MIMF

I have a bandsaw, as most of us do, but I don't have one that can saw a piece of wood to make a bookmatch set. I bought a really nice piece of claro walnut off the bay, but it didn't come bookmatched and they didn't offer the service. Any suggestions?? I would pay for the sawing of course if anyone can do it or knows someone that can. The piece is 7 & 7/8 " wide and 1 & 1/4 " thick.

Where are you located? You can contact some of the companies that supply band mills like Woodmizer, and they should have a list of who they sold saws to. Ask around at places like Woodcraft stores for information regarding such services. I have enlisted cabinet shops to resaw and thickness sand wood, but it is sort of expensive. Shop around. Rick Turner in Santa Cruz CA offers a resawing service, not cheap but very good.

Some shops that sell high end hardwood will do it for you. Check for hardwood, wood mill etc in your area.

Do you want back-and-sides set(s) for acoustic or top(s) for electric out of it??

Borson resaw is one place the comes to mind in Ca.
Personally I wouldn't trust anyone else to do this, it's not hard to get the right blade (Spectrum supply) and set up your bandsaw to do the job right. I won't buy resawn wood because most places do a terrible job of it and the result is that the bookmatches don't match at all.
If you have a 14" Delta style cast iron bandsaw I'd just get the riser block kit. It's probably about what a reputable place will charge you to do the job right. It may be even cheaper to trade up your bandsaw for one that has the riser block. Check your local Craigslist.
If you added you location to your profile I bet someone here would offer to help.

Yeah, I'd also recommend giving it a try if you have something like the 14" Delta with a riser block. That's what I've got, and I've resawn 40 or 50 sets of Claro walnut from 4/4 stock. If not, you might also try a local cabinet shop - depending on where you're located, many shops will have saws that could handle it. Like David, I wouldn't trust anyone else if I could find a way to do it myself. It takes a bit of tuning to get close to a good bookmatch. If you don't keep the cut straight and true, you end up drifting away from a nice match when you clean up the saw marks.

The wood is for an electric top. There are plenty of sawmills around but short on serious hardwood dealers. Unfortunately, my bandsaw is an antiquated craftsman that doesn't have the height. It works fine for everything else, just not this. I can try to look for some cabinet shops. I did know of two close by but they closed. I will check and then post back. If anyone wants to take a crack at it for a few bucks, let me know. Lesson learned I guess...no wood that I can't use "as is". Thanks to all for the advice!!

Perry,

I'd start by charting out where your top will sit in the block and then trim around it as much as you dare. If you had a tablesaw at your disposal you could saw around your block using one of the thin kerf, 7-1/4" Freud Diablo blades and that finish the sawing through with a hand ripsaw. It's the way things were made back in the day.
If you do go the cabinet shop route, I'd bring them a fresh blade in exchange for the work. Don't break out the beer /donuts until they get it done right.

Hi Perry,
For an electric guitar cap, If you have a tablesaw you can rip the board into two 4" wide pieces with a thin kerf blade then resaw it with the crasftsman bandsaw (or your tablesaw), then carefully glue the pieces back together. The small amount of wood lost to the kerf is usually not noticeable .
Use hot hide glue for a less conspicuous glue joint.