Headrest puzzle

[Prashun Patel]

I need to resaw a 7" tall piece of walnut into a curved headrest for a rocking chair. The problem is that my bandsaw is 14", with a cut capacity of 6".

I don't want to bug anyone with a 17" bandsaw to do this; did it once already on another piece.

Any thoughts of how I might do this in sections?

[Brian Kent]

I don't know how difficult it was to sculpt the seat. Could you do the same with the headrest, shaping it with the Kutzall instead of cutting on a saw?

[John Coloccia]

Maybe put an accent strip 1" from the bottom, or something like that? Not really lots of options here. I think you have to cut it if you don't want to waste all the wood. The question is how to cleverly join it so it looks nice, right? So I'm thinking a couple of accent stripes out of something like Bubinga (little reddish, not too bright) might actually look nice. Maybe darker? Rosewood?This is one of those try-it-on-scrap-first things to see how you like it.

The other thing is depending on the grain, you could it, resaw and glue up, and no one would know. I know that I frequently loose my joints and have to mark them. Of course, I'm talking about well quartered spruce. It'd have to be a pretty straight and even grain to pull it off with walnut. Even it it looks great to begin with, that could change as you carve it....no telling what's happening inside the wood.

Personally, I'd bug my buddy with the 17" bandsaw, or take it to the local mill.

[Lee Schierer]

Most head rests are made from two pieces so make yours the same way. Cut your piece of stock in half with the thinnest kerf blade you have. Cut the curve a bit oversize , glue them together and sand to the final dimensions. The seam should be nearly invisible.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Most head rests are made from two pieces so make yours the same way. Cut your piece of stock in half with the thinnest kerf blade you have. Cut the curve a bit oversize , glue them together and sand to the final dimensions. The seam should be nearly invisible.

+1. Stack up 2, 3.5" boards ripped from the same piece. Line up the seam carefully and it'll be invisible.

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks. I'm leaning towards the rip/resaw/reglue option.

The thing that I'm confused about is how to line up the curved profile tracings on the top and bottom 3.5" slices such that they'll line up.

I'm thinking to just measure carefully and then drill a couple dowelmax holes to align.

THANKS ALL!

[Lee Schierer]

Thanks. I'm leaning towards the rip/resaw/reglue option.

The thing that I'm confused about is how to line up the curved profile tracings on the top and bottom 3.5" slices such that they'll line up.

I'm thinking to just measure carefully and then drill a couple dowelmax holes to align.

THANKS ALL!

If you are going to use dowels, drill your holes first. Cut the top and use the base of the top to draw the lower half. Your dowels should line everything up, but band sawn curves can be off a bit so leave enough stock to sand to the final profile.

[Prashun Patel]

Cut the top and use the base of the top to draw the lower half....

AH, Sensei! This is the light I was looking for!!! A thousand thanks