Resawing - does this sound like a good idea (long)?

[Larry Fox]

I plan on building a set of kitchen cabinets this winter and the style that SWMBO has picked out calls for a flat panel in the doors as opposed to a raised panel. I will be building the cabinets using face-frame construction in cherry and my first thought here was to use cherry plywood. However, I scored quite a bit of cherry in a recent (gloat worthy) haul and would prefer to use solid wood. Most of the stock is about 5.5" wide and 15/16" thick. The bit set that I have for the rails and styles cuts a 1/4" groove to accept the panel. One thought I had was to glue-up a panel and plane it down to the necessary thickness but it feels very wasteful to plane ~11/16 off of a perfectly clear piece of FAS cherry to get a 1/4" thick panel. I then thought about resawing it and that I would be able to be less wasteful and get better grain matching etc. But I don't have a bandsaw and was wondering if anyone has experience resawing with a tablesaw. I figure that I could joine one face, set the blade height to just over 1/2 the width of the board and run it through, then flip it end-for-end and run it through again (keeping the jointed face against the fence for both cuts). I would set it up so that it made me feel safe doing it but I don't see how I cna use a splitter so that makes me a bit nervious.

Does this sound like a feasible (and safe) idea or should I abandon the idea or find someone with a bandsaw? I would certainly rather waste a truckload of FAS cherry planing it to 1/4" than get hit with a kickback so safety is my primary concern.

Thanks in advance for your time . . .

L

[Andy Hoyt]

Sure, it's doable. But the saw kerf will waste enough stock that you'll really wish you had a bandsaw. Especially since you'll have to plane everything and you may not like the thickness you end up with.

So here's you chance for a bandsaw gloat. The cost of the saw is nothing compared to the savings achieved over store bought cabinetry.

Or find a friend with one.

[Greg Heppeard]

If you have the wood available, I would use a reverse raised panel. I like the solid sound of a reverse raised panel when the doors close over the "rattly" sound of a flat, 1/4" plywood panel. That would save the work of resawing, but you use more wood.

[Jim W. White]

Larry,

In my opinion, you really wouldn't want to take it down to 1/4" regardless of the method. The style panel your refer to instead calls for a 1/2" panel which has a 1/4" inset on the front and sits flush with the back of the door. This configuration is acheived with a 3/8" wide by 1/4" deep rabbet around all four edges of the panel.

Resawing stock with a tablesaw the way you have mentioned is very doable. However, in your application it is not practical as gluing up panels that are cut down to even 1/2" thickness does not work nearly as good as edge gluing 3/4" stock and then planing it down to the desired thickness. I, Personally, would not even consider edge gluing 1/4" stock. It would not glue up flat, nor with any integrity IMHO.

Sorry for the doom outlook, but you really would be more disapointed after wasting a bunch of cherry trying....:o

Jim W

[Chris Giles]

Larry,
When you try to feed the board through the way you are describing, it will try to close on the blade at the bottom of the cut. As it pinches the blade, it will get real hot, produce smoke, and begin to distort from the heat until it siezes up entirely. I know, because i"ve done it more than once. Taking a series of lighter cuts up to the halfway point will work better, but the board will still close on the blade, and the repeated cuts will keep shearing off the outer edge thickness of the wood, until you end up- with a board that is thick in the center, and thinner at the edges. It is also very dangerous holding the final piece thru the blade; It is quite thin, not flat, and the blade is cranked way up. Do yourself and your family a favor and either get a bandsaw to resaw it, or use the plywood. If it were me, I'd use the veneer (3/8" on mdf) because of the grain quality and convenience alone. If your anything like me, you won't have any trouble finding uses for that cherry in the near future.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Larry,

Let us all know where you are from... there may be someone close with a bandsaw that can help you resaw it.

Also, I agree that I wouldn't go with 1/4 inch panels of solid wood. 1/2inch is the minimum that I would go, you just need to either raise the back of the panel, the front of the panel or cut a rabet in them.

[Lee DeRaud]

For what it's worth, we did this thread awhile back:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=23901

[Larry Fox]

Jeff, I am in Glenmoore PA - western Chester county for any Philly metro readers.

However, I really like the suggestion of reversing the panel or cutting a rabit in the edge. Greg mentions the ""rattly" sound of a flat, 1/4" plywood panel" and I could not agree with hime more which is the primary reason I want to avoid ply if I can. It sounds like I can go with a much thicker panel and achieve the result I want which is a really nice looking and solid feeling door and do it safely.

Thanks for all the great info and suggestions and certainly welcome any more you might have. If it were up to me, I would make a traditional raised panel door, but as we all know, it isn't up to me on this one. :)

L

[Larry Fox]

Jeff, I am in Glenmoore PA - western Chester county for any Philly metro readers.

However, I really like the suggestion of reversing the panel or cutting a rabit in the edge. Greg mentions the ""rattly" sound of a flat, 1/4" plywood panel" and I could not agree with hime more which is the primary reason I want to avoid ply if I can. It sounds like I can go with a much thicker panel and achieve the result I want which is a really nice looking and solid feeling door and do it safely.

Thanks for all the great info and suggestions and certainly welcome any more you might have. If it were up to me, I would make a traditional raised panel door, but as we all know, it isn't up to me on this one. :)

L

[Larry Fox]

Thanks for the link Lee - I didn't see the earlier thread but will give it a read. However, I think other posters have succeded in talking me out of the idea of using a thin panel.

Sorry to all about the double post above - my browser appeared to hang and I stopped and resubmitted.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Larry I would agree with Greg. Use the reversed raised panel. It will save you wood and will sound a lot better. You will have a better door. We did this on my brothers cabinets and it worked slick. I was a little skeptical at first as I had suggested 1/4" cherry plywood. A old contractor friend of his suggested we do the reverse raised panel.

[John Bailey]

Larry,

I've never done cabinets, so I can't speak to that, but I used to cut many thin boards on a table saw to make dulcimers. That was many years ago when I didn't know any better. I wouldn't do it that way now. I find it too dangerous. I'm sure there are those with more skill and better equipment that would be able to handle the procedure with safety, but it won't be me. I now find a friend with a bandsaw to cut 1/8th" boards for me. They come out very clean and by the time I spend a little time sanding, they are just the right thickness. That would be my suggestion, if, of course, you don't use this as an excuse to get a nice bandsaw.

John

[Vaughn McMillan]

...Sorry to all about the double post above - my browser appeared to hang and I stopped and resubmitted.
Larry, I think all double-posters should be flogged.

- Vaughn

[Vaughn McMillan]

...Sorry to all about the double post above - my browser appeared to hang and I stopped and resubmitted.
Larry, I think all double-posters should be flogged. :)

- Vaughn

[Guy Boulianne]

...Taking a series of lighter cuts up to the halfway point will work better, but the board will still close on the blade, and the repeated cuts will keep shearing off the outer edge thickness of the wood, until you end up- with a board that is thick in the center, and thinner at the edges. It is also very dangerous holding the final piece thru the blade; It is quite thin, not flat, and the blade is cranked way up. .....

True.... I Know. I have done it a few times and will probably again BUT I don't raise the blade up to half the width of the board, I leave (about) 1/4" of wood in the middle and finish it with a hand saw (japenese style works great for this). This a soluton for small projects. And true also that edge gluing under a certain thichness is not easy and/or does not produce good results.

This procedure has been described in one of the magazine, in a downloadable article called "The wordrousl world of resawing", they describe both bandsaw and tablesaw techniques dor resawing..... Oups.... in this article they go over half the thickness of the stock and complete the, that I am not comfortable with....

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I don't see the 'rattly' sound as a problem unless someone is slamming the doors...which would be planty irritating no matter the thickness of the panel. I wouldn't hesitate to resaw what you have. Leave it is thick as you can...with a bandsaw you could easily come away with 3/8", and maybe even get that from a tablesaw resaw. I'll throw in my 'good excuse for a drum sander' here...you might not get good results from the planer on 3/8" panels.

KC

[Chris Giles]

Guy,
Your idea of going most of the way through the board is a much safer approach to this problem. I have done it this way, and it does work quite well, but I only do it on small projects (hate to do a whole kitchen this way!). I have experimented with a technique where you use the TS to kerf both edges of the board about 1 1/2" deep, then resaw on the bandsaw the remaining stock in the center. This actually makes the bandsaw operation much easier to control, especially if your blade is getting dull, or if you are having trouble resawing straight for any reason. The blade will track in the saw kerf consistantly. The type of wood you are using, as well as TS blade sharpness and type of saw being used will all effect how deep this kerf should be.