Resaw: Why, When, and how often?

[Rick Moyer]

A corellary title could be: Would you get a second BS or upgrade your TS?

I think I should upgrade my table saw first, but I wonder how often I would need to/want to resaw. I have an older Craftman contractor and covet a nice cabinet saw, but I also really like the bigger bandsaws avaliable (like the 513 or 514 lines, nothing more $$). I have a G0555 now and it's fine except I can't resaw much with it, and I don't want to add a riser. I think I would want more saw for resawing, even though I know some of you do resaw with smaller(HP) saws.

So the question really is:

How often do you resaw, and for what purposes? I am pretty new at woodworking and have not had the "need" to resaw. I did resaw/bookmatch/glue up some drawer fronts from a 4" board, where I could have just resawn a wider board for the fronts, but that has so far been the only time. I guess I am looking for more instances where one benefits from resawing.
(I am following the thread about smaller blades on a big saw, too, but if I got a bigger BS I would probably keep the smaller one for reasons given in that thread.)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Rick,After my thread about my MM-16 and koa....I had my wife check my back for a bullseye.:rolleyes:

I had the opportunity to resaw for the first time Tuesday night. A coworker from 135 miles away is in the area helping with some installations and he is a guitar maker. He lives in an area with a much higher population than where I live and he couldn't find a commericial shop that had a bandsaw that would cut the 11" wide koa boards so he could bookmatch the back for a guitar he's building.It will depend on what kind of woodworking you are doing as to how often you resaw.

I changed blades for the 1st time on my MM-16. It took me about 15 minutes to change and setup so I could resaw. I don't know that I'll ever need to purchase a 2nd saw. Some folks don't have the patience to spend time doing that or are more pressed for time.

[Jerome Hanby]

I'm in the process of adding some upgrades specifically for resawing. As for how often, I guess it depends on how much money you have for buying wood and what kind of wood you work with. It kills me to plane a bunch of walnut into shavings. Even if the resawn part is less than a quarter of an inch thick, I could find something useful to do with it. If you were working with some expensive exotic, even more reason to make as much as you can usable. Also, if you often need thin stock, it seems to be unduly expensive. I can cut my own and avoid that premium+ price.

If you buy your lumber already surfaced in the thicknesses you build with, then resawing tasks would probably be few and far between.

But even if you never come up with a good reason to resaw, you'd have a big honking bandsaw in your shop. Just the thought makes me smile :D

[Matt Stiegler]

Rick, I think that's a really good question, and I'm eager to see the responses from more experienced folks.

To me, it seems like a lot of folks get into woodworking using a table saw, buying pre-dimensioned lumber which they may or may not be planing to thickness, and not doing any resawing. They love that, decide they want to get more serious, and then decide they need a bandsaw. Serious woodworkers have bandsaws, simple as that, and buying big tools is big fun for most of us, right? Then they read the bandsaw posts on here, and most everyone encourages them to go bigger, so they end up with a 16 or 17 or bigger bandsaw.

For many woodworkers, that works out great, because they end up doing a lot of resawing they couldn't have done (or done as well & conveniently) on a 14" saw.

But I'll bet there are a lot of woodworkers out there who never really do evolve to a point where the added cost and size of a bigger bandsaw really made sense for them. For the most part, they still don't resaw very much, and they just use their big bandsaw for tasks (curve cuts and resawing under 6 or 12") that a 14"er would have done more or less as well.

To me, that's what makes buying a first bandsaw so much harder than the other core tool purchases. You really need a crystal ball to tell you what kind of work you're going to be doing a couple years down the road.

[Prashun Patel]

Resawing is IMHO best done for aesthetic reasons:

- You have a great slab that you want to turn into bookmatched pieces
- You have a great slab that you want to turn into veneer

Resawing thick stock to create thinner stock just save $$ is not a good reason. The effort required, the waste lost, the twisting that can occur when tension is released...all of these make it worth it to just buy thinner stock.

[Larry Fox]

I find myself resawing for most projects these days. For panels and such (and whereever I can get away with it), I like to use shop-made veneer. I have a vac press setup and find that I cna make my stock go further and achieve some really nice bookmatches and such via resawing. As a concrete example, I am working on a cabinet for our bathroom and it has quite a few flat panels and an open shelving space where I wanted to use walnut (same as the rest of the cabinet). I made the face frame out of solid stock and veneered pretty much all the rest of it. I had a flawless 8/4 x 8' walnut board. I cross-cut it in half and it yielded 15 leaves of superb veneer per half. Would have cost a fortune to get that much clear walnut that wide for solid stock.

Another benefit is that it is really, really FUN to make and press your own veneer.

[Myk Rian]

I resaw up to 12" all the time with my Delta 14" w/timberwolf 1/2" 3tpi blade. Even though it has 1hp it does fine if you don't push it too hard.
No real reason not to put a riser in the Griz. Then you can get that cabinet TS you want so much.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=114632&d=1238610606

[Josiah Bartlett]

I resaw because I have a mid size collection of hardwoods that I salvaged from trees that were being cut down. I saved a few nice mature walnut, cherry, alder, and maple trees from becoming firewood. I could have gotten by with using my chain saw, table saw and a few hand tools to turn them into usable dimensions but I would have wasted at least half of the lumber in the kerf and chips. The band saw allows me to get reasonably large pieces out of a log with just the chain saw and a guide to rough cut down to 12" wide slabs.

I have a 16" 2 hp Walker Turner saw I got from an estate sale for less than the cost of one of the better new 14" saws, and the Walker Turner is entirely cast iron and runs smooth as glass. The hard part is that it took me about a year to find an old iron saw that wasn't either overpriced, too big for my space, or completely ruined. I was very close to buying one of the 17" or 19" Grizzly saws. They are very nice for the money. If you need faster feed rates than you might go to a larger saw, but for the hobbyist a 16-19" saw with 2+ hp will get you into the fairly effortless category of resawing. I have used several 14" saws, and they are great for small projects like squaring up turning blanks and cutting out shapes, but I find the ones that I've tried a bit touchy and slow for resawing wide boards. I'd rather not risk blade deflection on a nice wide walnut slab, even if I didn't pay more than saw gas and a few hours labor for it.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Resawing is IMHO best done for aesthetic reasons:

- You have a great slab that you want to turn into bookmatched pieces
- You have a great slab that you want to turn into veneer

Resawing thick stock to create thinner stock just save $$ is not a good reason. The effort required, the waste lost, the twisting that can occur when tension is released...all of these make it worth it to just buy thinner stock.


Exactly. Think of drawer faces all from the same board, or matching bookmatched raised panel. I've even used it to match rail and stile parts. It's the easiest way to get grain to flow around a picture frame as well.

[John Coloccia]

I only resaw myself when:

1) I have really rough wood and I want to get it reasonably straight/dimensioned so I don't have to do 10 passes on the jointer and planer

2) I have a beautiful piece of wood that I want resawed to my standards and/or book matched

3) I have some wood lying around that I want to use but it's not the right thickness

Other than that, I'll just have my supplier resaw the boards when I buy them. They have a huge dedicated saw and a jig that gets it done in seconds. I have to change the blade, set everything up, set up my fence, worry about drift, etc etc. If I had a dedicated station, I'd probably resaw more.

[glenn bradley]

The combination of a jointer, planer and bandsaw really set me free as to what I could do in making parts for my projects. It is pretty standard for me to face joint, edge joint and then resaw a board. I use the flat outerfaces as reference surfaces to re-plane and create either my final thickness board or a prepared blank to repeat the resaw process. So for me it is primarily material preparation. I do take advantage of bookmatching as well and find that really contributes to the finished piece when that applies.

[Jim Finn]

I have that GO555 with the riser and I resaw a LOT with it. Up to 12" stock. The resaw fence is a must though. I make smaller items and the thin wood is better for them.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

IMO, I would get a bandsaw prior to a TS upgrade, not necessarily a re-saw band saw, but a "small" 14". That is what I have. I can resaw, and IMO, "saving" a felled tree and making some boards makes the BS worth getting. BUT, in addition to the BS, if you want to save logs from the woodpile, you'd need to get a good chainsaw and a chainsaw mill. The CSM is fairly cheap.

[Matt Stiegler]

If I were in your shoes, I'd upgrade the TS now before I upgraded or supplemented the bandsaw. (In fact, I did upgrade to a cabinet saw and haven't pulled the trigger on a bandsaw yet).

I think you'd see an real improvement in the quality, safety, and enjoyability of your work with a cabinet saw. I don't see a bigger bandsaw having anything like that same impact for you at this point. It doesn't sound to me like the resawing limitation is really much of a limitation for you now, since you say you haven't had much need so far.

Or think of it another way. Are there serious hobbyists who do very nice work who have only a 14" bandsaw like your 555 in the shop? Sure; my impression is its pretty common, even. And I think its a lot more common than serious folks doing nice work with only a contractor saw. Obviously everyone's mileage is going to vary, but I think the conventional wisdom would choose a cabinet saw + 14" bandsaw over a contractor saw + 17/19" bandsaw every time.

One other thought: how big is your jointer? If its not bigger than 6", you may feel limited in your ability to take advantage of more resaw capacity than you have now.

My 2 cents.

[Matt Stiegler]

IMO, I would get a bandsaw prior to a TS upgrade, not necessarily a re-saw band saw, but a "small" 14". That is what I have. I can resaw, and IMO, "saving" a felled tree and making some boards makes the BS worth getting. BUT, in addition to the BS, if you want to save logs from the woodpile, you'd need to get a good chainsaw and a chainsaw mill. The CSM is fairly cheap.

He said he has a 555 already, a grizzly 14" bandsaw.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Ah, sorry. I don't have the Griz line memorized.....

[Frank Drew]

Rick,

I guess I'm the contrarian; I'm not as enamored with resawing as many here. For one thing, I don't think that either book- or slip-matching are necessarily the best looks, and even if I liked them more I know I'd get tired of the look if every panel I made was resawn and matched. I agree with Steve that matching drawer faces can really make a chest of drawers, but I'd achieve that look by using wood from the same tree, so that the faces are clearly related but sufficiently different to be interesting.

I like quartered white oak for drawer sides, though, and if you've got a thick enough board, say 5/4, you can usually get 1/2" sides by resawing, even considering the potential cupping and movement that Shawn notes.

Since time is money in a commercial setting, if I'm going to put in the extra time and trouble to veneer, I'd usually want something fairly exciting, which probably means a purchased veneer from one of the specialists.

[Peter Quinn]

I do some resaw with my 14" PM with riser in my home shop and its not really a problem right up to 12". If money were available I would buy a big Italian resaw horse with a 16" height and plenty of motor, partially for speed, but mostly for convenience. Not at all because I need it, but because I want it! The 14" saws can resaw and rip pretty effectively albeit a bit slower than a big saw if set up properly. You can get some parts from Iturra to super charge your 14" and get the speed up a bit too.

I do like the bigger saw's lower table height which I find more comfortable so that may also be a consideration. For my own work I would rather have a modest but workable BS and a serious TS than a big commercial BS and a barely gets it done TS. But the shop should fit the wood worker and their circumstances. At work we have a 20" machine and anything less would be a toy, but there time is in fact money and the work can be quite large.

I met a local furniture maker a few months back and was checking out his portfolio. Nice stuff, lots of book match panels and sawn crotch veneers in his work. Lots of carved ball and claw feet and curved legs. I asked about his BS? Old 12" delta. He does all his resaw up to 16" BY HAND WITH A BOW SAW! How's that for a gloat. "I just resawed 16", don't own a BS..."

[James Carmichael]

I have to agree with a bunch above, you should be able to do some good resawing on your griz, however, if it were me, and I had the funds, I'd likely opt for the bigger bandsaw, something like Ken's MM16.

[david kramer]

I have a grizzly 555x (it's a little more robust than the 555 and has bearings instead of guide blocks) with riser. I find myself resawing quite a lot. Mostly making veneers. I don't love resawing, but sometimes it's the only way to accomplish some things. For example I made a toy box (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=83592) for my daughter using wood from only two boards, one maple, one walnut. I wanted to keep the box light so I went with 1/2" stock, which is not something you can usually buy. Why only use only two boards? I dunno, I thought it would be cool, I'm quirky :).

Lately I've been working on a laminated bent wood project that has required a _ton_ of resawing. I've been working with 8-9" cherry boards, which IMHO is asking a lot of this saw. I switched from a Timberwolf 3/4" blade to a woodslicer 1/2" blade for this project and it's worked out pretty well. Resawing these boards takes some patience, but if you take the time to set up the saw correctly, and use featherboards, you can get really nice results with minimal waste.

I would say that if you find yourself thinking about projects that need resawing, then a riser for your current saw is a good way to test the waters. If you can't imagine a need to resaw, then you probably don't have one...

Good luck.
David

[Rick Fisher]

I would upgrade to a bigger bandsaw over a bigger table saw.

I resaw, and rip all my lumber on my bandsaw. I generally only buy 8/4 stock and rip / resaw all of it.

The biggest benifit to resawing, as suggested earlier is grain matching.. I use a lot of edge lumber and can almost create invisble glue-up's..

I also prefer to rip lumber on the bandsaw instead of the table saw. My BS has a 5hp motor, so its faster and safer than a tablesaw..

***

If you get a bigger bandsaw, you will find that your abilities with it just grow and grow, it becomes the "go-to" saw..

[Rick Moyer]

Good responses, thanks for taking the time.


Obviously everyone's mileage is going to vary, but I think the conventional wisdom would choose a cabinet saw + 14" bandsaw over a contractor saw + 17/19" bandsaw every time.

One other thought: how big is your jointer? If its not bigger than 6", you may feel limited in your ability to take advantage of more resaw capacity than you have now.

My 2 cents.
That's really what I think as well, but others don't necessarily.
Jointer is 8", still limited somewhat but that's not changing anytime soon.


Rick,

I guess I'm the contrarian; I'm not as enamored with resawing as many here. For one thing, I don't think that either book- or slip-matching are necessarily the best looks, and even if I liked them more I know I'd get tired of the look if every panel I made was resawn and matched. I agree with Steve that matching drawer faces can really make a chest of drawers, but I'd achieve that look by using wood from the same tree, so that the faces are clearly related but sufficiently different to be interesting.

I like quartered white oak for drawer sides, though, and if you've got a thick enough board, say 5/4, you can usually get 1/2" sides by resawing, even considering the potential cupping and movement that Shawn notes.

Since time is money in a commercial setting, if I'm going to put in the extra time and trouble to veneer, I'd usually want something fairly exciting, which probably means a purchased veneer from one of the specialists.
All good points Frank.


I have a grizzly 555x (it's a little more robust than the 555 and has bearings instead of guide blocks)

The G0555 has all bearings as well.

I've been working with 8-9" cherry boards, which IMHO is asking a lot of this saw.
David

That's kind of what I think and partly why I asked the question

[Alan Schwabacher]

A riser block for your bandsaw doesn't cost much. Why not get that and try resawing? It should work fine, but just be slow compared to a bigger saw with a better blade. (Make sure you resaw with a blade having no more than 3 TPI.) This will let you see whether your work will benefit more from the ability to resaw faster. Clearly, that is very valuable to some, and not to others.

Edit: Now that I've asked, I've thought of one reason you might not want to do this. It would make all your existing bandsaw blades the wrong size. That is the biggest disadvantage of this approach.

[Rick Moyer]

I'll leave it there, but I should not have asked "Would you get...".

I mainly wanted to know more of the benefits of resawing, and how much of your bandsaw use is resawing. So far it has been less than 1% of my use of my BS. I was curious if you bought a bandsaw to resaw, or you resaw because you can.

I have read some useful responses. Please keep them coming.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Rick,

I bought an MM-16 for several reasons....one it is a good saw....it will resaw 16" and because of the generosity of the folks at Mini-Max.

I had never resawn anything until earlier this week when a co-worker wanted some koa resawn for bookmatching on a guitar he's building. He couldn't find a comericial shop in his area that could do it. He is lives in an area with much higher population than I.

The point is I bought this saw so that in the event I have a need to resaw 16" or less....I can.

I have little doubt my two sons will fight over this saw after I leave this earth.