learning about Re-sawing

Timbuck

Timbuck

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I recently bought some nice mahogany and it needed resawing into 4mm boards...So I set up the bandsaw as usual and started sawing..but as soon as I started I realised I was having problems..The saw blade was drifting all over the place, and the 4mm slices I usually produce were coming out like banana's instead of the nice flat ones :confused:..I ended up scrapping the first two slices...I understand the fault is called "cupping" in the trade.
So I went on to Google to find out what was happening..The first thing was ..Is it a new blade or a worn one??..it is in fact a brand new one...next! is the fence as high as the wood...yes it's an 8 inch engineers angle plate... next is the blade tension as it should be?? ...well the tension screw is really tight..but is the blade at the right tension???..i plucked it as if it was a bass guitar string, expecting a " Diong" sound but instead I just got a "thud" so I kew I had a problem there..so I stripped down the machine..cleaned out all the crud ..removed the top spool and cleaned and greased the tensioning device..re-assembled everything... gave the blade a twang..this time it sounded like "Duane Eddy's guitar" (fantastic)..I set up to re-saw again and all the slices came out just like they should...More input for my brain to remember:D
 
Have seen two schools with re-sawing.
One is to use a long tall fence and the other is to use a short pivot point guide at the cut and follow the line.
What I have found works for me is a long tall fence, a wide blade, good tension and most importantly, to make the cut very, very slowly.
 
I really like my Grizzly GO555X. I just resawed some six inch cherry. I used the standard fence along with a heavy block of ash to hold the cherry against the fence. I also use a Timberwolf 3/4 AS-S blade. The sides, backs and tops came out great. If they aren't perfect, the thickness sander makes up the difference in a pass or two. I've read about blade drift, but the only time I've experienced it is when I had my 1/8" blade under tensioned.
 
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I did a video on this Ken - use a 5/8" 028" or .032" thick 3tpi CS 'skip tooth' blade. Draw a line on a piece of wood and as best you can follow this free hand. This should then give you the path of the offset or drift caused by the inevitable preference of the blade to cut to the left or the right. Set your fence to follow this path.

Sawyer turned the blade to guage tension. It should, outside of the guide get through no more than a quarter turn.

What I do is saw to 2.5mm. After each pass I send the cut surface through the sander. This increases yield and cuts down thicknessing time. You should get about an hours use out of each new blade and as Paul recommends, as soon as you start to get bananas change the blade. Always cut the wood to the length you require for your individual blanks sawing backs and fronts first then sides.



And Dave - deep sawing which is what you are doing is the most wasteful and dangerous of resawing methods! I've told you this before and you still haven't repented of doing it have you :)
 
That deep sawing will kill you! especially if you don't use a zero clearance throat on your table saw. I got a 18" Jet with a 1" blade, I use the fence with the pivot works great! I have done 10" thick and it will go to 12". I just resaw on it got a 14" jet for the small curvy stuff.
 
I use a 20 Hp Baker AX horizontal band resaw with TimberWolf variable pitch 3/4" blades. They only take out .046" in kerf...less than 1/16". I can saw to just under 14" widths. The machine has a conveyor belt feed with a powered hold down. It's a monster and works as well or better than any resaw rig I know of in the US.

The TimberWolf blades can be bought for smaller saws, too. Check out Suffolk Machinery.
 
I've been a pattern maker/ model make for 35 years now. Most of the band saws I used were 36 or 48 inch. I used to to saw 12 or better pieces on a 1/4 blade and leave only 3/32 for clean up. Since I've designed, modeled and invented for the last 13 years I can cut as well as I used to so I went to a 1 inch blade it works very well and cuts with virtually no cupping. The only objection is having to change out all the settings on the guides.
 
Rick Turner said:
I use a 20 Hp Baker AX horizontal band resaw with TimberWolf variable pitch 3/4" blades. They only take out .046" in kerf...less than 1/16". I can saw to just under 14" widths. The machine has a conveyor belt feed with a powered hold down. It's a monster and works as well or better than any resaw rig I know of in the US.

The TimberWolf blades can be bought for smaller saws, too. Check out Suffolk Machinery.
Click to expand...

I use the same blade. I contacted Suffolk twice via email when I was trying to figure out what blades I should buy. They never wrote me back. I order all my Timberwolf blades right from Grizzly, and wouldn't give Suffolk the time of day if they asked me for it.
 
Timbuck said:
Do you Guy's get the saw blades re-sharpened or buy new ones ?....I have a bundle of worn ones.
Click to expand...

I looked into having my blades resharpened. It was just as expensive, or nearly so, as buying new, and new has less turn around time.

Also, I should add, most of the people who resharpen flat out said they don't do band saw blades.
 
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I've re-sawn a lot of exotic hardwoods. I use a Woodslicer blade from Highland Hardware and find it the best I've tried. Also, was rated best in a test by a popular woodworking magazine a coupla years ago. 3 tpi, 3/4 inch wide. One thing I've learned, which seems to reduce the possibility of cupping; joint the freshly cut face on the jointer after each pass on the band saw, then slice the next piece. Seems to really help. I also let my slices sit for a week or more before I bring them down to final thickness, to let them move. Thus, I leave them a bit thicker than is tempting to saw them. Horse power and a well-set-up saw are the keys to good re-sawing.
 
I have a kid named Dustin who posts here who resaws for me. Parum-pum!

On a serious note, the key to good resawing is knowing and tuning your saw. We started sawing on an old 14" Delta, graduated to a 20" Laguna, and are currently using a Hitachi CB75. Short of Rick's monster machine, the Hitachi is the best machine I've used for resawing. The only thing is that Hitachi is the only maker of the 3" blade that it uses. I've heard that they discontinued the machine, although they will continue making blades for a while.
 
erich@muttcrew.net said:
Are we the only idiots around here who do all their resawing with hand saws? :D
Click to expand...

Idiots? No, but according to one poster here you may well be anal retentive for using hand tools where a machine would do. Hand saw re-sawing !? Fascinating ! I'd love to hear more about that.
 
We probably should not hijack Timbuck's thread on sharpening bandsaw blades talking about hand re-sawing. Here is the thread on doing it by hand.

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?28154-Real-Men-Did-it-By-Hand-Thicknessing&p=342868&highlight=thickness#post342868

By the way, if you are gonna do it by hand, its handy to have a saw set and some good hones to get the blades cutting evenly on both sides. Otherwise its almost impossible to keep the blade cutting straight. It takes a lot of practice too.
 
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