Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm looking at ordering a camphor Burl slab (2 x 8 x 20)
I want to be able to yield two bookmatched tops. Does anyone know where I might be able to have this done? I asked gilmerwod if they would do it but I haven't heard back yet.

John Hall at Blues Creek Guitars does expert re-sawing. I've had him do two things for me thus far, some Bird's Eye maple and a slab of Brazilian Rosewood.
Excellent work and very reasonable cost.

If you're careful, use a fresh blade, and really dial in the saw setup, you can remove the upper blade guides and get a few extra inches of resaw capacity. I've done this with my General bandsaw a number of times.

On some woods it helps to run the wood over a tablesaw all four sides first, with the blade set to the same cutting width as your bandsaw, so that you are only having to resaw the remaining web. It's more work, as in extra steps, but I've found this to be more reliable than cutting it all with the bandsaw. You're only cutting 1/3 of what you would otherwise, and you have a nice straight line to indicate if you are cutting true.

After each slice do a light clean up of the cut face on the remaining stock.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

DO NOT REMOVE THE GUIDES . This is a big safety nono. The guides are there for a reason. One big reason is to control the blades attack angle . If the blade can lean too far forward it will pull the work into the cutting area in an uncontrolled fashion. No piece of wood is worth getting a body part pulled into the blade.
To do this correctly , you may be able to find a riser block for you saw . Often this will allow another 6 inch of clearance . Read and understand the set up procedures for your saw . It is time well spent . It beats looking to a finger in the saw dust.

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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

Have you considered not using a bandsaw? You can use a tablesaw and a Diablo blade with a tall auxillary ripping fence to create a progressively deep kerf on each edge of the board (imagine resawing on a tablesaw). Then use a hand saw to finish resawing the middle section using the kerfs as a guide. This is a much better option than resawing on a too small bandsaw. IMHO, risers are not a great idea on most 14" bandsaws as the frame is just not stiff enough to handle the extra height for them to give good results.

I would not attempt such a thing, especially if a bandsaw were in the shop. Yes, I know folks do it. But not me. I have a very nice table saw and I minimize its use by using the bandsaw (and the miter saw). Ripping is my primary reason for the table saw. And I always have to get myself in the proper state of mind before doing it. Resawing with the table saw would require some Zen stuff I just don't have.

As for the riser blocks, I am certain Lou Iturra would take exception with your statement. In fact, in today's market, what other size bandsaws (besides 14") can use riser blocks? Are not most bigger wheeled saws steel bodied? (not cast iron). As with everything, proper setup and use is the real solution.

Oh, another resaw service is Borson Resaw... google it.

Mike

Mike,
Please re-read my post and put it in the context of the original post. He needs an 8" wide board resawn. The Diablo blade will give him about a ~ 2.5" deep X ~1.5mm wide dado in each edge of the 8" board leaving 3" of meat in the middle of the board to saw though with a handsaw. Why would this be a problem?

Also notice I said "most 14" bandsaws". I am very familiar with Louis and he is a fan of older Delta 14" bandaws which were built to a much higher level of strength and precision than today's imported versions. He also pushes custom tension springs and blade tension measuring gauges. Not something 99.999% of us use. When you add 6" of height on most imported 14" saws you have dificulty maintaining constant tension on the blade due to frame flex when you are deep in a cut. Most of the people I know (myself included) who have gone down the riser path have been dissapointed in the results and have just wasted time and money on it and have ended up with either bigger saws or one of the new 14" saws specifically built for resawing. If you've been able to do it on an imported 14" bandsaw please share how you did it. My attempts resulted in cupped faces due to inconsistant blade tension and extemely long sawing time to prevent stressing the blade/frame no matter the setup, blade type/company/tooth geometry/magic spell/etc, guides, size of motor, tires, etc.