Will skip tooth blade resaw cherry?

[Jan Bianchi]

I have an inexpensive 10" 1/2 H Delta band saw that I want to use to resaw some 1" cherry into 1/2" boards for edging gluing some panels for a cherry hutch. I've tried using a 1/2 inch- 6 tpi blade, but I really have to force it to make it cut. Somewhere it was suggested I get a skip tooth blade. Without buying a better band saw, should a skip tooth blade work? If so, what size and tpi? If not, is there another way I can resaw 1" cherry? I tried doing this on my table saw, but clipped my finger and am unwilling to try that way again.

In the meantime, I'm looking at the 17 " Grizzly GO513, but I'm not ready to pay for it yet.

[Myk Rian]

Try a GOOD quality, (Morse, Cooper, etc.) 3-4tpi x 1/2" blade. Make sure the tension is good.
Feed it slow as the saw will do the cutting.

[Rob Russell]

Jan,

How wide are the boards you're trying to resaw? I forget the rule of thumb, but a 6TPI blade if the wood is anything more than an inch or 2 wide will be a problem.

To answer your original question, a skip tooth blade will help. The point of the skip tooth blade is that every other tooth will be a "raker" to carry the sawdust out of the cut. A regular blade will have every tooth cutting and will load up with dust. The blade will also get hotter and dull more quickly.

If your boards are anything wide, the suggestion of a 3-4 TPI blade - but skip tooth - would work way better than what you have been using.

[Chris Padilla]

What is the resaw capacity of your BS and how wide (tall) is your board you want to resaw? How wide a blade can your BS handle? 1/2"??

Basically, as you might've guessed, a bigger, stiffer, more powerful, higher quality BS will probaby work better for you but that doesn't mean you can't coax your existing one to give you a decent cut.

Most of the work will come from setting up the BS to ensure coplanar wheels and adjusting the guides to ensure a perpedicular to the table alignment. After that, it is tension on the blade. Finally, it is a brand-spanking new, good quality blade.

On your saw, 6 tpi may be too much for your BS to handle very well. The cut WILL BE slow. Going for a <6 tpi blade as suggested by Axl will speed up the cut and perhaps allow your BS to move at a little bit faster pace. It is hard to say. I had amazing success with a 6 tpi bimetal blade but my BS is a 20", 4.2 HP beast.

Worse case, you might look out for a local woodshop with a larger BS to resaw your lumber for you until you can get the larger BS.

[Jan Bianchi]

I don't have any idea what the capacity is on this bandsaw nor does my manual tell me. My boards are about 6 inches wide. I'm going to try the skip tooth blade. It's an odd length--72 1/2--so I don't have a lot of options, but I can order it in an Olson. If I can get the Olson to work, I'll probably try getting another in a cut to length Morse. Thanks to all of you for your help.

[Chris Padilla]

Jan,

For resaw capacity, just adjust your guides as high as possible and measure to the lowest point.

You ought to be able to get just about any blade you want. Most places stock large spools (a couple 100') of various blades and then weld to length when you order.

Olson bimetals are good as well.

The bitmetal, 6 tpi blade that worked well for me was a Lenox Diemaster2 (hook style). They have the Diemaster2 in other tpi as well. It is a 1/2" wide blade. I paid just under $60 for a 14' one. I'd say for your saw, you'd pay about half that for a 6' blade.

[Lee Schierer]

Your saw is a bit undersized and underpowered to resaw 6" cherry. It will do it, but it will be a slow process. Unless the board is actually thicker than 1" you won't be able to get two 1/2" boards from it. 3/8 inch thick will be about the best you can expect after cleaning up the sawn surfaces.

Use a resaw guide and draw a pencil line of the visible edge so you don't wander off the cut line. Use a small feather board to insure the bottom edge stays tight to your resaw guide.