Resawing with a Handsaw

Timbuck

Timbuck

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2009
Messages
6,617
Reaction score
1,891
Location
Stockton on Tees..North East UK.
Last edited:
It's definitely work, but quite therapeutic if like me you only resaw about 6 sets per year.
 
Interesting. But as much as I love hand tools, I remain a big fan of electricity - keeps my beer cold, keeps the tunes playing, AND makes resawing a heck of a lot easier! Oh, never all at the same time of course. :)
 
I'm currently reading a marquetry book by Silas Kopf.

In it he talks of the French timbre merchants and specialised veneer resawers in the 1600's that cut all that exotic and very expensive tropical hardwood that was showing up from around the world by hand. They got to the point of being able to cut 2.3 - 2.5mm slices accurately using a method that is similar to the pit saw technique. Some of the line drawings of the time depict saws with multiple blades evenly spaced apart in order to cut more than one veneer at a time.
 
Allen said:
I'm currently reading a marquetry book by Silas Kopf.

In it he talks of the French timbre merchants and specialised veneer resawers in the 1600's that cut all that exotic and very expensive tropical hardwood that was showing up from around the world by hand. They got to the point of being able to cut 2.3 - 2.5mm slices accurately using a method that is similar to the pit saw technique. Some of the line drawings of the time depict saws with multiple blades evenly spaced apart in order to cut more than one veneer at a time.
Click to expand...

I've seen some current YouTube videos of vertical gangsaws like that which just hum right along. Setting them in frame with high tension allow seem to let them use thin saw blades and agressive pitches. Quite impressive to watch. Don't know how it would work at instrument thicknesses.


I was starting to build a large (40"-48") frame saw using a 3 TPI x 1" used bandsaw blade for resawing but found that a lot of people were having trouble with blade wander. Need to revisit that project.
One thing going for a handsaw is the wide blade to aid in tracking.
 
Last edited:
Gyozu said:
I've seen some current YouTube videos of vertical gangsaws like that which just hum right along. Setting them in frame with high tension allow seem to let them use thin saw blades and agressive pitches. Quite impressive to watch. Don't know how it would work at instrument thicknesses.


I was starting to build a large (40"-48") frame saw using a 3 TPI x 1" used bandsaw blade for resawing but found that a lot of people were having trouble with blade wander. Need to revisit that project.
One thing going for a handsaw is the wide blade to aid in tracking.
Click to expand...

Exactly the same method Bakeries use to slice bread :D
 
Allen said:
I'm currently reading a marquetry book by Silas Kopf.

In it he talks of the French timbre merchants and specialised veneer resawers in the 1600's that cut all that exotic and very expensive tropical hardwood that was showing up from around the world by hand. They got to the point of being able to cut 2.3 - 2.5mm slices accurately using a method that is similar to the pit saw technique. Some of the line drawings of the time depict saws with multiple blades evenly spaced apart in order to cut more than one veneer at a time.
Click to expand...
I've looked that up Allen..and found this ....When you think about it the end blade most likely had no teeth and was just a guide blank ( set a little bit deeper to fit in the last sawed slot ...Maybe! Who knows ? :) ) That's what i would have done ;)
veneersaw_zpsb6dde026.jpg

sawyers_zpsaa52e5c2.jpg
 
Last edited:
I cut a bookmatched set from a piece of cypress for my second build using a kataba saw. I thought I was getting the hang of it, then I ruined a really nice piece of wood trying to repeat the process. I decided to buy a band saw instead, and I'm so glad I did.
 
Yep, that's one of the pictures in the book Ken.

It would make sense to use a method like that with a guid blade, and with a very sharp and well tuned saw I'm sure it worked very well. The examples of furniture in Silas' book made in that era are true masterpieces, and I'm doubtful that many of todays craftsmen would be up to the task. Nor would you find many patrons willing to fork over the cash for such works of art.
 
Resurrecting this thread rather than creating a new one.

I have a lump of walnut and some maple I want to resaw for soundboards and sides, but my bandsaw is too tiny. So I am considering building a frame saw and having at it (after practising on something cheap). I could use broken bandsaw blades, but the ones I have are also quite thin. Do you experts think a mitre saw blade might be usable in a frame saw? I see some fairly cheap on line and even at Wickes

http://www.wickes.co.uk/compound-mitre-saw-blade-60cm/invt/186774/

Cheers
Max
 
When I was in my 20's I spent a few years living in British Columbia, Canada, and several of those years in the wilderness w/o electricity. All of my heat came from wood, and my nearest neighbor and I would go out once a week with a skiff and a 2 man crosscut saw to visit a fir tree we knew of that had been down for a couple of years, where we would cut a round or two off, split it with wedges, load it into the boat and restock our wood piles. The tree was 7 feet thick when we started at the base, though considerably smaller after a single winter. The saw was eight feet long and we felt quite manly at our task, and were proud of our skill with the saw, and particularly with sharpening it. So much so that when I found some cedar that I thought would make great guitar tops we decided to resaw it with our two man 8' cross cut saw. This is ambitious because any little hick-up in the handling of the saw will easily cause the saw to buckle slightly and split the off cut as a shake instead of a saw half of a guitar top. We were successful, but this is definitely the hard way to do it. I bought my 20" Delta bandsaw shortly after my return to civilization and have never since considered parting with it.
 
I like the idea of rip sawing by hand. As I mentioned in an earlier post I have a Pax rip saw for doing that. The results are actually very good, and some odd shaped pieces would be difficult to run through the band saw. Now my band saw is broken so the choice was made for me rather than by me.

Here's an entry in my blog showing some ripping.

http://www.argapa.blogspot.se/2013/09/ripping-wood-for-mr-monteleone.html
 
orangeena said:
Resurrecting this thread rather than creating a new one.

I have a lump of walnut and some maple I want to resaw for soundboards and sides, but my bandsaw is too tiny. So I am considering building a frame saw and having at it (after practising on something cheap). I could use broken bandsaw blades, but the ones I have are also quite thin. Do you experts think a mitre saw blade might be usable in a frame saw? I see some fairly cheap on line and even at Wickes

http://www.wickes.co.uk/compound-mitre-saw-blade-60cm/invt/186774/

Cheers
Max
Click to expand...

Those blades aren't very good. There's a Japanese blade that is much better but at £30 for just the blade. . . expensive. I think I'd rather use the longer Stanley Jetcut type than one of those mitre saw blades. Anything much over 4" is going to be hard work.

This is how they did it in around 1820.



Paris had a huge number of these gang or gate saws for their furniture and marquetry trade.
 
Thanks for the advice all. I will look up those blades, but probably can't afford to develop a sharp things fetish like you Sven.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Pegasus Guitars
Resawing
Replies
15
Views
1K
Timbuck
Timbuck
U
Resawing advice
Replies
1
Views
661
sequoia
sequoia
jupiteruke
A little "resawing"
Replies
5
Views
1K
Timbuck
Timbuck
S
Resawing, a personal best
2
Replies
23
Views
2K
Sven
S
Pegasus Guitars
Resawing
Replies
8
Views
737
JJohansen
J
Top Bottom