Can a Bandsaw create Resawn Finish?

[Chris Bart]

I've been lurking on the site for a while now and this is my first post. I want to know what is the best way to create a resawn finish for exterior trim on a house. I purchased some DF beams already resawn from the lumber supplier an it was very expensive. Now I need some 2x and 5/4 trim in various widths to trim out doors, windows and siding. Can a bandsaw make that rough finish or would the finish be too smooth? I don't currently have a bandsaw to experiment with but would purchase one if it will do the job. Sawmill Creek has been a great source of information for me, many thanks to all the knowledgeable and generous people.

[Joe Wood]

I haven't tried it but someone once told me to bend a few of the teeth out of line a bit .. might work.

[Sam Force]

I currently have a 3TPI hook blade on my BS. It leaves a resawn look. I would not intentionally bend a tooth

[Bill McNiel]

Yes, bandsaws are a primary tool for producing a resawn finish and with the proper blade no teeth need to be "bent".

[John TenEyck]

If the stuff you bought was cut with a bandsaw then you can recreate it. A bandsaw cuts straight across the grain, or at a slight angle. The smoothness of the finish depends upon the type of blade used and how well the saw was set up. You may need to try different blades and/or modify them to get the same look. Bending a few teeth is perfectly legit if that's what it takes.

However, if the stuff was cut on a circular mill it will have semi-circular marks on it and a bandsaw won't be able to give you the same look no matter what.

John

[Chris Bart]

Thanks for the replies. What would you recommend for a bandsaw? Most material will be 6" to 8" tall with some 10" tall. I am looking for used but not a lot available. Just missed out on a Hitachi CB 75F, is that an appropriate saw? I need a machine that can process the material efficiently.

[Jim Dwight]

If they are trim boards you don't really care about the distance from the blade to the column. But to get to around 12 inches of resaw capacity you would want a 14 inch saw. You can put a riser block on a cast iron one limited to 6 inch resaw but it probably won't tension a blade bigger than 1/2 inch. That will resaw but I don't know if the appearance would be consistent with the wood you have. I have a steel frame Jet that will resaw 13 inches. It's motor is 1 3/4 hp which is the smallest I think you should consider if there are 8 inch pieces. Maybe 1.5hp. New these saws are normally about $1200. Cast iron models are considerably cheaper but might or might not give you the look you want.

If you can possibly find somebody near you to cut a board or two for you it would tell you a lot. You might even get a bandsaw sales outlet (like Woodcraft) to let you cut a small board on one of their show room models. If a 1/2 blade gives you the look you want it would help reduce your cost for the saw.

[Jamie Buxton]

Thanks for the replies. What would you recommend for a bandsaw? Most material will be 6" to 8" tall with some 10" tall. I am looking for used but not a lot available. Just missed out on a Hitachi CB 75F, is that an appropriate saw? I need a machine that can process the material efficiently.

To buy a new bandsaw with a 10" resaw capacity, you're looking at a thousand dollars or more -- look at the Grizzly web site. If you have a source for resawn trim, you can buy a lot of it for the cost difference of a thousand dollars.

[Patrick Kane]

A blade with more set will give you a rougher finish. If you already have the material at the dimension you want, but want to rough up the surface, you can feed the board through the bandsaw backwards. You set the fence a smidgen tight to the blade for the thickness of your workpiece and then feed it through.

Hard to recreate a circular mill marks.

[Edwin Santos]

Hi,
I have purposely done what I think you are describing for a small table where I was seeking a rough finish. I did not use any special blade or do anything to the teeth. What I did was use a coarse 3tpi blade, and open up the blade guides very wide (this is the opposite of what we are usually trying to do for a very true cut). The result was a lot of side to side blade movement which in turn created a rough effect. See the photos and decide if it is along the lines of what you are seeking. I had a jig to hold the workpiece at an angle so the scoring lines would be diagonal.

It did occur to me that if I wanted the finish rougher, it might be possible by reducing the blade tension some, maybe to the point where there is a bit of flutter or just above that point. If you do this, then definitely do not back off the thrust bearing so it will be there to prevent your blade from coming off the tire. And don't feed too hard, let the blade do it's work. A cheap crappy blade would be better for a task like this.
Edwin

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[Wes Grass]

I'm thinking if you want a rough finish, you're gonna need a big saw with lots of horsepower to handle the feed rate you're going to need to generate it.

[Edwin Santos]

An idea just occurred to me. If you are an enterprising DIY type, it might very well be possible to buy a 3 1/4" hand held power planer and take dremel with a cutting wheel to a set of knives to create toothed blades. Basically you would have a power toothing plane. I just looked it up and replacement blades are ridiculously cheap, like under $10. Not sure if it would be the look you're after. Obviously you're not cutting the wood to dimension, just texturing the surface so the hand held tool should be adequately powerful.

I know a millwork guy that reground a set of portable planer blades into a camber to simulate a scrub plane and uses it on beams to successfully create a hand hewn look. This is what gave me the idea that a variation might work for you.

[Ira Matheny]

To get a 're-sawn' look to a board, use a band saw. However, you do not want to feed the wood into the bandsaw as you would do when normally cutting. You will want to drag the face of the wood backwards to the teeth of BS blade at an angle.

The resulting texture can be changed or altered by the way you do this thusly;
[1] adjusting the angle, [2] varying the speed at which you send the board against the teeth, [3] the tooth configuration on the BS blade.

You do not need to ruin a blade by bending teeth. [Or a power planer!]
You probably can replicate most any texture with any BS blade simply by trial and error using the 3 steps outlined above. Very simple.
Been there. Done that, Many times.

[John K Jordan]

I’ve resawn dry beams and lumber on my Woodmizer sawmill and it leaves a surface that looks like it was, well, cut on a sawmill - imagine that! You might find a local sawmill or farmer with a mill willing to cut your trim if you bring the wood. It should be quick. You prob don’t need all 4 sides trimmed.

The teeth on mine are pretty coarse, fewer that 1 tpi.