Keeping resaw straight (getting wedges)

[Robin Cruz]

Im resawing about 1/8 to 1/4" thick strips from 4" wide oak along about 22" of stock. The bandsaw blade is a 3/4" with about 9 alternate tooth/inch. I am running the stock against a fence. The cut tends to end wider then the start in wedge shape.

How do I get nice even resaw thicknesses with the bandsaw?

thank you for the advice

[Larry Marley]

Hi Robin,

You need to adjust the rip fence to be parallel to the blade's cutting path.
This path know as the drift angle and may not be exactly parallel to the blade.

Lock your fence about an inch from the blade, take a piece of scrap wood 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, lay it flat on the table, up against the fence and cut about two inches in to the wood and stop the saw.

With the blade still in the kerf you just cut, look at the back edge of the blade. You want it to be centered in the kerf. If it is resting against either side of the kerf, loosen and move the fence angle in the same direction a couple degrees and repeat the test cut.

When the back of the blade is centered in the kerf, you are ready to go.

I have cut hundreds of linear feet of veneer using this set up, just against the fence and push.

Hope this helps,

Larry

[Chris Padilla]

Another way I've used to figure out how one's BS blade tracks is the following:

Take a ~4" board, ~16" long, and using a square, scribe a line along the face roughly splitting the width of the board, parallel with the edge.

Now freehand cut the board along this line about 2/3 of the way into the length of the board and turn the saw off. Cut the line, stay on the line. Now notice the angle of the board and adjust your fence to match it.

[Joe Scharle]

I prefer a pivot fence for resawing. I see that it comes standard with the Steel City 17". This is a pic of my shop made model.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/194/ResawFence2.jpg

[Roger Ronas]

Thinking out loud here so that advice with caution.

Isn't 9 teeth per inch too fine of a blade? I always thought for resawing you wanted 3-4 tpi. Could be blade is loading up with sawdust and causing problems.

HTH
Roger

[Robin Cruz]

Thank you all. Its good to hear "drift" is a common characteristic of band saws. I did not realize that. The fence I have has an angle adjustment so I can try your suggestions. Thank you again!

[Roy Wall]

Thinking out loud here so that advice with caution.

Isn't 9 teeth per inch too fine of a blade? I always thought for resawing you wanted 3-4 tpi. Could be blade is loading up with sawdust and causing problems.

HTH
Roger

Yes - this is too fine of a blade....... 3 tpi would be much better. Just go slow with the one you have.

[Pete Bradley]

Drift may be a factor but the effect of drift is often overstated, especially for a small resaw like this. I'd be looking at fundamentals. As others have mentioned, 9TPI is too fine. You don't mention what your saw is, but a lot of machines 14" and smaller will resaw much more effectively with a band narrower than 3/4". Good band choices would be 1/2"X3TPI or 3/8"X4TPI thin kerf bands (aka "Timberwolf"). Also, you need to be certain that your fence is rigid, firmly attached, and parallel to the band. Finally, technique is important to keep the work tight to the fence. I like to use push blocks like these:
http://www.woodcraft.com/images/products/111170tmb.jpg

Good luck!

Pete

[Lance Norris]

I didnt see anyone mention a featherboard. My resaw results improved dramatically when I started using a featherboard to keep the wood tight to the fence. I am using a tall, long fence though, not a pivot fence.

[David DeCristoforo]

All the advice about blade "drift" and fence alignment is solid. But Pete really nailed it. The wider the blade, the more difficult it is to get the "tracking" right and the more difficult is is to make mid-cut corrections. Also, wider blades cannot be properly tensioned on most smaller machines. Without enough tension, the blade will wander all over the place. For resawing, I use a 3/8" 3 tpi blade in my 18" Griggio BS. Also, you might want to look into better blade guides. Good ball bearing guides (Carter) can make a world of difference.

[Robin Cruz]

Sounds good. I get a smaller 3 tooth blade today and give it a go again.