Resawing pin.. do you use it.

[Eric Gustafson]

If I need to resaw, I use my BIL's saw. He has the drift dialied out and we just use the fence. Simple. I have seen those pins that look like you would be resawing free style. They seem like they would be ok for onesy twosy, but one would be better off tuning your saw if you have a lot of work.

Opinions?

[Peter Quadarella]

I haven't worried about drift. I just use the fence with a 3/4" blade tensioned well, and the wood comes out equal thickness through the length. I'm guessing people use those pins whern they don't have a good fence? They are also very good for curved wood.

[glenn bradley]

I use this (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=83737&d=1205102603) if I have a board with unruly grain that tries to guide the blade. My large blade is only 3/4". The pic makes it look out of track with the blade but things are not clamped down. The tapered edge should be parallel and even front-to-back with the leading edge of the teeth. This would only be for thicker cuts; no veneers. For 99% of the material I use, the fence is fine. Whether you use a pin or not, proper setup of the saw should come first.

[Gene Michael]

After rebuilding my old Ohio Forge 14" BS, I tried resawing some 3" red oak. Couldn't keep it in a straight line. Then, I read a comment on SMC - make sure your blade is centered on the tires. Off center = slanting to one side or the other. After some tedious realigning, the problem was solved. I wonder how many people use the pin when aligning the blade is what's really needed.

[Bruce Page]

The limited amount of resawing that I have done has been right off of the fence. As you mentioned, I don't see a need for it if your saw is dialed in.

[terry richards]

For the resawing I have done, mostly with teak wood, I use the fence. I build it up for wider pieces My experience is that the feed rate is one of the most important contributors to blade drift. Remember you are sawing many times the thickness you would normally saw with flat cuts, and the forward progress of the stock must decrease proportionately. Take your time and let the blade do the work.

If you have ever sideswiped a nail, pebble, or screw with your blade, forget resawing with that blade. The teeth might still be reasonably sharp on the point, but the blade set is changed, and an unequal set will cause the blade to drift, even at slow feed speeds.

[Dave Lehnert]

When you guys are talking about using the fence. Are you using it square to the blade or adjusted for drift?

There was a magazine article in Fine Woodworking some time ago talking about this subject. Said what others has. Blade tracking on the wheels has more to do with drift than any other factor.

[glenn bradley]

I use it square to the fence. 99 out of 100, this is fine. There is always an occasional board that wants a fight. The pin solves this if you're out of stock and can't just switch.

[Rick Levine]

David Marks, on one of his shows, demonstrated a method of aligning a bandsaw and after following his procedure plus replacing the tension spring and using ceramic blocks my saw tracks almost perfectly straight with just the fence.