Resawing

[maa. melee]

I didnt find anything from my search in the forum for resawing on a bandsaw, so I'll start something here. I know it can be done. I've seen it done. I've seen verneers under 1/4" sliced out. But I'm not sure if my bandsaw can handle it. Firstly I'm re-tuning everything in my band saw.
Alittle aside about this saw, It was built by my father over 20 years ago from scrap metal and a hefty motor. Im making new guides for the blade both above and below the table. The baldes we use are discarded wood blades we patch together. (usually we rip up old pallets for the woodstove)
Anyways, I plan to try and see if I can't rip some thin stock out of thicker stuff. I plan to make a tall fence out of some aluminum angle line (7x7" os so) and clamp it to the table. Then I'd use a sheet of spring steel as a type of fetaherboard to apply modest pressure to the stock from the other side. I'm worried about the blade wandering.
Anyone ever resaw lumber into verneers? I would ideally like to experiment at some point with long stock. Any luck? How wide of a blade do I need? Slow feed rate and high speed? Any ideas?

http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodmag/147/images/resawingbig.gif

[StevenBauer]

That picture shows just the way I do it. Just do it like they do. All the planking and decking on the 12' decked canoe I built was resawn like that. In fact, the whole boat is book-matched. The grain on each plank and each deckboard is the same on either side of the boat. Like a mirror image.
The best blades for resawing are wide with large teeth, like 1" x 3 tpi.

Steven

[Bob Smalser]

Resaw? Almost every day. You want a wide blade with a low tpi count. This old WO Navy Yard 4X7 bearer is about to produce some replacement frames:

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/6771586/87361524.jpg

MrLeft8 posted a good, detailed comment over on R&PS a few weeks ago on tuning your saw with some links if you want to look it up.

Basically, I find any fence is a waste of time if the saw and blade are tuned. Any long fence must be adjusted to match the blade track and readjusted with every blade change. Blades track in one direction or the other away from your layout line because their tooth set isn't perfectly matched on both sides of the blade.

I generally fix the blade track and use a chalk or pencil line followed by the thickness planer and have little trouble, tho I don't go thinner than my small planer will handle. I might make myself a point fence if I had a large run of thin stock to get out, however.

One reason I don't like gluing anything but a perfectly-planed surface, besides not liking to be so fussy (and slow) resawing exactly to a mark, is that it takes a whole lot more glue to fill those saw marks. And with a glue that doesn't fill gaps well (which is just about all of them short of thickened epoxy), there may be trouble ahead for that lam.

A hand saw that wanders off track is tuned by lightly removing a tad of set on the side it wants to wander using a carborundum stone.

A bandsaw blade is tuned basically the same way. Reset all your guides first by the book to make sure they are set to that particular blade. Instead of stoning the teeth, try stoning the rear corners of the blade first...taking a little sharpness off the rear corner on the side the blade wants to wander may straighten the cut out without touching the teeth.

Set the height adjustment to match the stone and lightly touch it to the blade with the machine running.

Some folks round their new blades off at the back corners as a matter of routine....spose to make them less prone to breakage during a turning movement...on blades set up that way you touch the stone gently to the side of the teeth just like with a hand saw.

[ 02-28-2005, 11:37 PM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

[ssor]

If the blade doesn't cut dead straight then with a fence like that you can get a cut with a cup in it. Tuning the blades so that they don't pull to the side is essential. The wide(1") blade helps to keep the cut straight but if you get cupping in the cut then the blade is pulling off center. There are probably other ways to reduce this but I just touch the side of the blade with a fine oil stone on the side that forms the cup. Not too much! because you are taking some of the set out of the blade.

edit: Bob, sorry if I am an echo. You got in ahead of me.
Ross in Bel Air

[ 02-28-2005, 10:11 PM: Message edited by: ssor ]

[Mrleft8]

Ditto MOST of the above except...... (and unless you have a huge honking saw that can cut a car in half without bogging down....) A 1" blade is just way too big. You're trying to haul a 16 penny nail through a 10 penny hole. I use a 1/2" 3-4 tooth PI skip tooth blade on my 20" 2 HP bandsaw. and I regularly cut 3/32" veneers.
If your saw is properly tuned, and the blade is new/sharp, there is no need to adjust for drift. But if you need to, it's easilly done.
All this said, Bob is more of an expert than I, so take what you need from him, and if I can give you some desert.... Enjoy!.... (PS....Fleming can prolly give us all a primer on resawing that'd bring us all up to snuff!)

[maa. melee]

thanks for the advice. usually when i use a fence i cut a piece of scrap freehand following a line and figure the drift angle and mark it on the table. then i come back and clamp the fence parallel to that line. my blades are .5" and i have different blades with varying tpi. for long stock ill setup some roller tripods and grab a cpl buddies. my main gole is to keep that damned blade from drifting. ill run a test piece tomorrow.

[Dave Fleming]

In a word or two...BLADE TENSION.

can your band soar handle high tension?

[ 03-01-2005, 12:11 AM: Message edited by: Dave Fleming ]

[Paulyboy]

There are a couple of brands that make awesome resaw blades. Timberwolf is one that comes to mind. 3 TPI with a hook tooth is great. If you're going to resaw a lot, and I mean a lot, then look into a special resaw blade that's actually constructed like a circ saw blade, with carbide teeth brazed on. This will run about 5 bucks a foot if I remember right. It can be resharpenesd and they sell it to your length specs. Do a search on bandsaw blades and ytou'll find the company that makes these.

[StevenBauer]

I just did the Timberwolf buy three get one free deal from these guys:

www.suffolkmachinery.com (http://www.suffolkmachinery.com)

These blades are really nice.

Steven

[Billy Bones]

About bandsaw fences for veneers, they're not necessary and can cause problems as has been mentioned.

I use a scrap of mahogany about 3/4" thick by 1" by a foot or so. I round the end slightly (say 2foot radius or so, flat side down) and clamp it to the table so the center of the stick is even with the gullets of the blade. Distance from blade equals thickness of veneer. I then scribe a line on the top of the board where I want to cut (same distance as fence-to-blade distance) and cut away.

With an older blade or highly figured wood there can be a fair amount of GEEing and HAWing involved in keeping to the line, which this system will allow for.

XXXXXXXXXXX\...........I.....
XXXXXXXXXXXX\.........I.....
XXXXXXXXXXXX].........I.....
XXXXXXXXXXXX].........^.....
XXXXXXXXXXXX/................
XXXXXXXXXXX/.................

With this system I can and do cut 1/16" x 13" veneers reliably easily, although a good blade and some practice are necessary. A stout saw and good guides are a must.

[ 03-01-2005, 08:38 AM: Message edited by: Billy Bones ]

[maa. melee]

Dave, my saw can handle some pretty reasonable tensions although at times when I dont spend enough time finishing a brazed joint in the saw, the blade wont last long. Besides that, I can get a good tension to avoid barrel cuts in the verneer. I like your idea Billy and I'll experiment with it. If need be, I'll get some new resaw blades. I think with the appropriate amount of prcatice I can get this down easily enough. Ill give it a burl this afternoon (after I shovel all this snow!)

[abe]

A link to a very recent discussion that was most helpful to me and possibly others:

Forum discussion regarding resawing (http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=002764)

[George Roberts]

maa. melee ---

Experience appears to be the best factor in determining is your resawing will be good or not.

When my mind drifts my saw cut does also.

[marsbar]

I remember a past article in Fine Woodworking magazine where they discuss tuning up a bandsaw. They go into quite a bit of detail on blade tracking, which they claim can be corrected by adjusting the position of the blade as it tracks on the upper bandsaw wheel. They suggest not to mess around with the fence angle to correct for drift. Haven't tried this yet so I can't confirm this works. I believe this is a link to the specific issue:

http://www.taunton.com/store/pages/fw_toc_173.asp

[maa. melee]

so i did a test run on a piece of 2x8" floor joist i had laying around. I first tried the single point fence; the one where the stock is in contact with a small portion of the guide so i can steer. this worked out OK but took an awfully long amount of time. Secondly, I tried a parallel long fence and featherboard, knowing full well the blade was going to drift. i figured out the drift angle fairly easily and readjusted my fence. i ran several scrap piece thru this setup with great success. the blade tracked dead on the line, which brings me to my next point. ALWAYS DRAW LINES and NEVER LET YOUR CONCENTRATION SLIP. my eyes were litterally fixed on the blade and line, sighting my hands with my perifial vision. dead on the scrap side of the line all the way thru. I didnt blink for minutes at a time. although it took a long time, it turned out good enough for a pass thru the planer.

editted to add: i cut the verneers on the side between the fence and the blade. i've seen pictures of it done both ways. is this the way to go?

[ 03-01-2005, 04:56 PM: Message edited by: maa. melee ]

[ssor]

This is a most amazing thread! Not on contradiction in the whole thing,Just good advise from a wide range of experience. An author came to mind "James Krenov" (sp?) expat american wood worker in Sweden, has written several books on fine wood work and self made tools, IMO worth the search.

[Dave Fleming]

An author came to mind "James Krenov" (sp?) expat american wood worker in Sweden, has written several books on fine wood work and ssor, you have at least ( 2 ) alumni of James Krenov aka 'the russian gnome' as fellow members of the WB Forums.

He WAS an expat American in Sweden for some time but in the 1980's he and his lovely wife returned to the USA, Mendocino, CA. to be exact. He was the founding teacher at the College of the Redwoods, fine woodworking program.
JK, is retired from teaching now but, the other alumnus here is much better than I to bring you/us up to date on JK..

PAX.

edited to correct my deficient Latin vocabulary structure.

[ 03-01-2005, 10:07 PM: Message edited by: Dave Fleming ]