Band saw useage question

[Randall Houghton]

How many of you resaw wood wider than 12" and how often does that occur? Just curious as maximum cutting heights greater than 12" seem to get alot of attention.

Regards Randy

[Randall J Cox]

My 18" bandsaw will only resaw to 10.5 inches and I have not hit that limit yet. I do very little resawing.... Randy

[Andrew Hughes]

Only for fun just to see how much a particular board or wood will cup. But that doesn’t mean a larger bandsaw doesn’t have its advantages. If I needed a 12 inch wide out of a good thick timber I would resaw twice at 6 1/4 .

[glenn bradley]

I have never needed to resaw over the 12" capacity of my saw. Very close to it about once a year but, definitely the exception. Most of my material is in the neighborhood of 8" width.

[John TenEyck]

I have several times, up to about 14", but it's a small fraction of my resawing/veneer slicing. 6 - 12" is the bulk of my work. But having a BS with 16" resaw capability means it has a powerful (5 hp) motor on it which makes resawing narrower stock very efficient. To me that's a major benefit when resawing 12" stock compared to a smaller saw with only 3 hp.

John

[Mike Kees]

The 14'' Resaw capacity on my bandsaw gets used when cutting up smaller logs for lumber. Not so much for veneer.

[Jim Becker]

I personally don't resaw wide stuff that much. I believe that Brian Holcombe does, however, for veneers, etc. He and I have done a 16" wide cut in the last year on his big saw for something that was beyond the capacity of my 2004 era MM16.

[Alex Zeller]

The only time I have gone over 12" was cutting bowl blanks to turn on the lathe. Since my BS will only do 12" I cut them down to just under 12". When I bought my 19" the other choice in that price range I was interested in was the Laguna BX18. It has, I think, 16" of resaw capacity. Grizzly had a sale first so they won out. Both have a 3hp motor.

[Erik Loza]

So, a lot of the crazy resaw heights we have now came out of the "Resaw Wars" (in which I was soldier, LOL) of the late 90's/early 2000's. This was a competition between two Italian brands trying to control market share here in the US. In Europe, they don't care about resaw height. Only here in the US. In particular, the bowl turning hobby market. Folks wanting to process big chunks and burls on their how bandsaw. It became a battle of specs, so to speak. Getting back to the OP's question, IMHO, 90% of anything most of us would do could be done with 16" of vertical cutting height. That being said, I would take as much cutting WIDTH as I could possibly get. There are times when you could use more. Some veneer situations or cutting large forms. Curiously, I have also sold a number of really big bandsaws for cutting foam forms for molds and models. To the OP, If I was going to suggest one machine for the home shop, somewhere between 12"-16" resaw height would be the sweet spot in terms of $$$ vs. performance and I would favor a wider table over taller height. Hope this helps,

Erik

[Jim Becker]

Erik brings up a good point....one of the big benefits of larger bandsaws is the depth between the band and the column/spine. Even for scrolling in thin material, that additional space can sometimes make a difference for some woodworkers in how they can make their cuts with less stopping, clearing cuts, repositioning, etc. The extra height on a bigger saw is certainly nice for cutting tall things, but it's also great for actually seeing what you are working on! That said, keep in mind that many larger saws also have their table height lower which may be uncomfortable for frequent scrolling work. That right there helps reinforce the "it's a nice thing to have both a big bandsaw and a little bandsaw" idea...

[Bill Dufour]

No idea where the OP lives or what are the biggest trees he can get there. They have gotten rid of the giant bandsaws in redwood country. They just do not saw 12' diameter old growth logs anymore. I do not think you can truck haul clogs bigger the 8' diameter on a public road. One guy can not really resaw a 16" diameter log even just 6 feet long. Certainly not on a furniture type saw with no headworks or carriage to hold the log.
Bil lD

[Patrick Kane]

I am odd man out here, it seems, but ive resawn 18-19" on numerous occasions. I have several walnut crotches that are 3-4" thick that ive resawn for panels etc. When you have 18" of feather at the widest point, its a real shame to cut that down to 12" to fit on your bandsaw. I never/rarely resaw plain figured material, and in my case, the highly figured material tends to be wider material. If you are buying an 18-20" bandaw, why not get one that has a resaw capacity that matches the wheel diameter? At worst, you never use the extra capacity. I think 12" is cutting it close, but 16" would cover 90% of your bases.

Erik, I saw a modified crescent/oliver bandsaw at IRS auctions not too long ago that was the Bismarck of the resaw war. Modified to 40"+ resaw height. The saw had to be 12'+ tall, it looked absurd and awesome.

[Bill Dufour]

This redwood sawmill says their bandsaw is 7' diamter with 11" wide blades. I did not see the resaw height mentioned. I would guess at least 3' at a minimum since the blade is 43' feet long
Bil lD.
https://bigcreeklumber.com/sawmill-tour/

[Erik Loza]

...Erik, I saw a modified crescent/oliver bandsaw at IRS auctions not too long ago that was the Bismarck of the resaw war. Modified to 40"+ resaw height. The saw had to be 12'+ tall, it looked absurd and awesome.

That's insane, Patrick!

Erik

[Jim Becker]

Bill, the bandmill likely is setup for horizontal cutting, not vertical like saws we use in our shops. Hearne Hardwoods has a machine that has specifications like you mention...10" wide band that's really long. I posted a video last year of them cutting up a "yuge" walnut log into slabs if I recall clearly.

[Bill Dufour]

It has been 30 years since I last took a tour of a sawmill. Back then all the bandsaws were vertical. The only reason I can think of is that it would not be a good idea to have several tons of log fall down and pinch a horizontal blade. I suppose it also makes installing the blade easier since you can lift at only one point not both ends at once. Of course as soon as a slab is cut it is flipped flat and sent on it's way.
It still surprises me to see a logging truck with more then one log. It just seems like what is the point to be hauling such small stuff. Of course intellectually I know all the old growth is gone.
Bill D

[Osvaldo Cristo]

How many of you resaw wood wider than 12" and how often does that occur? Just curious as maximum cutting heights greater than 12" seem to get alot of attention.

Regards Randy

I cannot saw anything beyond 6.5" with my band saw.

OTOH I really would like to get up to 12" as it looks me the "magic number" for that application but I have to confess I have coped with my limitation without traumas!

[John K Jordan]

How many of you resaw wood wider than 12" and how often does that occur? Just curious as maximum cutting heights greater than 12" seem to get alot of attention.

Regards Randy

My Rikon 18" will saw 12.25 inches and I'm pushing that a lot, not necessarily resawing dry wood boards but instead sawing green wood. I often wish I had 14" height.

(When I have something bigger I use a the woodmizer sawmill which will handle up to 28", although the cut is not smooth.)

JKJ

[Jeff Bartley]

I think you can still buy a Northfield 36/36, 36" wheel with 36" resaw. Would not be inexpensive!

[Jim Becker]

Bill, it occurs to me that the really big saw I mentioned actually is a vertical saw. I've never seen a horizontal saw that had an issue with the band getting caught by the weight of the log, even for a "halfling" cut through the pith or something like that.

[Tom Trees]

If you ask me, cut quality is what's important :)
It's all about a machine that can honestly handle a 1" Woodmaster CT
That means having a machine close to 300kg for the best results.
Look at this thread from John above...
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?280590-The-Incredible-Woodmaster-CT

That ain't your bog standard Grizzly.
VFD's and three phase saws are cheap if you can't afford single phase new,
Probably a quarter of the price all in, and can be run from a domestic plug, compared to needing a 16 amp socket.
Might not be quite as compact of a package, compared to a 24" Italian or something along those lines, but that just means having a
bigger table which is nice.

All the best
Tom

[Josko Catipovic]

So, a lot of the crazy resaw heights we have now came out of the "Resaw Wars" (in which I was soldier, LOL) of the late 90's/early 2000's. This was a competition between two Italian brands trying to control market share here in the US. In Europe, they don't care about resaw height. Only here in the US. In particular, the bowl turning hobby market. Folks wanting to process big chunks and burls on their how bandsaw. It became a battle of specs, so to speak. Getting back to the OP's question, IMHO, 90% of anything most of us would do could be done with 16" of vertical cutting height. That being said, I would take as much cutting WIDTH as I could possibly get. There are times when you could use more. Some veneer situations or cutting large forms. Curiously, I have also sold a number of really big bandsaws for cutting foam forms for molds and models. To the OP, If I was going to suggest one machine for the home shop, somewhere between 12"-16" resaw height would be the sweet spot in terms of $$$ vs. performance and I would favor a wider table over taller height. Hope this helps,

Erik

Thank you Erik, you've answered a question that's been bugging me for a long time: 'why are things like Lagunas coming with these enormous resaw heights?' The world makes a little more sense now.

As to bandsaw usage, I'm getting more of my wood from sawmills now, in slabs or wide planks, typically 8/4 to 10/4, and having a large bandsaw to handle the first dimensioning cuts is really helpful. I did get some 20+" wide pine, too, but, on this forum's advice, found someone with a sawmill to resaw it. (I did a set of traditional 6-plank seachests, and having wide planks was important to me.) As I learn to dry wood, I find I can resaw 12-16" wide, straight planks, and I like to showcase them in the work I do. Haven't learned to resaw veneer yet, but it's on the list for this winter.