths around using Variable Pitch saws are that they cannot be serviced on a cam driven grinder, this is absolutely not the case.
Yes care needs to be taken to not over grind the face of the tooth “and” the tooth shape may not be as “pretty” as a CNC machine, however the additional benefits are there to grab. Your choice
The assumption that a VP saw is harder to deal with is also misguided information, setting a Variable Pitch saw going on a cam grinder or a CNC grinder is a simple task.
Continued Benefits
Now the money maker advantages
Increased feed rates
A decrease in within board deviation or a combination of both and again these benefits are being harnessed without any other investment or upgrade, it’s effectively a free performance increase for your sawmill.
You have to buy saws for your saw mill; there is no difference in price between buying a standard profile saw or a Variable Pitch profile saw,
We at Thode can cut your saw to any profile you require
Water cut by Thode Knife and Saw / cold cut flat and true, with no punch deformation
Even if you only have a cam driven grinders we can cut a profile to suit what they produce,
Our CNC water cutter allows us to cold cut your profile to very close tolerances,
The cut is clean, accurate and without heat absolutely no deformation in the plate
This can save you hours of grinding time, and have your new saw up and running in no time at all.
Massive leap in technology for Bandsaw Shop" self programming & self setting bandsaw profile grinder (Iseli BNP200)
Iseli Latest Technology
ISELI TOOTH TRACING SYSTEM (TTS)
Programming tooth shapes is still a major challenge for many customers. The ISELI Tooth Tracing System (TTS) can help! The tooth shape of the saw you desire to be emulated can be probed automatically by an acoustic sensor and saved as the tooth shape of your choice. The data obtained is then used for sharpening in the recipe. Parameters such as tooth profile, hook and back angles, tooth height, variable pitch and depths etc, are automatically determined and saved by the program.
This process enables the exact reproduction of existing tooth shapes directly on the machine without a great effort. These can be used going forward on all saws you have in service. So an exact repeat of tooth profiles on every saws
Inaccuracies are also copied, which means that the removal and thus the costs can be reduced to a minimum, even if the profile is not precisely defined. In addition, inaccuracies on the grinding wheel are compensated for when probing and enables absolutely precise grinding of the profile, even with a worn grinding wheel.
Tooth shapes generated on a system using TTS can be read in other ISELI machines of the BNP series.
AUTOMATIC INSERTION AND EXTRACTION
Automatic insertion of the blade is now possible. The machine inserts the blade until a height pre-set in the recipe has been reached; the machine then closes the saw clamp. The first saw tooth is determined and the tooth pitch is calculated. In the case of variable tooth shapes, the group of teeth is automatically detected. This significantly reduces operating errors and the effort involved in searching for variable divisions.
The saw blade can be inserted / lifted to the stop point automatically on demand in automatic mode. The search for teeth and the determination of the zero point takes place automatically and the grinding process is started. In summary, the operator can insert the blade and start the machine by pushing the start button. The rest of the work is done automatically by the machine. The option is completed with a revised height adjustment, which works faster and more precisely thanks to a variable-speed drive.
Pan Pac Napier Invests in High Tech Iseli Saw-Shop Machinery
The Iseli BNP200 Bandsaw Profile Grinder
The BNP 200 automatic profile grinders are equipped with a 3 axes CNC system which gives automatic tooth finding functionality and different options for optimised accurate profile grinding. This also opens the door to many other saw machining options for the future.
A user friendly touch screen makes the machine very easy to use.
Pan Pac have opted to run a full oil immersed CBN wheel system. The Iseli machines were found to have the best oil containment details of all machines considered including close fitting wipers, oil mist extraction system and a fully automatic fire suppression system.
The machines run an electronically controlled central height adjustment system for saw blades, a pneumatic blade clamping system. The machine also has a Thode designed swarf magnet and back feed engagement device, both of which build upon the base machine from Iseli.
The Iseli BNF100 Bandsaw Side-Grinder
The BNF side grinder from Iseli is a 4 axes CNC machine; it runs a user friendly touch screen that makes the machine very easy to use.
The machine runs a full oil immersed CBN wheel system for the very best side grinding results with accuracies second to none.
The oil also assists in lubricating all moving parts keeping maintenance to a minimum.
The machine also comes with an oil mist filtration system and a fully automatic fire suppression system to mitigate against the risks of using an oil lubricant.
Iseli KHB110 Niagara Sawmill
Thode Knife & Saw Newsletter
We are now seeing the market return to normality post Covid lockdown with strong orders for knife steel and bandsaws, we have good stocks and capacity to process your orders quickly.
Onefortyone Mt Gambier Aaustralia Iseli RZ1
Onefortyone's Matt Bowering on the left and Mark Barrington on the right after successful commissioning of their new Iseli RZ1 supplied by Thode Knife & Saw
A World Leader in Saw Shop Machinery
Oil CBN versus Water Miscible
Iseli stand Ligna 2019
Thode at the Kanefusa Seminar during Ligna 2019
Kevin Parker and Darren Clissold (2nd and 4th from right) representing Thode at the Kanefusa Seminar during Ligna 2019.
New Iseli install in Australia
New Iseli RZ1 Install Canada
Our latest happy customer Produits Forestiers D&G Canada, have taken a leap for the future and invested in the latest Iseli RZ1.
Red Stag Saw Shop
With two sets of quad saws requiring saw changes every six hours on average, a brand new saw shop has been built, much thought went into the planning and equipping this important element of the operation.
The saw shop is bright and airy and features the latest automatic saw sharpening equipment made by Swiss manufacturer, Iseli, considered to be the best in the world. Under saw shop manager Regan Eisenhut, the facility is kept meticulous.
Thode Knife & Saw Canada
LATEST Iseli BNP200
Another site that has taken the leap into the latest technology that Iseli has to offer.
Trevor Payne (Head Sawdoctor) Wespine next to his new Iseli BNP200 supplied by Thode. Trevor says the site’s band saw cracks are now a thing in the past after the installation of his new BNP200.
Please contact us if you would like a quote on any of the machines Iseli offer, we are more than happy to help you out with all your saw shop needs, our contact email is sales@thode.co.nz
Latest Iseli Machinery
We have the Iseli BNP110 bandsaw grinder & Iseli KHP110 circular saw grinder on display and ready to be shipped out to you ex Rotorua branch, please contact us sales@thode.co.nz for pricing or for any other machinery requirements.
Congratulations to Pakii
Thode Knife & Saw would like to congratulate Pakii from our Rotorua Factory on achieving the New Zealand certificate in solid wood manufacturing Saw Doctoring Level 3, We are pleased with your achevments and dedication.
The Iseli Machinery agency for Canada has been awarded to Thode Knife & Saw
Thode have been providing filing-room solutions with Iseli Machinery throughout New Zealand and Australia for many years, while building up a wealth of knowledge on the benefits that Iseli Machinery has in the modern filing room.
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SAW MANUFACTURER AND SUPPLIER, THODE KNIFE & SAW, Rotorua, where it is better placed to service and support customers in the sawmilling and wood processing sector.
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The Red Stag Timber Company, which annually processes more than one million tonnes of logs at its Waipa mill, is using its waste wood as renewable fuel rather than trucking it to landfill and paying for its disposal – avoiding an annual power bill of up to $1 million in the process.
EP Cutter Announcement
Thode Knife and Saw have been appointed the sole distributors of Fingerjoint Tooling & EP Cutters previously manufactured by Eric Paton.