Slicing Veneer with the Amazing Woodmaster CT

[John TenEyck]

After the recent discussion about resaw blades, I thought I would show some photos I took today slicing some walnut veneer. Here's a photo of my bandsaw, with an auxiliary tall fence, roller feather board developed by John Lanciani, and of course a Woodmaster CT, 1" x 1.3 tpi in this case.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AL9nZEWLJW7aOCK9pc7dMWN9In3T7GOgWvG40gA_D0OGdHsrga 6zZ8gnuiBtBnB-flsyb4dtPHzkNTSjiE3ILx45XNGXnJAdfXOFJEslnGXvN_UCfv AnJhU_IMvrxxnE60QCoFZEX1YZxOTB8uyd91kciOXV8A=w503-h893-no?authuser=1

The tall fence is just MDF, but it's made like a torsion box and clamped to both the stock fence and to the table at the front to resist lateral forces from the feather board so it won't tilt.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AL9nZEV8qhlLJyOKk_D9yrPAXIat7p2IRIyWj42DAIk0EP7sQi LzZvKX2a0jFe6klp-_A2NgokMdwVw4TaYyDfE0joeSKFoksOZMEl-w62vmGs3FUthjJ-3lCfdq0PLjMGcG2r1eoEr7eXtG7uC1mE1EHZrJ5Q=w503-h893-no?authuser=1

Here's the star of the show. It has a fair number of miles on it, enough that I resharpened it about a year ago following the method shown by Derek Cohen.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AL9nZEV96xJCR1Q9Xle0NigfixaJTw7U5Iig7tRJFrGVxq0wVs SKFs4bS-xWeaok0JmfSlXqCnSh6-_G8UBQD8NXXgEBJf2Bj_IaIRlLYMNVwCvz1YQik47bk4rpOpaQ IGhY8sQe0ZjjntwyQKPUq5cMprYL9A=w503-h893-no?authuser=1


I sliced a 1-3/4" thick walnut board just under 12" wide and about 44" long into 9 slices just over 0.10" thick. Eight are shown in this photo.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AL9nZEXEQ2NsiMzNAy5Gp3ImEJNqipnKQqFYaXM2VLWgKIKnMP 9R6ZqLMj9Qv6aLYz8uDPfP2bwALfu5gPdRwmG_p3kaHZQajXr2 Y1pfRYxNEBxLjY4L1WatOTOj5EtIcZhU6GErohGPUi-kulTamGhzBYk70A=w1470-h828-no?authuser=1


A close up.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AL9nZEWB10NsTTKShMUL8HnkQTxVyx1w8B3nr4eM4gn0FFVUW4 i_6g8mMH-VdP4ZbiLjS78nBcL4urCcf8Qct5ShF_uYILYRX1eKxWEn2W29u xoUTSKs2u7NxY95hjqV02SoMgIvNEbBuCHBGkPqIrMuUtSjRg= w1470-h828-no?authuser=1


And even closer.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AL9nZEWPAMudaJ4Qd1NwCUA_F4Y8p3EzGzwfRLFsSKX6PyB-5oWdwyT3zTXqU32n5gxihMpeB6hxZwxLzGo2S3TXu4G1NKA5d-W1VEVjDPGjkQANEnkLiSmD6hriiBsd5uu9HnLnbr9sGhMJLtQc XXIpjKv_VQ=w1470-h828-no?authuser=1

And a view down the edges.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AL9nZEW4p-qyNRMN2dnlxnIv1Ci_vCfRl0bmECeOXdYp8CXHe8vRH938e0BW 7gijFJzD4GGciSurG9q3g-AttxUGrb52nXnG6pfVDzMNVNlJvdSWlHlNfVFmVqOGFFfsUE9E Gm-vIFVXCr7SRj-ORDGtOCYP1w=w503-h893-no?authuser=1


No power feeder, just me pushing as smoothly as I can.

If you want to slice veneer, fast and efficiently, make a rigid tall fence, some sort of feather board that presses the work against it, critical for the last couple of cuts when the board is thin and flexible, and a Woodmaster CT. Of course, you have to have a bandsaw capable of tensioning it and it has to be set up well, but those are subjects for another discussion.

Anyone interested in the roller feather board or sharpening the Woodmaster CT can find relevant pages on my website.

John

[Mike King]

Nice. I personally have not found the Woodmaster CT to be that sensitive to tension -- I run it with results similar to yours on my FB510 with pressure at the 1" blade mark.

Michael Fortune also doesn't think that blade tension is that big a deal. He also has a tall fence with a roller setup he uses:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNiSQK_jWC7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[John TenEyck]

Nice. I personally have not found the Woodmaster CT to be that sensitive to tension -- I run it with results similar to yours on my FB510 with pressure at the 1" blade mark.

Michael Fortune also doesn't think that blade tension is that big a deal. He also has a tall fence with a roller setup he uses:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNiSQK_jWC7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link4


I don't know what the tension is on your saw at the 1" mark, but on mine it's 24 ksi. Actually, I think I do know, and it's not 24 ksi. The FB 510 can't apply that much on a 1" blade with the factory spring. In any case, I didn't intentionally crank up the tension beyond what Lennox thinks is appropriate for their blades or what Grizzly designed the saw to apply. The fact that the Woodmaster CT performs well across a range of tension is testament to how effective the design is.

As much as I respect Michael Fortune, I respectfully disagree - tension IS a big deal. It's what allows a blade to cut straight and resist deflection when the grain changes. With enough tension, guides are almost irrelevant when slicing veneer or resawing, and with sufficient horsepower the blade can achieve its maximum performance. I found it interesting that Fortune has a tall fence and roller feather board very similar to mine. They make resawing and slicing veneer safe and predictable.

John

[John Lanciani]

4


I don't know what the tension is on your saw at the 1" mark, but on mine it's 24 ksi. Actually, I think I do know, and it's not 24 ksi. The FB 510 can't apply that much on a 1" blade with the factory spring. In any case, I didn't intentionally crank up the tension beyond what Lennox thinks is appropriate for their blades or what Grizzly designed the saw to apply. The fact that the Woodmaster CT performs well across a range of tension is testament to how effective the design is.

As much as I respect Michael Fortune, I respectfully disagree - tension IS a big deal. It's what allows a blade to cut straight and resist deflection when the grain changes. With enough tension, guides are almost irrelevant when slicing veneer or resawing, and with sufficient horsepower the blade can achieve its maximum performance. I found it interesting that Fortune has a tall fence and roller feather board very similar to mine. They make resawing and slicing veneer safe and predictable.

John

I agree wholeheartedly John. There seems to be a direct correlation between believing that tension isn't that important and believing that "drift" is some mysterious force that requires voodoo to overcome. I've never used a Woodmaster CT (I'm a Trimaster believer) but those results speak for themselves. When I had my MM20 I could go directly from the saw to the vacuum press with my setup. A carbide blade with proper tension (25-30kpsi), high horsepower, and correct blade speeds (5,000 + fpm) get things done.

[Will Blick]

Nice post, thx for sharing...
I have not done a lot of very thin re sawing, but I might have some projects coming up that require a lot of thin veneers, so I have been gathering info on re sawing techniques. While the fence system you show is what I have done in the past, it seems there are some drawbacks to the tall fence method. A few makers sell re saw systems that slices veneer more like a deli meat slicer, i.e. the cut piece has no pressure against it. This is supposed to provide cleaner, more even cuts along the entire width and prevent burn marks, etc. I am curious how much merit you think this deli slicer method has vs. a fence. Here is a video from one maker who demonstrates it well and explains it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKxGEEbNGQc

[Jim Morgan]

Did you miss a decimal place? It doesn't really look like your veneers are <1/64".

[Andrew Hughes]

That’s a nice cut John.
I too have experienced great cuts from the woodmaster blades. Unfortunately I have not been able to sharpen my last well used woodmaster blade. I bought it to my saw service they did a ok job but not like new.

[Brian Holcombe]

Tension is definitely important with these blades if you want them to cut well with a feeder or saw tall veneers as John is doing. With my MM20 I clamped two setup blocks to the blade then tensioned it until I could fit a .004” feeler gauge, that got me in the ball park of 35k tension.

If they aren’t tensioned well then start to wear they really start to wander.

[Mike King]

I agree wholeheartedly John. There seems to be a direct correlation between believing that tension isn't that important and believing that "drift" is some mysterious force that requires voodoo to overcome. I've never used a Woodmaster CT (I'm a Trimaster believer) but those results speak for themselves. When I had my MM20 I could go directly from the saw to the vacuum press with my setup. A carbide blade with proper tension (25-30kpsi), high horsepower, and correct blade speeds (5,000 + fpm) get things done.
If you think that tension is going to solve your drift "problem," I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. Drift is solved by nothing more than correctly setting up your saw. And once it is set up properly, there's no need to change the alignment for a new blade. Michael Fortune setup his 14inch General bandsaw in 1980 and it hasn't changed it since. And he doesn't run his bandsaws (he currently has 9) with much tension.

There's a myth that you need high horsepower and high blade tension to get great results.

He'd also say that there's a myth that a carbide toothed blade, like the Woodmaster CT, is going to result in superior cuts...

For those of you with differing thoughts, I'd highly suggest that you find an opportunity to work with Michael. Not only will he open your eyes to what a bandsaw can do, he will teach you a bunch of techniques you've never seen anywhere else.

Mike

[John TenEyck]

Did you miss a decimal place? It doesn't really look like your veneers are <1/64".

Oh, yes I did. Thanks for catching that. It now reads the correct value of 0.10".

John

[John TenEyck]

If you think that tension is going to solve your drift "problem," I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. Drift is solved by nothing more than correctly setting up your saw. And once it is set up properly, there's no need to change the alignment for a new blade. Michael Fortune setup his 14inch General bandsaw in 1980 and it hasn't changed it since. And he doesn't run his bandsaws (he currently has 9) with much tension.

There's a myth that you need high horsepower and high blade tension to get great results.

He'd also say that there's a myth that a carbide toothed blade, like the Woodmaster CT, is going to result in superior cuts...

For those of you with differing thoughts, I'd highly suggest that you find an opportunity to work with Michael. Not only will he open your eyes to what a bandsaw can do, he will teach you a bunch of techniques you've never seen anywhere else.

Mike


I don't think anyone is suggesting that drift is solved by high tension, certainly not me. But once your saw is set up to cut straight adequate tension makes it easier for the blade to cut straight in variable grain and allows higher feed rates w/o blade wandering. And I don't think there's any myth that carbide blades give superior cuts over other blades. No other blade has cut as well for me as the Woodmaster CT.

I've been a fan of Michael Fortune for many years. I'd love to take a class with him. I'm sure I'd learn a lot.

John

[Mike King]

FYI, I have a Starret tension gauge. I put it on my 1" Woodmaster CT and here is the result:

484230

And here is the result of resawing a bunch of Sapelle:
484231

What does higher horsepower really give you? Perhaps the ability to resaw more quickly, but the real issue is whether you overfeed the blade, and horsepower isn't going to solve that; in fact, it may encourage it.

Mike

[Mark e Kessler]

I never fully tension either I get good results as well, don’t know about more hp helping or not but more mass in the wheel would help throw the blade through the wood.


FYI, I have a Starret tension gauge. I put it on my 1" Woodmaster CT and here is the result:

484230

And here is the result of resawing a bunch of Sapelle:
484231

What does higher horsepower really give you? Perhaps the ability to resaw more quickly, but the real issue is whether you overfeed the blade, and horsepower isn't going to solve that; in fact, it may encourage it.

Mike

[Andrew Hughes]

I too have never used a gauge on a blade. On my Aggi i have my blades cut and welded 178 inches because that’s what it says on the saw and tension slightly over what the gauge says.
Im also a bit sketchy clamping something to my expensive blade.

[John TenEyck]

Nice post, thx for sharing...
I have not done a lot of very thin re sawing, but I might have some projects coming up that require a lot of thin veneers, so I have been gathering info on re sawing techniques. While the fence system you show is what I have done in the past, it seems there are some drawbacks to the tall fence method. A few makers sell re saw systems that slices veneer more like a deli meat slicer, i.e. the cut piece has no pressure against it. This is supposed to provide cleaner, more even cuts along the entire width and prevent burn marks, etc. I am curious how much merit you think this deli slicer method has vs. a fence. Here is a video from one maker who demonstrates it well and explains it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKxGEEbNGQc


Holy cow, about $900 for that. It looks well made and maybe it has its place for folks who only need to make small quantities of veneer, etc, and with a lot of patience to glue the stock to the carrier and remove the excess afterwards, but it's a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist with a properly set up saw.

The speaker starts out demonstrating a standard fence and shows how the stock can rock. Well, no, not if you prep the stock correctly first so that one face is flat and the bottom edge is jointed to 90 degrees. This is sort of prep 101 for resawing. Did you look at the blade he has on the saw? I hope he wasn't using that for cutting anything very thick. Anyway, he then states that resawing with a standard fence is dangerous - and I couldn't agree more! Imagine resawing something 16" wide, the maximum resaw capacity of my saw. Just the thought of that sends shivers up my spine. I jumped at the chance to build the roller feather board that John L developed. One, it keeps the wood pressed against the fence over its full width and with pretty constant force, and two, it just about guarantees you can't get your hands into the blade at the end of the cut, or anytime for that matter. Before I built the roller feather board I used a stacked set of Rockler's feather boards, and they helped hold the stock against the fence and keep my hands away from the blade to some extent, but the roller feather board is superior in both regards and I would not want to go back.

Anyway, a tall fence with a feather board pressing properly prepared stock uniformly against the fence makes resawing and slicing veneer a predictable and safe endeavor. There's no tendency for the blade to burn the wood any more than there is with the Accuslice device. Look at the slices of veneer I made. A power feeder would be even better, but I can't justify the cost.

John

[John TenEyck]

Mike, if you're happy that's all that matters. 12 ksi is half of where the Woodmaster CT performs best. Your photos shows it still performs well, but I'm sure at a pretty slow feed rate. If you're happy with that, that's fine with me. Horsepower allows you to utilize the full cutting capacity of the blade, assuming there is enough tension on it. I have not found any evidence of over feeding yet with the Woodmaster CT. That thing is a wood devouring monster. I regularly slice 12" wide veneer. Horsepower is key to making that an efficient process. I remember slicing 10" veneer on my 14" Delta bandsaw, with a blade at 12 ksi, coincidentally. I made a lot of veneer that way but it was a slow process at best and good quality required constant attention.

You can argue all you want but adequate tension and horsepower make for efficient operation, consistent high quality, and maximum production from the blade.

John

[Will Blick]

John, thx for your comments on the accu slicer...
Maybe its more useful with hired employees to prevent them from doing something stupid and injuring themselves. There is another one or two of these on the market that work off the same premise, i.e. the off cut has no support, (the opposite of traditional tall fence use) hence my deli slicer analogy.

I have the same Grizz you do, and the 5HP motor sure helps a lot with cut speed and reduced burn marks in tall wood. I too think proper tension matters, but not in all applications....if u are re sawing 2" tall wood with a good 3/4" sharp blade, seems almost any tension will work, but not true when you re saw 16" tall wood. So like all things mechanical, detals matter. It seems there are endless videos these days showing how to solve re saw problems, they all seem to disagree over what matters most.

IMO, the right blade matters more than anything. Example, I had a worn cheap 3/4" blade on the saw doing lots of 2x cutting for construction work.... and needed to re saw a lot of 2x16's for fence pickets. I had some bad drift issues. So, I start fiddling with all the common fixes, location of gullets on the tire, bearing positions...then I remembered, I had a cheap, abused blade on the saw, which worked fine for cross cuts. Replaced it with a new 3/4" TimberWolf carbide re saw blade and it was plug n play success, perfect cuts, no drift, no adjusting anything. I also follow the Timberwolfs suggestions on tension and blade width recommendation, which has been very helpful.
use 3/4" width under 2K Jenka hardness scale
use 1" width over 2k jenka hardness scale

BTW, in the video, u see a thin, 1/2" non carbide re saw blade. The reason he uses this blade is reduced kerf, to reduce waste as people who buy that system cut some very costly veneers, so waste really matters. If there is any merit to the premise of "no pressure on the off cut", we can always provide a 1/16" or 1/8" releif in the fence after the blades teeth, which would prob. offer the same benefit. If nothing else, this must be helpful for heat relief as after the teeth cut, the remainder of the blade will not be making contact with the wood.

[glenn bradley]

Beautiful results John. When it comes to the bandsaw it seems when you find your happy place, work there, eh? I resaw 10" veneer between blade and fence with a 1/2" Resaw King applying tension with the flutter method. On my particular saw when the blade is happy, it tends to stay happy. I also feed as steady as I can by hand. Listening to the machine let's you really smooth things out once you are familiar with your particular setup.

[John TenEyck]

Good point, Will. Nothing else matters much if the blade isn't sharp and I will add, with equal set on both sides. And that last point is one major advantage for carbide blades. They have no set, that is, the teeth are not bent left or right like on traditional blades to create a kerf. The kerf is derived by the teeth being wider than the band, and they are ground during the production process to have the same offset from the band on both sides. That makes them cut straight with no tendency to pull left or right from unequal set, or leave score marks from one tooth that happens to have more set than the others, like sometimes happens on regular blades. It also makes it possible to resharpen them without having to "reset" the teeth, too.

I have thought about relieving the area behind the blade on the resaw fence to let the veneer go where it wants to but haven't found any evidence that it's actually needed. I'm not against it, just not convinced it's needed.

As far as tension goes, adequate tension is never a bad thing. Thin material or thick. I have that blade set up for 24 ksi and that's what's on it whether I'm ripping 8/4 stock or slicing 12" veneer. The saw is designed to handle it and the blade performs best in that range of tension. Seems straight forward to me. The problem comes when you have a saw that can't handle the tension, like my little 14" cast iron Delta. It can barely put 12 ksi on a 1/2" blade. I once tried to put more on it and found that the upper blade guides moved out of alignment to the right, meaning the frame was deflecting - a lot. Nothing good happens then. The only way I can put higher tension on a blade on that saw is to use a narrower blade and/or one with a thinner gage band. I can run a 1/4" blade at 18 ksi without issue and, not surprisingly, it cuts very well. Not a practical idea for resawing thick stock, however, but great for ripping and other work on thinner stock.

Know your saw and pick blades that will allow it to maximize the ability of those blades.

John

[Richard Verwoest]

I am interested in your feather board set-up. Where can I find your website?

Richard

[Brian Holcombe]

FYI, I have a Starret tension gauge. I put it on my 1" Woodmaster CT and here is the result:

484230

And here is the result of resawing a bunch of Sapelle:
484231

What does higher horsepower really give you? Perhaps the ability to resaw more quickly, but the real issue is whether you overfeed the blade, and horsepower isn't going to solve that; in fact, it may encourage it.

Mike

Horsepower allows a lower strain on the motor, it doesn’t change how much power is needed for a given task. Feed rate is going to depend on the blade and material dimensions more than motor HP.

Tension does certainly matter when feeding stick with a power feeder. I adjusted the wheel last week to dial in exactly where the tension had the blade cutting perfectly.

[Tom M King]

The only reason that blade ever comes off my 24" saw is to put on a cheap, non-carbide tipped one in questionable wood that has any chance of damaging a carbide tooth.

[Mike King]

Horsepower allows a lower strain on the motor, it doesn’t change how much power is needed for a given task. Feed rate is going to depend on the blade and material dimensions more than motor HP.

Tension does certainly matter when feeding stick with a power feeder. I adjusted the wheel last week to dial in exactly where the tension had the blade cutting perfectly.

Tension really matters when 1) the guides are not set properly (they should be extremely close to the blade to provide support and, well, guidance to the blade) and 2) the upper guide is not lowered to just above the stock. That's when tension tries to make up for an improperly setup saw. Then there's the additional factor of blade not being properly set on the upper wheel so that when using the fence the back of the blade is not in the center of the kerf with the result that the blade pulls or pushes the stock on or off of the fence. Add to that improper feeding technique that shoves the stock across the kerf. And then there's feeding the stock so quickly that the gullets are overpacked with chips/dust. All of these are factors that folk may try to use tension to mitigate when the simple solution is to setup and use the saw properly.

Did you look at the quality of the cut on those slices of sapelle? That was done with 12kpsi, half of what folk are suggesting is needed for a Woodmaster CT. I often have difficulty determining which side of the resaw was jointed and which was sawn...

Mike

[Edwin Santos]

For those of you with differing thoughts, I'd highly suggest that you find an opportunity to work with Michael. Not only will he open your eyes to what a bandsaw can do, he will teach you a bunch of techniques you've never seen anywhere else.

Mike

At the risk of designating myself as Michael Fortune's marketing agent, yes, I will say from my own experience that Michael's approach to bandsaw use is very good, and in some ways novel. He really expanded my appreciation for what a bandsaw can do, especially with the use of various jigs and fixtures.

I will confess that some of his setup ideas were in direct conflict with my long held beliefs. But trying to keep an open mind, I came back to my shop, tried setting up my saw Michael's way, and that's the way it has stayed. I was on the verge of selling my smaller bandsaw due to frustration with it but now I wouldn't part with it.

But I digress, all I'm trying to say is if you have the opportunity to take his bandsaw workshop, regardless of your position on tension, guides, HP, etc, you'll still come away with some useful knowledge and it will be an enjoyable experience.

BTW, great veneering sawing John, look forward to seeing how you put those veneers to use.

[John TenEyck]

Tension really matters when 1) the guides are not set properly (they should be extremely close to the blade to provide support and, well, guidance to the blade) and 2) the upper guide is not lowered to just above the stock. That's when tension tries to make up for an improperly setup saw. Then there's the additional factor of blade not being properly set on the upper wheel so that when using the fence the back of the blade is not in the center of the kerf with the result that the blade pulls or pushes the stock on or off of the fence. Add to that improper feeding technique that shoves the stock across the kerf. And then there's feeding the stock so quickly that the gullets are overpacked with chips/dust. All of these are factors that folk may try to use tension to mitigate when the simple solution is to setup and use the saw properly.

Did you look at the quality of the cut on those slices of sapelle? That was done with 12kpsi, half of what folk are suggesting is needed for a Woodmaster CT. I often have difficulty determining which side of the resaw was jointed and which was sawn...

Mike

I did look at those slices of Sapele. I commented about how good they looked and how well the Woodmaster CT cut even at that low tension. But again, you are missing the point about adequate tension. At adequate tension guides are almost unnecessary when cutting in a straight line. Setting the guides really close to keep a low tension blade cutting straight is backwards thinking. Everything gets easier at adequate tension and blade production is maximized. The only reason not to run at adequate tension is because the saw isn't capable of applying that much tension to the blade at hand. In that case, I would choose a narrower blade.

John

[Brian Holcombe]

Tension really matters when 1) the guides are not set properly (they should be extremely close to the blade to provide support and, well, guidance to the blade) and 2) the upper guide is not lowered to just above the stock. That's when tension tries to make up for an improperly setup saw. Then there's the additional factor of blade not being properly set on the upper wheel so that when using the fence the back of the blade is not in the center of the kerf with the result that the blade pulls or pushes the stock on or off of the fence. Add to that improper feeding technique that shoves the stock across the kerf. And then there's feeding the stock so quickly that the gullets are overpacked with chips/dust. All of these are factors that folk may try to use tension to mitigate when the simple solution is to setup and use the saw properly.

Did you look at the quality of the cut on those slices of sapelle? That was done with 12kpsi, half of what folk are suggesting is needed for a Woodmaster CT. I often have difficulty determining which side of the resaw was jointed and which was sawn...

Mike

If you run a power feeder you can’t run the guides directly above the stock. Last batch of kumiko slats was 1000 pieces, 8’ long. I’ve tried lower tension settings and it wears the blade unevenly when using a power feeder, hurts to throw $19/bf in the trash because of a setup error. Perhaps it’s worth considering that your setup does not work for every setup, but works well for yours and I’m not discounting that.

[John TenEyck]

I am interested in your feather board set-up. Where can I find your website?

Richard

Richard, this link should take you to the correct page: https://sites.google.com/view/jteneyck-woodworker/current-projects/tall-bandsaw-feather-board?authuser=1

There is a SketchUp model at the bottom of the page that you can download for free. Please let me know if the file doesn't download for you, should you try. If you don't use SketchUp I can probably print PDF files and send you those separately.

John

[Richard Verwoest]

Great, thank you John. This looks like a great idea. I really like how the rollers stack. Do you remove rollers if/when you are resawing a narrower board? And if so, do the uprights get in your way?

I do not use Sketch-up. If you could send me a PDF that would be great.

Richard

[John TenEyck]

Great, thank you John. This looks like a great idea. I really like how the rollers stack. Do you remove rollers if/when you are resawing a narrower board? And if so, do the uprights get in your way?

I do not use Sketch-up. If you could send me a PDF that would be great.

Richard

The feather board you see is 12" high, but you can make it any height you want by adding/subtracting rollers. The rollers stay in place for all resaw and veneer slicing, regardless of board height. The ones needed engage, the ones that aren't need don't get in the way. You push the work through from the front; the feather board never gets in your way. A roller stand, or other means as you choose, on the outboard side catches the work. To facilitate other work, the whole thing comes off the table in a few seconds by removing two clamps.

I'll send you a PM with some PDF files.

John

Instead, I added some drawings with key dimensions to the photo file link on the webpage. Together with the photos, anyone should be be able to build the feather board. But if there are any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

John

[Alan Lightstone]

I made one of those feather boards a number of years ago with huge help from John Lanciani. It really is a very nice design. Highly recommended.

I just tension my 1" blade to about 25K on my Starrett gauge, and use the featherboard on my FB710, and get pretty good results. Instead of clamps, I use Magswitch magnets to hold it down. Much easier.

I aim for slightly thicker and then send through the drum sander. Results have been excellent.