Official Luthiers Forum!

Resawing what an art! I have tried and failed. I'm too new to the band saw. So what are your experiences with resawing billets to make tops or backs? I know blades are the key and timberwolf and wood slicer are about the best or so they say. Likes, dislikes, lets hear em'.

I'm learning so be patient...

Thanks
Jerry

Jerry-
Lots of info here already- do a search, sit back with a coffee, and enjoy!

to resaw well you need the proper set up. If you have a minimum of 8 inches of cut height on a band saw you may be able to resaw. You also have to have the power. Your blade choice is more important than the wood. The wrong blade will not cut true and you will ruin the wood.
I use a 1 inch wide 1 2/3 tooth per in blade. A lennox with carbide teeth. If you have the requirements in tools go for it. If you don't and it is a valuable piece of wood , hire it done.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I know this is really about band saws, but I so often see threads from amateurs who believe they have no way to resaw. I did first slot about an inch deep along each side on a small table saw to act as a guide.

I don't know where you can buy a real rip saw anymore... maybe a flea market. This was my wife's Grandfather's, and I give him athought each time I use it. I also did a set of Morado this way! Its actually not as bad as it looks.
Gerard

now thats inspiring!

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sweat the small stuff.

No that's back to basics! Look's like a workout too!

As has been said.... now that's inspiring!

Yup, a Lennox carbide. I have a small Powermatic that barely saws 8" and I use a 1/2" 3T blade. Make sure you joint an edge, and hang on so the blade doesn't try to pull the wood and stop the saw. I found the new Lennox to be a little frightening in that respect at first, but I imagine it was because it was so dang sharp and after sawing up a little white oak, it now works perfectly. I tried one of those woodsplitter or woodmiser or woodpecker blades and it wore out almost immediately. Don't saw too many bd ft at a time as it is possible to "melt" the tires. Stop when you smell rubber!

I have thought about trying to resaw some wood but thought that with my 1/2 blade it would want to walk to much so I haven't tried it. I am now going to give it a shot. I guess I will tighten the blade some more so I get a straighter cut.
Chuck

Chuck, why not buy a 1" blade instead of a 1/2 " . you have to be really carefull if using a 1/2" blade. I would buy a wider blade !! they dont cost that much. if your not resawing ALOT then you wont need to get an real expensive blade. the expensive blades are keeping the sharpness longer thats about all. ( correct me if I am wrong) !!.
also when cutting, have a slight pressure and let it cut itself more or less. when you force it through, thats when it dont cut straight.

Lars.

Shopnotes has a pretty good little (downloadable) article on the basics, possible problems, their cause & how to correct.
http://www.shopnotes.com/files/issues/s ... -20-21.pdf

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Dave
Milton, ON

Once I learned how to set the fence up properly it was easy. I resaw a lot of floorboards for guitars. 4-5 inches tall for four piece backs. Most if not all probably band saws don't cut straight relative to their fence so you have to make your own, or align it properly. To do that get a perfectly square board and draw a line on it perpendicular to an edge a few inches or so in. Take it to the band saw and saw a good 8 inches of the line as perfectly straight as you can and while holding your position stop the saw and run a pencil line along the squared edge of the board on your table. That is the line that your saw cuts 'straight' on so adjust your fence to that.

I've never used a 1" blade as they won't fit on my saw, but I have used 3/4" and 1/2" blades and I would actually recommend going with the smaller blade rather than the larger ones on home shop sized saws. I'm sure the 1" blades are great on a 3 to 5hp saw but on the 1.5 horse jobbies we have the wider blades seem to drag more than the thinner ones.

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I'm lost. But I'm interested. Can you describe that again in other words? I read what you wrote a couple of times but I did not understand it. Did you mean "saw a good 8 inches of the line" as you wrote or did you really mean "saw a good 8 inches OFF the line" instead of on it. I assume you mean draw a vertical line perpendicular to the edge laying on the table top. If so, I still did not understand the last 2 sentences.

Thanks for your input, even if I didn't understand it.

Ed

Draw a line on the edge of a 5" board. Saw 8" into the board on the line.

The Carbide tip blades sound promising. I'm using a Jet 16" band saw with a 10" max resaw capacity. I talked to a friend at work an as far as the woodslicer goes.... it's been said here. Dulls quick.

Todd shows the framing saw... anyone used one? I personally have only seen one when I was a kid. Interesting!

Thanks all!

Saw 8" into the board on the line.

If you're just starting out, an easy way to resaw is to make the first cuts on a tablesaw (cut both sides at least 1" deep) then take it to the bandsaw and remove the waste. Doesn't take a special resaw blade and gets the job done easy. A Freud Diablo 7 1/4" blade in the table saw cuts a reasonably narrow kerf so you don't waste too much. I do this all the time with a 1/4" blade in the bandsaw when I just want to make some headplates or something and don't feel like re-setting up the bandsaw.

You won't get as good a yield this way but if you're just starting out and you're using wood where you're worried about the yield then you need to find someone that knows what they're doing to resaw it for you.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I tried this recently too on a wide back slab for bookmatching (heard Mario advocating it) & was really pleased with how effortless it was. Went slick!

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Dave
Milton, ON

Ed, here is a video on blade drift.
should clear it up.
[youtube]www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OY3oKtssZk&feature=PlayList&p=9D882BEA27D9D3CC&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=14/youtube]

guess I don't know how to post video....

Ok I'll try to better explain.

Get a 12x24 in piece of plywood or other stock that is perfectly square with at least one true edge.

Measure in 6 inches from the left side and draw a line perpendicular to the true edge.

Now you have a true rectangular board with a line down the middle

Take that board to the band saw with the blade that you are going to resaw with

begin to saw right down the 6inch line as perfectly straight as you can.

saw in for 8-10-12 inches or so and then hold the board in place and stop the saw.

Grab your pencil and make a mark on your saws table right along the true edge of the 8x24 inch board.

You will find that when cutting a straight line on a band saw that often times you have to tilt the work as it advances. This is the error that you are trying to correct with this method of adjustment. BTW once you set this resaw as many boards as you can stand because you will have to do this every time you resaw.

Thanks, much. That was a helpful video. Now I understand. (I cut and pasted your link and it worked fine.) Thanks again for taking the time to post it!

Ed

The one inch blade will not fit on my 14 inch bandsaw. However, the 1/2 will and I have used it on my 1 1/2 HP motor saw. I will try the 1/2 inch blade. I also need to set the fence so I get a straight cut.
Chuck

A simple home made fence will do just fine. Just take your time and make sure everything is square. (I do not use the blade in the pics for re-saw, I just threw the fence on the saw for the picture. I just use clamps to hold the fence on the table.

I also try and true out my cut by adjusting the band on the tires as Todd does, but I will check it using the scribed line method. No need to ruin a 12x24" piece of plywood though - I just use whichever scrap I have laying around and measure in a 1/4"-ish so as not to waste too much.

Using this setup I can get 4 slices from a piece about 1" thick without much difficulty at all. I could probably get 5 slices but 6 might be tricky so I don't bother trying.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Much depends on the quality of Bandsaw. I have the cheapest Chinese (6" depth of cut) Bandsaw and it struggled to cut 2" stock. Once set up well and using the correct blade I can now cut to full depth in the softer woods like Maple and Walnut. The main problem with the cheaper and smaller machines is getting enough tension in the blade - that's why blade selection is important. On such machines it's far better to go for a medium gauge blade as opposed to the standard blade that bigger and better machines can tension without problem.