Resawing Purple Heart

[Marty Matisoff]

I tried to resaw purple heart on a 12" Craftsman bandsaw? Despite accounting for drift and setting my fence, the wood starts to cut and then veers to the right. Do I need a larger and/or a large blade?

[Prashun Patel]

Purpleheart isn't for the faintofheart.

What height are you trying to resaw and what kind of blade are you using?

[Metod Alif]

Marty,
It is hard to tell but your saw might be a culprit. Take time and study some good articles on bandsaw setting/tuning. For my taste and understanding, Michael Fortune is the best (I am not implying that some others are not equally as good). Search for his article in Fine Woodworking magazine from a few years ago. A bandsaw should have no drift. If there is one, it should only be due to the blade and not the body of the saw. Hone the teeth of a blade only on one side a bit - and you have a drifty performance. The difference between purple heart and other woods should be only in the feed rate.
Best wishes,
Metod

[Bill Huber]

You didn't say what width of blade you are using and you need a 1/2" or better and it needs to be sharp.

Purple heart is very dense and you will need to feed it very slow. I have a 14" Jet saw and with a 1/2" blade and a slow feed rate I have done Purple Heart with no problem.

[Jeff Duncan]

As the others said, more information is needed. Re-sawing any wood requires a good sharp blade with a low tooth count and a saw with plenty of power. The wider the stock goes, the more important those things are;)

good luck,
JeffD

[Prashun Patel]

I humbly disagree with Bill that you need a 1/2" blade. I wonder if your saw would be able to properly tension a 1/2" blade. Rather, I'd use a 3/8" blade with as low a tpi you can find (2 or 3). Another nice to have is teeth that are "raker set".

You could also resaw with a point fence.

[Peter Quinn]

Aside from potential saw related issues, Purple Heart is one of those woods which may not lend itself particularly well to resaw. It's a board by board issue. I had to process some for a client last year.....spastic basket case, wouldn't stay flat, tons of tension in it, four or five 5/4 x 6" boards all crazy. I can't imagine resawing that off a fence. Sometimes you are better off using a uni point fence or scribing a line and going freehand if the cut is thick enough, because the tension released can easily push your stock off the cut line.

[Richard Coers]

The two most critical factors in resawing is tooth count and feeding speed. You also don't mention how wide the board is. Use a 3 tooth per inch, brand new quality blade, and a feed rate so slow that no dust is left in the kerf. People use wide blades so they can cut faster. Use the proper feed, and you can resaw with a 3/8" blade as mentioned.

[Erik Loza]

When we had David Marks teach a bent-lam seminar for us, he was using a Lenox Die-master to cut strips of Purple Heart.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Peter Quinn]

When we had David Marks teach a bent-lam seminar for us, he was using a Lenox Die-master to cut strips of Purple Heart.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Cool...I love his work and that's the resaw blade on my machine presently! But do they make one that fits a 12" craftsman? IIR the 2/3 tooth style for resaw started pretty wide?

I did a quick search of the Lennox site, they list a die master 2 Bimetal , lowest tooth count is 3tpi 1/2" width, but its marketed as a contour cutting blade, the old "diemaster" line is now called the "classic pro" if I understand correctly, but those are for big saws, like a minimax for instance.

[Erik Loza]

Cool...I love his work and that's the resaw blade on my machine presently! But do they make one that fits a 12" craftsman? IIR the 2/3 tooth style for resaw started pretty wide?

I did a quick search of the Lennox site, they list a die master 2 Bimetal , lowest tooth count is 3tpi 1/2" width, but its marketed as a contour cutting blade, the old "diemaster" line is now called the "classic pro" if I understand correctly, but those are for big saws, like a minimax for instance.

That's a good question, Peter, I am not sure. It would probably take some experimentation to get the blade size matched to that saw and for sure, feed rate will need particular attention. I might give the Woodslicer a shot, as well. I do know that David M. was always using a big machine for his work, a-la Sam Maloof, which makes everything easier.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Sam Stephens]

i have a 12" craftsman bs that i regularly use for resawing -walnut, cherry, maple and other hardwoods (limited of course to 6" resaw height b/c of the saw). Not sure if I've resawn purpleheart. Can't recall the blade I use offhand (nothing fancy though), but it's a 1/2" 3 tpi. You should have zero drift (and I do mean zero) as others mentioned. This following the drift line business is nonsense imo. Setup is key. I found this video w/ alex snodgrass to be extremely helpful when setting up my BS. A slow and steady feed rate is also important especially on a smaller saw (1/2hp?).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU

[Stan Mitchell]

i have a 12" craftsman bs that i regularly use for resawing -walnut, cherry, maple and other hardwoods (limited of course to 6" resaw height b/c of the saw). Not sure if I've resawn purpleheart. Can't recall the blade I use offhand (nothing fancy though), but it's a 1/2" 3 tpi. You should have zero drift (and I do mean zero) as others mentioned. This following the drift line business is nonsense imo. Setup is key. I found this video w/ alex snodgrass to be extremely helpful when setting up my BS. A slow and steady feed rate is also important especially on a smaller saw (1/2hp?).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU

Oh! Excellent video. Thanks for sharing.

[Peter Quinn]

You should have zero drift (and I do mean zero)....

I think there is a petition to amend the TOS for the creek to include "Drift or no drift" among the list of things which cannot be discussed, such as religion and politics. Touchy subjects all. I for instance am more than happy with drift, I flow around it like water over rocks. I think that spending inordinate amounts of time tweaking the wheels with each blade change to get the blade to track in some random straight line to avoid what amounts to a few seconds fence adjustment makes little sense. I've yet to find a set of adjustments that allows any blade placed not the saw to "track" equally and without drift. I'm going from 3/16" scroll blades to 1` 1/4" resaw blades, and they place very different amounts of stress on the saw's frame, wheels, etc. So its a total tune up each time to get the blade to match the fence….or a three second adjustment to get the fence to match the blade. Hmmmmm……do the guys in the "tracking" camp get enough oxygen, or do they just have more time on their hands? Ok, I'm getting a little sarcastic, I apologize for that, no insult intended, I just can't resist pointing out strongly that opinions vary on the subject…..and I'd be willing to go out on a limb and state that your results won't be much different with either school of though.

[Brian W Smith]

I hear ya Peter on certain subjects causing stratification,haha.Ideally a shop has two BS's.......one larger(no drift) resaw machine and a smaller contour,drift away saw.

We run "enough" PH through our resaw that it has taught me about sharp vs not-so BS blades.Lengthy discussion on resawing exotics......like some other subjects,you might not want to "cut to the chase".The learning curve is invaluable in the overall understanding of the subject.That curve is going to be different for every shop.So,saying or expousing any one technique as "gospel" pretty much ends most discussions.

One hint on them(exotics) besides blade tech is........use air to help chip evac.It also has some cooling property's.

[Bradley Gray]

Purpleheart contains silica which is very hard on steel. I once carved a mandolin back & neck from it and spent a lot of time sharpening. You might have better luck if you cut as much as you can on a table saw from both edges and just use the band saw on the bit left in the middle. If you only have 6" of capacity on the band saw a table saw might do the whole job. Start with about an inch of blade exposed rip from both edges (flip end over end) raise the blade and repeat.