resawing

[Ken Whisler]

I've located a garage full of split old growth WRC billets that have been sitting for 20 years. When I mentioned this to my dad, I told him my bandsaw had a solid frame and the opening was not big enough to resaw these. He asked me how big of an opening I needed, and then he gathered up some scrap metal he had laying around and crafted his own riser block for his generic 14" bandsaw he bought off the floor at Harbor Freight many years ago. He got a 7-3/4" opening and can still use a standard length blade. He then slapped a 6" fence together using scrap plywood, and, after a bit of tweaking and practice, proceeded to slice up a 2x6 piece of lumber yard cedar into 3/16" with an impressive amount of accuracy.

So I bought one of the billets, should get 6-7 tops out of it. If this goes well, I'm going to go buy a bunch more.

I've never resawed before. My original thought was to pay someone, maybe John Griffith, to do it. But I was so impressed with what my dad had done that of course I have to give this a shot.

To those of you that have resawn before, is it best that I make 1/2" cuts and then bookmatch individually, or should I just set the fence at 3/16" and slice away, keeping the slices in order, making a waste cut as needed to stay on quarter?

[Bob Gramann]

3/16" is hopeful. I would set the fence just a bit wider (.2" or more) before I sliced away. There will be variations in the cut that may waste the whole slice if the variation gets too thin. Trying to cut too thin can waste more wood than cutting thicker pieces. Watch carefully for blade wander and a curving cut and sharpen or replace the blade immediately when either starts to occur. Most steel bandsaw blades have a little drift in their cuts. Many folks use a fence that has a vertical post opposite the blade so the workpiece can be turned to keep the cut straight. You will learn a lot about resawing on this project. Good luck.

[Brian Evans]

Wide blade and few teeth per inch. Here is a primer on resawing: https://woodgears.ca/bandsaw/resaw.html

Brian

[David King]

Keeping the blade clean is also really important. When I resaw, I run the sawn face of the billet over my 8" jointer to flatten it before taking the next slice. That tells me exactly how the blade is cutting and it saves me a lot of time sanding later. You can also use a 6" jointer if you take the fence off and alternate scrub short distances on each side of the billet.

[Jason Rodgers]

I highly recommend the Infinity Rip bandsaw blade. Thin kerf, tracks well, and for a reasonable price. Bought one of these for resawing maple and walnut drop tops, and it made quick, clean work of it. I bet it would just fly through your WRC. http://www.infinitytools.com/sawing/ban ... lades-3693

[Bob Howell]

I highly recommend the Infinity Rip bandsaw blade. Thin kerf, tracks well, and for a reasonable price. Bought one of these for resawing maple and walnut drop tops, and it made quick, clean work of it. I bet it would just fly through your WRC. http://www.infinitytools.com/sawing/ban ... lades-3693

That blade looks similar to Highland woodworking's wood slicer. I found it tough to get adjusted. It did make clean cuts. Maybe I need to go back and try to master it. Tracking was the problem.

I had good results With the Timberwolf 3/4" blade. I heard about it here 5yrs ago or so.
I use a Delta 14" with a riser block, one of the last USA made models, c 1998. I installed a bigger motor, 9.6 amps to 15.6 amps. That helps.

I have found conflicting advice on you tube and different forums about adjusting and setting up band saws. With common sense you can get several approaches to work.

Watch out about beefing up the spring and over tightening the blade. I bent the shaft on the upper wheel this way. Actually the pot metal fixture that holds the shaft.

[Todd Stock]

I would stick with the 1/2" blades for the little cast iron 14" saws - they flex like crazy when trying to tension anything wider. If absolutely set on running wide blades on these small saws, crank everything up and do setup at the flexed configuration...everything will change after the first cut or two, so shut down, recheck and tweak, then run as much stuff through as you can.

A couple things that can help:

- Anigre and other abrasives will kill a steel blade in a few feet of cutting - the Lennox TriMaster comes in a 1/2" form factor and is not horribly expensive if cutting abrasive or very resinous woods versus 10-12 thin kerf steel bases for the same life, and carbide is much less sensitive to tracking because there is no set to the teeth, so less tweaking during a resew session.

- More power helps, especially for exotics, but if going to upgraded drive train and larger motor, go to better pulleys (aka sheeves) like Browning, link belt (less vibe) and up the speed as high as you can to get the best performance out of the blade. Replacement urethane tires can unusually be run at close to 4500 SFPM, and that makes a big difference on typically underpowered 1.5 or 2 hp saws.

[Eric Knapp]

That blade looks similar to Highland woodworking's wood slicer. I found it tough to get adjusted. It did make clean cuts. Maybe I need to go back and try to master it. Tracking was the problem.

I've had the same experience with that blade. I have now replaced the old tires with urethane and I'm going to try them again. I love the narrow kerf and the quality of the cut, but the tracking was terrible compared to a 1" coarse blade.

I have found conflicting advice on you tube and different forums about adjusting and setting up band saws. With common sense you can get several approaches to work.

Watch out about beefing up the spring and over tightening the blade. I bent the shaft on the upper wheel this way. Actually the pot metal fixture that holds the shaft.

Blade tension seems to be the big problem and I have a tendency to over-tighten which leads to breakage. I have so many broken bandsaw blades it's embarrassing. I can get some of them welded so they can be used for a few days before they break again. When my bandsaw is set up properly with a fresh blade I can resaw a 10" board and get very even 1/16" slices. I made my own veneer for furniture projects for years. It's now many years later and I want to use it for guitars. I'm not sure why I'm having so much trouble now. The tires were old and hard and have been replaced. The other issue is blade quality and I have not found a good source yet. Bandsaws seem to be the fussiest of woodworking tools.

-Eric

[David King]

You can get the thin kerf blades from http://www.spectrumsupply.com/kerfmaste ... total.aspx for under $20 ea and the .016" 5/8" blade cuts right at .031" kerf width and is great for slicing ebony fingerboards or violin sides
I solved the tracking issues by switching to urethane tires from Sulfur Grove. I then replaced the steel guide blocks with lignum vita blocks that I sand and check over and over until they fit perfectly and hold the blade straight the way it comes off the tires with no wiggle room. I recommend the beefier spring from Iturro as well as the beefier upper upper wheel angle plate that won't bend. My Delta saw with riser block still has the original 1/2 HP motor and I can cut 10" depths using a sharp, clean blade without stalling.

Todd mentioned the Lenox Trimaster which is a great blade. I can also recommend the .041" kerf Resaw King blade from Laguna which comes in a 3/4" width, 1-2 TPI and seems to do OK on my saw even with the 1/2 HP. It certainly tracks straighter right out of the box than any other blade I've used. I got about 50 linear feet or resawing before it died but with up to 5 resharpenings it's a pretty good deal.

[Bob Howell]

5 years ago I got the 3/4" Timber wolf blade for my Delta 14"BS with riser block. I followed instructions at this site and all worked great. I had bought from them before but only 1/2 blades, not the 3/4". At that time a number of people on this forum were using it and it seemed to be preferred route, even for my 14" Delta.
I had great results and recommend it.
http://timberwolfblades.com/Blade-Selector.php

Since then I have read other conflicting recommendations and tried them. The saw is versatile and other approaches work well also.

I cut a lot of green wood and at the encouragement of one guy on you tube I checked my lower bering and guides, the ones under the table. The bering was frozen and the guides worn out. This fix made a big difference.

The BS is my most used tool but it needs tuning all time.
I am amazed what it will do when tuned.

This picture shows a log section 28" long and 10" high I cut into 2" slabs to dry.
Two days ago I cut up a 43" log section, which was 1/4 of a 24" diameter log. I split it to get it down to manageable size.
It is from a walnut tree in my neighborhood, that has been down 4 years. The wood is still got a lot of moisture left. I used a 3/8" blade(.032") with extra wide set.

[Todd Stock]

Other than the dust, WRC is super easy to resaw with conventional blades, and if you get a whole bunch of nice-looking tops, keep the best for the personal stash and sell A and lower three-packs on Ebay for $90. A few hours of labor and 50 tops out the door bootstraps you to that slightly used Italian-made 18" Laguna (one for sale locally near Deale, MD for $1500...just needs moving) a 19" Griz, or similar large, stiff saw that can take a Woodmaster CT...boom...you are in business! FWIW, the 14" saws is a workhorse - even if you eventually upgrade for resaw, keep the little cast iron saw...two bandsaws take up just a little more room than a drill press and disc sander, and leaving one set up for all the cat and dog stuff (trimming brace stock, wasting blanks for bridges, rough-cutting molds, etc.) allows you to avoid blade change when it's time to run a couple sticks of fretboard material through for prep.

[Clay Schaeffer]

I use the "nail in kerf" method when resawing on a 14 inch bandsaw using a 1/4 inch skip tooth blade. Making fairly deep kerfs on the top and bottom of the billet with a table saw allows the wood to be guided by a nail set just ahead of the bandsaw blade and leaves only about half of the wood to be removed by the blade. for occasional resawing it is a quick and cheap solution. Western red cedar is one of the easiest woods to resaw.

[Ken Whisler]

Update: we got the fence fine tuned to the point where we could slice a fat 3/16", with a +/- 1/64" variation from front to back and top to bottom. I don't know about you guys, but I can live with that! We practiced on a 1" thick 7.75X24 piece of sitka that I had; the first cut was a bust and that's when we change to a 2 TPI 3/4" blade from a local hardwood store, and that made the difference. Got a usable top from that board and the rest will still be usable for much of my braces and patches. We then trued up the cedar flitch so that we had a good face and edge to work from, and that's when Missouri heat got the best of us (my dad's shop is a detached garage with no AC). So we set it aside for another day. I'm sure the WRC will cut easier than the sitka did.

Google "Ichiro's Favorite Expression" if you want to know how hot Kansas City is in August...

[Steve Sawyer]

Google "Ichiro's Favorite Expression" if you want to know how hot Kansas City is in August...

Didn't have to wait for August this year. My brother and I rode the Katy Trail (from Clinton to St. Louis - 250 miles) back in June and the temps hovered between 97 and 100 all 5 days of our trip. The longest stretch was from Clinton to Pilot Grove - 65 miles and 1400' of climbing - and the temps were close to 100 all day. So much for our hope of sneaking in ahead of the really brutal weather! On the upside we didn't get rained on!!

[Bob Howell]

You can get the thin kerf blades from http://www.spectrumsupply.com/kerfmaste ... total.aspx for under $20 ea and the .016" 5/8" blade cuts right at .031" kerf width and is great for slicing ebony fingerboards or violin sides
I solved the tracking issues by switching to urethane tires from Sulfur Grove. I then replaced the steel guide blocks with lignum vita blocks that I sand and check over and over until they fit perfectly and hold the blade straight the way it comes off the tires with no wiggle room. I recommend the beefier spring from Iturro as well as the beefier upper upper wheel angle plate that won't bend. My Delta saw with riser block still has the original 1/2 HP motor and I can cut 10" depths using a sharp, clean blade without stalling.

Todd mentioned the Lenox Trimaster which is a great blade. I can also recommend the .041" kerf Resaw King blade from Laguna which comes in a 3/4" width, 1-2 TPI and seems to do OK on my saw even with the 1/2 HP. It certainly tracks straighter right out of the box than any other blade I've used. I got about 50 linear feet or resawing before it died but with up to 5 resharpenings it's a pretty good deal.

I looked at these blades. I've not seen any like the .016"x 5/8 blade. That is really thin. Not a lot of product information, How does it hold up?

[Todd Stock]

I tend to work in some very abrasive woods like anigre, so carbide makes a lot of sense for me. Same with resinous woods like coco - carbide may take a .050 or so kerf, but handles resin build-up a lot better than steel or bimetal (and ceramic guides work nicely for the job, as well). For the more usual run-of-the-mill stuff like mahogany, cherry, maple, and softwoods, standard high carbon steel blades are probably the best bang for the buck. Thin kerf blades tend to trade durability for reduced width of cut - usually through reduction in the band thickness and reduced set. Less set usually means more heat, but in dry hardwoods, usually a decent trade.