Best BandSaw Blade for ReSawing

[tim walker]

I have some 12/4 mesquite, about 3 ft long and 12" wide. What size blade would you recommend for resawing? I assume I can get about 3 slabs

TIA

[Jerry Wright]

Don't know about "best", but a 1/2", 3 tpi, hook tooth blade will do the job in my shop.

[Van Huskey]

What saw is this going on, this makes a huge difference in the recommendation. The second question is how often will you be doing this, that is to say do you want a budget blade for a one off resaw or do you want a long lasting blade that will stay sharp after many such cutting sessions but will have a much higher initial cost?

[Keith Hankins]

I've been using my Laguna carbide blade forever and would not go back to regular blade. Also if still in play, call them and mention you are a creaker and you get a discount on the blade.

[tim walker]

I have a minimax 16. I guess, your honor, I should rephrase the question. What is the optimum blade width for resaw. I have 1/8", 1/4" 1/2" and 1" blades.

[Van Huskey]

I have a minimax 16. I guess, your honor, I should rephrase the question. What is the optimum blade width for resaw. I have 1/8", 1/4" 1/2" and 1" blades.

With a MM16 you have the full array of blade types to choose from since it has adequate tensioning abilities.

With resawing you are looking for the highest beam strength your saw can provide. Beam strength is a product of the cross section of the blade (width and thickness) and the tension the saw can produce. A 1" x .035" carbide or bi-metal blade will be right at the very top of a MM16's ability to tension but will have the most beam strength. The "best" resaw blades for a MM16 IMO would be either a 1" Trimaster, Woodmaster CT or Resaw King (note the RK is a thinner gauge blade). Obviously, beam strength is not the ONLY factor since TPI, tooth geometry etc are also important but of the three blades I mentioned only the Trimaster has variations in the 1" blade, in that case I prefer the 2/3 variable pitch blade for tall resawing.

If you are simply choosing from the blades you currently have the 1" is the "best" choice.

[tim walker]

Thanks Van, that begs another question. Since I only have a 6" jointer, should I cut lengths to fit jointer therefore my resaw cuts wouldn't be with a really tall board and may be more accurate? I do have a 12"+ planer and a 16-32 drum sander.

[Van Huskey]

Thanks Van, that begs another question. Since I only have a 6" jointer, should I cut lengths to fit jointer therefore my resaw cuts wouldn't be with a really tall board and may be more accurate? I do have a 12"+ planer and a 16-32 drum sander.

Different people will do this different ways.

When I cut veneer wider than my jointer I plane one face flat either by hand or using a jointer sled and don't worry about the faces being parallel as I jsut use my BS to cut the other face parallel then start cutting veneer.

For getting boards from a slab you will either need to get one of the edges flat to ride on the table of the BS (via jointer or straight line ripping) and flatten one face if it is very rough. The option if you want to keep the live edge is building a sled to hold it going through the BS. Usually when doing what I think you are doing (making 3 boards from a slab) I will get my flat edge (to reference on the table) and just make the two cuts and mill the three boards from there. You just have to decide if you are going to go to the extra trouble to mill boards wider than your jointer in order to keep the wide stock, if you are going to cut them down then do that before you resaw them since it will make life easier, no point resawing 12" boards to cut them in half to finish milling them.

[Prashun Patel]

If it were I with your equipment, I would rip the slab into 6" pieces, then resaw each one.

Mark all your boards with each rip and resaw cut. It's very easy to get turned around making grain direction and pattern matching a pain. Mark on the ends.

I have a saw capable of tensioning a 1" blade, but if you are not planning to do this on a production basis, you can get away with perfectly acceptable resaw cuts using a 1/2" blade. Since you have a 1" I'd use that. However, I would also experiment with using your 1/2" blade so you can feel what kind of difference it makes. Resawing with different thickness blades really gave me an understanding of what my saw can do, and how it's just as much about the user and feed rate as it is about the blade.

[tim walker]

Pics of the slabs. There are some checks I will have to deal with. 355622 355623 355624

Will be in West Texas next week so maybe can find some more. These trees must have been huge as most mesquite these days is only 3-6"