I need help learning how to re-saw

[Silas Smith]

I just broke in my new Bridgewood 17" bandsaw today and thought I would give it a go at resawing. I had some 8 quarter mahogany and tried to cut it into 1/2 inch boards. Let's just say that the results were less than desireable. I notices that the blade would drift quite a bit and the internal part of the cut made a curve so that the middle was thicker than both ends. Being brand new to this, what blade do I need and what other tips could help me get better results.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Silas, what kind of blade are you using? You need something with few teeth (3 or 4 tpi), an aggressive tooth and large gullets. I've used Timberwolf and Woodslicer blades and prefer the Woodslicers. They cost a little more, but they last longer and cut straighter on my MM16. I guess a Lennox carbide blade would be even better, but I haven't decided to spend the $$ for on yet.

[Brad Smith]

I would add to use the widest blade you can on the saw to help stabilize it.
Also, my experience with blades I use (1 1/2" wide, 7/8 tooth spacing) is that they are not truly sharp right from the box and can use a sharpening before use.
Wandering in a cut is usually a sign of a dull blade.
My knowledge of blades comes from running a bandsaw mill, not resaws. I have read though that sometimes the wood wants to be feed from an angle different than that of your fence and it's easier to adjust your fence to that angle than to fight the wood.
And practice on poplar, not mahogany!:D

[Alan Turner]

Blade tension may also be an issue, as could overheating the blade. If the blade gets too hot, then it may stretch at the front or back (can't recall which). A smaller TPI is needed for sure. 3-4 TPI, as noted above, is good for resawing up to about 10", and a 2-3 for thicker.
Hope your dust collection is good as resawing sure puts a bunch of dust into the air.

[James Carmichael]

Blade tension may also be an issue, as could overheating the blade. If the blade gets too hot, then it may stretch at the front or back (can't recall which). A smaller TPI is needed for sure. 3-4 TPI, as noted above, is good for resawing up to about 10", and a 2-3 for thicker.
Hope your dust collection is good as resawing sure puts a bunch of dust into the air.

As everyone else has mentioned, too fine a tooth pitch can cause what you're describing. In addition to the heat, a fine tooth pitch with too small gullets doesn't clear the sawdust out of the cut. How wide are you resawing? It could also be you don't have the blade tensioned sufficiently. The tension guides that come on bandsaws are not very useful, other than to serve as a reference once you figure out how much works best for your saw/blade/application.

As Alan said, resawing is one of the messier cuts you can make and ironically, bandsaws usually have the worst dust collection of any shop tool. I'm not familiar with your saw, but it's best to have a dc port outside, below the blade (this is the one mfrs usually provide, but is nearly always too small) and a 4" at the bottom of the lower cabinet, left or right side.

There's some good info on American Woodworker's website and Highland Hardware's about resawing and how to diagnose problems.

[Mike Cutler]

Silas. The blade wandering and "barreling" is most likely being caused by a dull blade, and, or insufficient tension. If you are using the original blade that came with the saw, it is most likely a garbage blade. I would replace the blade with a 3 TPI blade from Lennox, ie the Tri Master, or the Bi-Metal, or a 3TPI from Timberwolf ( Sufolk Machinery). Your saw should be able to handle a 1" blade from any of those manufactures. A 3/4" blade will probably do just fine also. Avoid blades wider than 1", the diameter of your wheels will be insufficient for the wider blades. The wider blades are significantly thicker. .042-.053 vs. .035 and less. Using too wide a blade may lead to micro cracking of the blade and premature failure
The fence that came with your saw probably is not really built to support wide resawing. I would build a taller fence, or try a single point resaw fence. With my 18" Rikon I cobbed a 6" wide, 1/2" thick, and 21" long piece of aluminum to the existing fence and it works just fine, I didn't have to adjust for drift at all with a 1" Lennox Tri Master or BiMetal. I can hold the deviation to < .020
Square the blade to the table, and square the fence to the table.
Don't try to get the max tension that can be achieved, use the amount of tension required to properly resaw. The theoretical pressure's are just that. Don't drive yourself nuts trying to get 25K-30K tension pressure unless you absolutely need it.