resawing/ripping 2by lumber

[Dave Buffington]

tried a couple searches but came up empty.

here is my situation: I am pretty broke at the moment after buying a house this summer, and jsut got done building a series of shelves out of 2x4s that stretches floor to ceiling, along about 8 feet of wall. i need some stretchers for the actual shelves. I can get tons of 2x4s for basically free from cull lumber at one of the dreaded box stores, and was thinking about trying to resaw these into 3/4 planks.

My bandsaw is one of those little tiny 9inch deals and doesn't have the blade to pull off the cut for a 4 ft lenth of board, I tried this weekend, and at best it cuts fairly straight but so slowly through the thickness of the board that is it moot.

I was going to just rip it a couple inches lenthwise on the tablsaw and then flip it to finsh the cut, but i got concerned about safety. I'd have to remove the splitter and guard.

Please let me know if this is crazy or dangerous, but this seems lie it would be pretty safe:
1. Remove the splitter and guard.
2. add an auxilliary fence that ends before the blade ends to guide the cut but not cause pinching between the fence and blade
3. Set up a featherboard to hold the 2x4 board against the aux fence.
4. Push it with a long push stick that runs alonog the top of the board and hooks over the back in about an inch, so as to clear the blade set at about a 2 inch cut.
5 Run all the pieces though the first cut. Not sure how to support the board properly for the last bit of the cut here...
6. Put the guard and splitter back on and flip the boards and run them through again to complete the cut.

Thanks, I'd appreaciate any input. worst case, i can just use 2x4s for the speves themselves, but I though this might work and not cost me a finger or anything. I am still pretty new to woodworking and want to learnt o do things right.

Dave

[Jesse Cloud]

Hey Dave,
I'm not totally sure I understand your setup, but it just doesn't sound safe to me. Cull lumber is culled for a reason. A lot of times it will have such a bow or so many knots that it is darn near explosive when you run it over a saw. As soon as it passes the saw blade, it will try mightily to bend back into the blade. Sure formula for kickback.

If you are looking for 'free lumber' thats about 3/4, try talking someone out of some old pallets - but be careful to remove all the nails, screws, and staples.

[Hoa Dinh]

Dave,

What model is your TS? Is there a way to make a splitter (no pawls) slightly lower than the blade - sort of like the one in photo below.

If the answer is yes, I don't see any problem with the procedure you outlined (Step 1 removed and step 6 changed to "Flip the boards and run them through again to complete the cut.")

[Al Willits]

Another case of if we new where your from maybe someone could help ya...:)

If ya can get someone to help ya feed them boards though if they're very long, makes it easier sometimes.

Al

[Howard Acheson]

My bandsaw is out of commission and I had to rip some 1 3/4 x 4 cherry in half for a project. I did exactly what you are proposing. It was a common way to do it in the shop I used to be involved with.

I don't know why you want the shor auxilliary fence. I just used my standard fence. I set up a feather board to press the board against the fence forward of the blade. Be sure you are using true 24 tooth rip blade and that it is sharp. If you have a Contractor type saw, use a thin kerf. Do not even attempt it with anything else. Raise the blade up as high as you can. Move the board evenly and listen to the saw. If it starts to slow down adjust your feed rate..

Make a 2x4 push block with 1 3/4" "hook" of wood at the end to hook over the end of the board. Just push the board all the way through without stopping. Be sure you have some sort of stand to carry the board after it get beyond the saw table.

[Dave Buffington]

Thanks all:

Hoa, plan to build a hardwood splitter into the zero cleanance insert soon maybe soon should be now.

The saw is a jet not-quite-contractor. It is direct drive, but has a stand and extension table about the same size as most contractrs.

Howard, i will follow your suggestions, I was just sighting down the fence and it seems a migth narrow there between it and the blade, i do think that with a featherboard i should be able to avoid any kick back.

I'll stand to the side and take my time.

Thanks for the input all
Dave.

[Steve Clardy]

I usually just tablesaw them one pass, flip, saw the other side.

And yes. Watch that cull pine lumber. I've had some of it pinch the blade so hard it shut down my 3hp cabinet saw. Belts were really complaining before I got to the off button.

[Lee Schierer]

Check your blade height to see if you can do it in two passes. When you make the second cut, flip the board end to end so the same side ends up next to the fence. Be sure to use a dedicated rip blade for this as a combo blade will not work as well and will get much hotter. If your saw can't handle the rip in two passes without bogging down, do it in three or four.

Make sure you stand out of the way as kickback, is always a possability. Feather boards adn push sticks will help you control things and keep body parts out of harms way.

[Howard Acheson]

Dave, you may have a problem with a direct drive saw. They do not put out as much torque as a induction motor saw.

Let me state again to buy a new thin kerf 24 tooth rip blade.

[Phil Pritchard]

Please let me know if this is crazy or dangerous, but this seems lie it would be pretty safe:
1. Remove the splitter and guard.
2. add an auxilliary fence that ends before the blade ends to guide the cut but not cause pinching between the fence and blade

4. Push it with a long push stick that runs alonog the top of the board and hooks over the back in about an inch, so as to clear the blade set at about a 2 inch cut.
5 Run all the pieces though the first cut. Not sure how to support the board properly for the last bit of the cut here...

Hi Dave

If you remove the splitter there is more risk of a pinch around the back of the blade and kickback, but at least if you use a short rip fence you remove the possibility that you'll get a pinch caused by the timber bowing out and jamming between the rip fence and the blade. That's why we we Euro-types have short rip fences over here, Howard.

One thing I would suggest is that you use a 12 to 14in long push stick, not one of those hook-over types. When a kickback happens it can go really quickly and you ideally never want your hand nearer than 12in from the blade (again, what we were taught in college). If your timber has a flat edge to ride on pushing through smoothly with the push sticks should give you a reasonable end to the cut - just keep pushing steadily.

I'd also agree with the suggestion that you go for a brand new rip blade not a combo blade and add to that that you should hook up a shop vac to the saw if you haven't done so already.

As you've said "deeping" without a riving knife or splitter is not the safest way to do the job, but it is your only way, so take a steady stance so you don't overbalance and stand so that you are not in the line of fire in the event of a kickback. If things start to jam up stop, turn-off, reverse out of the cut then start again. You won't get the smoothest cut that way but it's not worth over feeding and risking injury

Good Luck

[Dave Richards]

One thing no one seems to have talked about is your plan to use cull lumber. Usually the cull lumber is warped pretty badly, surfaces aren't flat etc. 2x lumber tend to be quite damp inside even if the outside is dry. Resawing it is bound to release all sorts of stresses and have that wood moving. Be very careful resawing that sort of stuff one a tablesaw.

[John Bailey]

I used to do that kind of thing many years ago. With the equipment you're describing and the boards you're describing, I just wouldn't attempt it. It was very frustrating, at the time, and the only reason I did it was that I was young enough to still think I was indestructable. I don't think I did the machine any favours either.

John

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

My old TS had no guards & no riving knives. I Used it for everything including ripping 2-bys.
It's my experience that they are loaded with internal stresses. Never had one kick but they still move on the out feed side of the blade.

I'd just stand out of the way of the voard and shove it across keeping at least one digit tight on the far side of the rip fence. that way of the board got tossed I'd not fall fingers first into the blade.

[Scott Loven]

Try leaving a half inch in the center of the 2*4 uncut and then use a hand saw or your band saw to finish the cut.
Scott

[Loren Hedahl]

Try leaving a half inch in the center of the 2*4 uncut and then use a hand saw or your band saw to finish the cut.
Scott

That's what I would do also. By leaving some meat in the center uncut, the stresses remain stressed, pretty much. Then when cutting it apart with a hand saw or band saw the stresses will be released.

On your bandsaw, get the coarsest blade you can. I like a 3 tpi for ripping, but something that coarse may not be available for a nine incher. Probably for that size saw a 4 to 6 tpi would do just fine for what you are doing.

For hand sawing, I like the Japanese pull saws. Home Depot and others sell a pretty good one for $10 to $15 that is made for construction cutting. The back only extends about half-way along the blade, so if you hold it at the right angle, it will rip just fine.

Fancy equipment makes things fast and convenient, but it is amazing what some excellent craftsmen produce with very simple tools. Good luck.

[Dave Buffington]

Just want to say thanks again for all the replies, the collaboration is really helpful. I'm not at all interested in risking injury to save a few bucks by resawing the 2by stuff in a dangerous manner.

I feel like i have heard enough to put some good measures into place, especially leaving the last bit uncut. A few other items folks have mentioned.

* The "cull" lumber is for the most part KD 2x4s that have been cut ito 4 ft lengths at the store and are pretty straight although i have seen some knots here and there as you would expect. I have a ton of this (at $0.50 a 4 ft length, i have picked up a bunch (for making worktables, shelves and the like), so for this little project i unly need about a dozen or so to be resawn, i can pick out the best ones, I'll skip anything that is cupped or bowed.

* i have a decent ripping blade, not sure about thin kerf, I'll check.

* I'll try the short fence and if it is managable, i will use that rather than the full length version.

Thanks much all,

Dave

[Blaine Harrison]

Dave,

The idea of using the bandsaw for the last cut may be a good one. I've tried to cut KD 2x4 material and just about soiled my pants because I saw the kerf closing and wasn't sure I could get the saw turned off before disaster happened. However, if you are going to use the TS for the last cut, you can put your splitter back on as the kerf will be all the way through the board.

Nobody has given you the reason for you to use the thin kerf rip blade, so I think maybe I can. In a normal cut with the gullet of the teeth above the top of the board, as the blade cuts the waste sawdust can be expelled thus allowing the teeth to cool somewhat before it goes back into the board for the next cut. When the blade is buried in the board, the sawdust is not expelled as efficiently and the blade can heat up. We all know that metal expands as it heats up. If the expansion is sufficient, the blade can be larger than the kerf and POW, you've got kickback. A rip blade has deeper gullets and most have teeth that aren't offset (I could be mistaken on this point). The deeper gullet (and fewer teeth) allow more efficient ejection of sawdust. If the teeth are offset at all, as is the case with a combo blade, the sides of the teeth actually protrude beyond the sides of the blade body and could cause more chance of kickback. The use of a thin kerf blade simply reduces the amount of steel that the motor has to push through the wood.

Good luck on this. Free wood is good!

Blaine

[Brian Kent]

Last winter and spring I did a lot of the kind of ripping you are talking about. I used a Ryobi $89 table saw with a $125 forrester thin-kerf blade. I had built sturdy leg, a dust-catching bag under the saw, and a zero-clearance plate.

I experienced two explosive kickbacks that I will never forget.

The first time I had no splitter. I was standing behind the wood to guide it because I had never experienced a kickback before and was thinking that controlling the piece (while pushing the equipment to the limit) was more important than the position safety rule.

The kickback threw the board into my stomach. It was so strong that I was surprised there was no internal damage. So I made a splitter. It was a tiny little splitter that helped alot but was made of wood.

A couple of months later I was doing everything "right" but a board broke the splitter, bent my table saw fence in about an inch, and hit my knuckle so hard it hurt for three months.

My reaction was to get a better saw with a real splitter and a big, stable table, etc.

At minimum, in your situation, I recommend buying or making a splitter that will last. I think even grinding one out of a paint scraper would be better than my wooden one. Then I would also recommend making a fence-jig that made a featherboard keep the board down agaiinst the table-saw, as well as the featherboard that keeps the board against the fence.

I hope these suggestions can cost little or nothing except for time.

[Larry Fox]

Dave, certainly not trying to be the negative one here but (assuming that I understand what you are trying to do correctly), my rough math has a resawn 8' 2x4 yielding about 5 sq/ft of - basically decking. I assumed it was about 1 3/4" thick and 3 1/2" wide (seems close enough). Based on that, each slab would be (3.5 * 96) = 336 sq/in or about 2.3 sq/ft. At 1 3/4" thick you are looking at just about two of them per 2x4.

A 4x8 sheet of 3/4 MDF is about $20.00 and is 32 sq/ft.

I realize that you (apparently) have a lot of the cull lumber. However, I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that you also have 10 fingers remaining and have never had a kickback. My point being that for what you are talking about, it seems that the risk/reward scales are tilted WAY too far to the risk side.

If it were me, I would either 1) spring for the proper materials or 2) let my junk sit on the floor until I could afford the right materials.

I think my very first post on this forum was a question along very similar lines as the one you are asking.

Someone brought up the idea of using old palletts which I think is a good one. Don't know where you are but near me there is a place that puts them at the edge of their parking lot for people to take. There is likely a place like that willing to hook you up near you.

This is my $0.02 anyway.