How do you resaw timber?

[Dev Emch]

O.K. So I am on the phone with Suffolk Machinery ordering up some new cutlery for my yates bandsaw. And I ask the guy what he thinks of Mark Duginske's approach to resawing. He said he will not comment on any particular technqiue but only on the blades. That everyone has their own way of doing it and you should do whatever feels good and works well. Cool! Fair Enough.

So I started thinking. How many assorted ways are there to do resaw on a bandsaw? Short fence or tall fence. Curved shoe or pointed guide. No guide. Power feeder.

I have used a homemade fence with a Duginske shoe on it. But I want to see what other folks are doing and what they feel about their particular method of cutting up home brew veneer.

[Mark Singer]

If the blade pulls then a point fence and a line on the top edge is a good way to go. You follow the line by moving the work about the point fence. On a finely tuned saw with a good resaw blade it should cut straight with no lead and the standard fence will work very good. The pulling or lead effect can be tuned out most of the time. The tires are usually crowned and allowing the blade to ride forward will pull the cut away from the fence...with the blade riding back on the tire it will pull toward the fence. This assumes a good blade with no internal bias. The Lenox Trimaster on my saw has always cut straight and without much fussing. I learned the other techniques from other saws in the past (and my smaller current bandsaw). A 1/2" 4 tpi bade is a good resaw blade. Or a wider blade like the trimaster , but if not well balanced will add vibration....the 1" steel less expensive blades are usaually a problem

[Mike Wenzloff]

Hi Dev,

My fence is square to the miter slot, blade cuts square to the slot and fence. I have a couple ancillary fences which fit over my saw's fence depending on the height of material.

In other words, I adjust the drift out and depend on the fences to do their job.

I have used a wide variety of blades--and still have a few spendy ones left over--but as I use WoodSlicers as my general use blades, that's what I resaw with. But then, it's baby iron in the form of a Jet 18...

Take care, Mike

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Hey Dev

The blade on Big Blue is 2 1/2" wide, so this may not count on most other's resawing.

I set the drift, it is usually not very much, and then I use a fence that is tall and it ends at the back of the blade.

This way, if the wood has any stress in it at all, and it pushes off the fence when cut, there is no fence to push off of.

Works for me.

Cheers!

[lou sansone]

I have really never noticed any of my bandsaws pulling. I just set up a fence and cut.

lou

[Chris Barton]

I have really never noticed any of my bandsaws pulling. I just set up a fence and cut.

lou

I have the LT16HD and do the very same as Lou. When I set it up I adjusted the fence for the drift (maybe .001").

[tod evans]

powerfeeder!!!!!!!!!!!!02 tod

[Richard Wolf]

I would be interested in hearing from people using power feeds to resaw, I have been thinking of going in that direction.

Richard

tod, we were typing at the same time, could you explain? (Pics).

[Ian Barley]

I hardly ever do but my landlord has a huge band resaw machine with powerfeed. i get him to do it for me:)

[tod evans]

richard, i took it off yesterday to cut some tapers on legs, i`ll go snap a pic. of it off the saw it`s a bugger to get back on untill i need it.tod

[tod evans]

holes for mounting feeder
35840
feeder attached to the block-n-tackle i use to lift it onto the table
35841
fence that also bolts to the table
35842

[Brett Baldwin]

Wow Tod, that's an impressive looking setup. Can it do veneer cuts also?

[tod evans]

Wow Tod, that's an impressive looking setup. Can it do veneer cuts also?

brett, i can saw 1/16th veneer using a trimaster blade all day and get consistant results...02 tod

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

The DVD (sales marketing media) you can get from Minimax is rather interesting. The guy does a resaw.

He is profficient on the band saw to the point where I am squinting in fear watching his hands flicking around the blade. People watching me work think I am risky but that guy is scary - yet on close inspection he has all his fingers soooo I guess he really is that good. Anyway the video is a great little instructional.

[Richard Wolf]

Hey tod, thanks for the pictures.

Richard

[tod evans]

Hey tod, thanks for the pictures.

Richard

you`re welcome richard