Resawing with a 14" Bandsaw

[John Bailey]

I would like to hear from those who use a 14" bandsaw to resaw. I won't be doing a lot of resawing, but there will be some. Do they work well if one is patient? If using the riser block, can they do 12"? Is it the saw or the power that makes the most difference?

Thanks for your thoughts.

John

[Jerry Crawford]

John, My Delta has a riser and there IS a fat 12" under the guide at max height. Assuming a well tuned band saw of about any make, IMHO, the important parts of resawing are the blade and motor with setup & technique a close second.

[Keith Christopher]

I would have to agree the setup of the bandsaw is most important. You will also need to determine the blade drift and adjust your fence accordingly. A thicker blade will help greatly with resawing also.

[Mark Singer]

Blade must be square to table. Joint both edges of board. Determine drift angle and set fence accordingly. Use a featherboard to keep the bottom of the piece against the fence. Use a min 1/2'' 3 or 4 TPI. Raker blade...like a timberwolf or Lenox. That shoud work well. Don' overtension the blade.

[John Bailey]

Thanks for the tips. I take these tips to mean that resawing with a 14" bandsaw is very doable given the proper setup.

[Jerry Crawford]

oh sure. I'd suggest you also do quite a bit of practicing on junk wood befor you set up to try making veneer from that piece of fiddleback walnut. :D

[Ted Shrader]

John -

As the others have said it can be done. Patience is definitely required. The cut will not be as smooth as with a larger saw with a wider blade and more power. But it can be done - just will require a little more finish work on the offf cut piece.

A well tuned is the key!

Ted

[Curt Harms]

More power!! (and a good blade). I swapped a 3/4 h.p. Grizz motor for a 1.5 hp. GE motor. Huge differene. If I were in the market and could find a used old Delta with a shot motor...

Curt

[Jim Becker]

I did some resawing with the 14" Jet that I had prior to upgrading and it did fine as long as I had the right blade, the right amount of tension and took my time...read: very slow. The major issue was power, but pushing too hard also resulted in some flex in the whole machine. It's important to remember that most of these 14" US-design saws are not all that stiff and yes, cast iron bends. That all said, using the right blade is very important and if you did one thing to improve the machine, upgrade the motor to something stronger as Curt did. Or better yet, consider one of the "new generation" saws that while still 14" are made beefier in a more Euro design (Mini Max and Laguna have entries in a price range similar to a premium Delta BS) or something like the Grizzly G0513 which is also very reasonably priced for what you get and can handle big jobs much better than most 14" saws.

[Mark Singer]

Jim has a good point , if you don't own the 14" already....by the time you put in the riser , etc...you could get a saw with much more potential and Jim mentioned some good ones.

[John Bailey]

Thanks all,

Again, I've received many fine tips from you guys that are going to make my decision making a lot easier. I'm still leaning towards a 14" bs, but haven't ruled out something bigger. Right now, the new shop I'm building has been put to rest for the winter. I didn't get it enclosed and it's wrapped in plastic under 2 ft. of snow here in the snow belt of Northern Michigan.

[Tom Sontag]

Allow me to throw some cold water on this discussion. I owned a Delta 14" with riser and yes, it can resaw some. Even thicker pieces. But frankly the entire operation was so consistently an exercise in frustration that I gave it away and got a real saw. This is supposed to be fun.

I had a 3/4hp motor which is way too small, especially if you add a riser block and want to resaw 6-12" stuff. And be honest - the riser block idea is a makeshift answer to getting a bigger saw. I personally have had litttle success coaxing enjoyable experiences from tricked out super modified tools. When you set everything just so, take it very slowly with a new blade, and somehow the cut bows or drifts and ruins your irreplaceable veneer board, you'll know that the money part of doing it right the first time is a small price to pay.

If you think you are in this hobby to stay, you will turn to the BS much more often if it consistently delivers for you.