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Hey all,

I have been digging out after moving 3 times in 2 years.... I found a small stack of wood that I resawed before I knew what I was doing.... Going through it - I realize I made a big mess of quite a bit it... and I wanted to share.....

So many times - we see this beautiful wood in the store or online and get this idea that we can buy some good wood and just resaw it ourselves to save a pile vs boughten tonewood.... Have bandsaw - will cut out the middle man.. Save a bunch of money and have an unlimited supply of wood... Right?

Here's my experience with it.....

Price...
First off - people like me buy the wood retail, not wholesale.... This means there's no breaks in the price of the wood..... This means we also have to take it or leave it when we see it - we can't specify what we want....

Next... With the wood loss between resawing and thickness sanding out the saw marks - you at least double the "Cost" of the wood because of the amount you loose to kerf and sanding out the saw marks....

Then - add another 50% to the price of the wood because of losses due to useful sizes of wood vs the sizes of guitar sets... Example - a 4' board that you resaw into sides... You loose at least 1-foot off the end - more likely 16" or so... What are you going to do with that left over piece? Same for the 3' long x 9" board you are going to resaw into backs... You are going to loose a foot off the one end... What are you going to do with that?

Then - what are you going to do with the orphan slices? They don't really match anything....

Then - what happens if that spectacular, one of a kind wood turns out to be nearly impossible to bend into sides? What then?

So in my case - $13/board foot Mahogany turns into sets worth well over $50 each simply because of the waste because over 50% turns into sawdust.... and that didn't count my mistakes.... If I counted my mistakes into the cost of the sets - I would be at $60 or $70/set of Mahogany... At that point - you can buy them from retailers who have a much better setup than me and can buy wholesale... Their initial wood cost is lower and their losses are a lot lower.... They also may have developed a reliable outlet for all the offcuts.... (Knife scales, small turning blocks, etc.)

Then, there's the learning curve.... I gotta say... In my (in)experience, the learning curve involved with resawing your own wood is a great way to turn beautiful, fancy dimensional lumber into thin, crooked, useless firewood.... I have a small stack of chocolate brown, perfectly quartersawn African Mahogany "Backs" that are more or less useless for anything thicker than a headstock veneer because of the mistakes I made resawing them.... For example - flipping them end to end resulted in backs that are way too thin to joint along either edge.... .... Maybe I can use them for ukulele sets or saw it all up into fretboard binding material...

Now.. don't take this to mean that I have given up on it... I haven't. My last 3 guitars have all been made out of wood I resawed myself .... I just wanted to share that what may seem like such an obvious slam dunk isn't always such in real life... It really makes me appreciate what guys like the Zootman and Aaron Hix do (and Shane used to do) and the prices they are able to do it for...

Thanks

Ah yes, but if you can source good wood and get your system dialled, the savings over the long run will add up.

You def have to choose the right pieces. Which takes time obviously, but hopefully ending up with better stock. Yes finding other uses for smaller pieces is a good idea. If its rosewood or appropriate, you got bridge, fingerboard, headplate, binding etc.

And you def have to tune yer saw. I was using a cheap 14" with homemade fence and a Woodslicer and getting amazing cuts on everything except guitar backs. Although cutting exotics (only fretboards and smaller etc) dulled it very fast.

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Pat

You really want to poke around the lumber pile to fine the sizes that will yield the least waste. In your case, using Hog there should be no waste. Orphaned sides can be used in neck laminations. The foot off the end can go to neck blocks. Linings, side braces etc. I have an adequate resaw set up but I'm pretty sure it never really saved me any money and that's ok. It's fun to slice up nice wood.

If you want to built guitars, buy tonewood ready resawn and sized for guitars. If you want to resaw, you have to learn about the wood, your tools etc. Then you can do crazy nice stuff with resawing, and you will have lees times for building guitars.

I like both....

I have built just under twenty guitars over the last ten years. Never have I bought tone wood "sets". Even relatively inexpensive sets are hundreds of dollars a board foot.
That being said, I still own most of the guitars I've made. Several others have gone to friends and family. I sold very few. If I was regularly selling them for several thousand dollars a piece, buying sets from exquisite carefully chosen lumber would be a no brainier.


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Which way are you leaning here?

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Pat

Best of both worlds, and what I try to do, could be finding/scavenging appropriate pieces (or just "good enough" - usually it's hard for me to find both quartered and wide enough pieces) and then pay a seasoned pro to do the resawing for you.

I had better luck resawing African Blackwood and Amazon rosewood with a pro than cypress with an hobbyist. Still turns out much cheaper than buying a la carte - But you don't get as much bling with this route Imo.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I'm picking my spots. Cutting my own binding, bridges, headstock veneers etc. Takes a much simpler skill set

Steve

Milling your own hardwood is well worth the effort.
You can get perfect cuts, parallel to the rays.
See some cool figure?
No sweat, saw the log to get the best looking chunk.
Like to use quater sawn lumber? Easy as pie.
Of course, you do need a source for raw wood.
I am blessed with Mesquite, Pecan, Ash, Oak, Chinaberry, and many more for no cost.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Sourcing is the hardest part...

Of the 60 plus guitars I've built only a hand full have been from purchased sets. I have purchased almost all the tops for these guitars though. I just happend to score a lot of wood for free much of which is very good quality. I used to live very close to a hard wood supplier that I had a good relationship with and who would purposely set aside nice wood for me and in some cases, if the wood was too large for my saw, I'd have them cut it but even when I paid for them to cut it was still cheaper then getting from a luthier supply shop.

So it all depends. It's always real nice to get wood from a trusted luthier supply as they know how to source wood for our craft and do a fine job of it and will even take it back if you are not happy though that's for sure.

I've certainly blown a few sets of wood on the bandsaw too so I know how that goes but with proper technique and nice sharp blades it's not that bad even with a cheap saw like I have.

I think that's where I am at as well.... The "What's REALLY your hobby" bit... Is your hobby Resawing or guitar building...

I went through that same thing with the "Rehabbing Old Rust" phase... Sure - I *Can* work over an old plane... Spend hours on it to get it working about as well as a new LN/Veritas plane.... and I did - but I basically ended up starting guitar building almost 2 years later because I did this..... Now - sure.. I have a bunch of nice, old planes including some Pre-wwII stanleys...

I have some truly spectacular wood in my pile... I think paying a seasoned pro to cut up my most valuable wood is probably worthwhile - as getting 1 or 2 more sets out of the stock would cover the cost of his work.... Then I can work my way through the learning curve on the less expensive and less precious wood.... For example - Quartersawn Oak is relatively easy to find and it makes a great guitar... I can resaw that without too much worry on my conscience because if I loose a piece - it's not the end of the world... Well quartersawn Honduras Rosewood wide enough for backs on the other hand is HARD to find and when you do - it's quite expensive.....

Thanks

What I am saying is that your goals matter more than an absolute rule like "if you want to build guitars, don't waste your time resawing."
I consider it akin to outsourcing your finish or having your neck pre-carved by CNC. As a business decision, outsourcing the resawing of wood might be worth the big premium.
I don't have a business justification to outsource any major part of building, so I learn the craft and do it myself.


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If I happen to have a billet of wood I want to use then I resaw it - did my first acoustic that way and resawed on a 14" grizzly bandsaw with riser. Learned a few things but not that big of a deal. What is a big deal is to get the smooth finish cuts with minimum waste from high-dollar wood - not pretending I'm there by any means. But if you have a chunk of Walnut or Hog or ?? and want to build from it then just do it. You'll figure it out (hopefully).

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Truckerjohn, I think I could open a lumber yard and call it Thick and Thin lumber. I'm with you on this resawing business. I need a lot more practice


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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

I discovered lutherie when I began playing guitar with a friend whom father collected ancient instruments, then I discovered guitar building, then discovered wood, then bought some wood to resaw, then discovered I like resawing... From music=>guitar=>lutherie=>wood=>resawing... guess in few years I would spend my time by planting trees

I also like both, resawing and building. But there is another aspect, resawing his own wood make it A LOT cheaper, even if I count my time... Well, it is cheaper if you look for and resaw rare and/or expansive woods, of course for cheap and common wood (sapeli for exemple) you better buy some sets already sawn.

By the way, me resawing some kamagong (bought at 3€/Kg from an old stock...) :
https://www.facebook.com/FranckCherubin ... 248341442/

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Yep...

I sanded off some beautiful Coffee+Cream brown Sapele last night.... and due to my ineptness at resawing in 2009 - I will have either a Jumbo size back set or 4 sides that come off the drum sander at 0.075" thick..... No doubt - they will finish out at around 0.060" after clean up sanding... ..... I am not tooled up for double-sides, so I think I am going to end up with a LOT of Sapele binding material....

My learning experience in this case is that it is far preferable to end up a little too thick than too thin.... Until my process is sorted out well - don't try to get that 1 extra slice out of the billet - allow the slices to come off the saw a little thicker and then you won't end up scrapping a bunch of too-thin material... or ending up with a forklift pallet full of binding and headstock veneer material and no useful backs/sides..... That way - if you get a little barrel or a little run out, you still have usable stock...

As I sand down the rough saw marks on some top sets - I realize that I am by no means alone in this... I have several rough sawn sets where the individual slices started at 0.25" thick and finished at 0.100" once I got all the saw marks out.... I am by no means afraid of jointing or working thin wood... and I like to run my tops on the thin side... but GROAN... There's just not that much margin for my own mistakes jointing, inlaying, sanding, smoothing, etc.... I would like to stack the deck in my own favor with a little more margin for error in my own process....

Thanks
John

For sure... and I lost some wood too by attempting to get this extra slice...
End up a little too thick, and if you get an orphan half back, well it will for sure be usefull for something one day, more than a bunch of too thin backs or sides.

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Matching faceplates....

@ caribou:

I am confused, this piece if wood looks quite nice, to what are you resawing it? looks like you are taking of a slice about 1cm thick without any fence or guide, fed freehanded into a resaw king? Also stopping severaly times leaving bad marks on the wood? Whats going on there?

Cheers, Alex

Yes I stopped few times, one when I was looking backward for somebody entering in the room, one when I remembered that I forgot the piece of spruce I use to push the wood at the end and one when I put this piece of spruce in place to use it (and probably one when I scratch my nose). But the marks are only on surface, easy to erase with a scraper.
On this video I was resawing a top for solid body, so in about 1cm thick. I use the guide only when the blade is new and/or freshly (re)sharped, from use to use it become harder to keep a perfectly straight cut parallel to the guide, so a freehanded fed become better (if, and only if, I am well focused on what I'm doing...). Here the piece of wood is larger enough to keep it vertically, when it become too thin to stay safely of course I use a guide, but a free one, a kind of square.
As you could see briefly at the end there is a white paper scotch where I draw a thin line with pencil, and I follow this line. After years of resawing I found this way was precise and effective with this bandsaw and this size of blades (but I guess another way would be better for somebody else and other bandsaw and blade size).

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I am going to dig this thread back up to post a pic.... Before and after to demonstrate resaw yields.

Now... I have had a little more practice, so I am not destroying as much "usable" wood.... Also - cedar cuts really easily compared to harder woods used on backs and sides.

Before - 64" split cedar post. Nominally about 5" square for the sake of calculation. 11.1 board feet.
After - 2 stacks 3.6x5x20" long. 5 board feet - or 45% of what I started with.
By the time I joint it all up- 2 tops, maybe 3 if I work at it... Or about half of what's here now... For a whopping 25% yield.

If I am resawing lumberyard cedar I don't start with fence posts. 5/4 X 8" will give a much better yield, especially if you buy it as long boards and cut it to the lengths you need. If the wood is free, you can't always choose it's form, and some addition loss might be expected. Deciding how to cut a board sometimes takes longer than cutting it.

I'm on a binge to get all my lumber re-sawn, sanded, graded and shelved Much smaller foot print and I need the space.
This weekends yield, Twenty three sets of Macacauba, eight sets of Black Locust, plus a pile of bridge plate material, Eight sets Khaya and twelve sets of Honduran Mahogany. Weekend before was about the same. I have quite a bit more Black Locust, and White Oak to process but a couple more good days in the shop, and I'll have reclaimed all my benches, floorspace and I'm back to building. Saved a lot of money and its nice to use wood you processed.