Resawing - Hand saw

[David Weaver]

If you have two people in your shop, a framesaw might work OK, otherwise a big one is a bit unwieldy. When you start resawing your own wood by hand, you'll start trying to figure out where you can use softwoods more.

I don't do a lot with power tools, but I think if you can afford a bandsaw and have somewhere to put it, resawing by hand is pointless unless you want exercise.

Bandsaw does it MUCH faster and leaves a better and more accurate finish unless you have a crappy or poorly set bandsaw.

[Steve Branam]

I just posted a blog post about this the other day with a link to video: http://www.closegrain.com/2012/10/resawing-by-hand.html. Back in February I did a resawing demo at WoodExpo at the New England Home Show, which is what's in the video, heavily edited for brevity. Like everyone says, a lot of work, not something you'll want to do a lot of.

BUT, having said that, it's quite doable when you need it. You'll notice the pieces I did in the video were small (I didn't want to completely bore people to death spending an hour on one board!). Certainly for small pieces it's no big deal. For bigger pieces you just have to pace yourself and be prepared to spend some time. Break the work up either by cutting the boards down to size first, or by doing a larger piece in several sessions.

[Tony Shea]

I have resawed far too many boards by hand with my 5point rip saw that I'm always on the look out for a coarser toothed saw. I made a frame saw about a year back and really haven't been all that impressed with it. It does buzz through stock a bit faster but isn't as accurate as a typical hand saw. It also requires you to have some very well set up bench vises as the stock always seems to work its' way loose due to the huge amount of force applied to it. 9 times out of 10 I just reach for my 5 point rip saw.

If I had the money I would not hesitate to buy a band saw. I am in envy of anyone I see with a decent one with a good size resaw capacity. In fact I was just looking at one today in an unexpected shop, the electronics maintenance technician at The Jackson Laboratory in Maine. Was working near his office/shop and noticed a PM drill press in passing. Took a look inside and he had a 17" Grizzly bandsaw as well as a Grizzly 3hp table saw. Not sure what he does would require such equipment but I checked the bandsaw out heavily. Looked to be very nice.

[Adam Cruea]

I would shy away from resawing, as I tried doing it to hickory and QSWO.

After much cussing, complaining, yelling, and "I quit", I decided to suck it up and use a power tool.

I've decided when I need to start resawing, I'll buy a bandsaw or have my sawyer resaw them (he's a nice guy anyway, so I wouldn't mind paying him to slim down some boards for me).

[Erik Manchester]

I have tried resawing using some excellent old Disston rip saws that were sharpened by experts, and while doable it really sucks. I don't mind ripping long stock by hand, but resawing a thick piece of hardwood is just a lot of drudge work.

I enjoy using quality hand tools to do many things, but resawing, like planing to thickness, is best left to machines if they are available nearby.

I have a 10" TS and a 15" BS and when I have the space I will get a much larger BS to use exclusively for resawing and ripping. I find that the BS can do many things a TS can and lots of things a TS cannot, and if I had to choose only one, I would take the BS hands down.

[Tate Harmann]

I actually really enjoy the process by hand, call me crazy lol then again I have no other choice but to do it by hand if I want to do it myself. I've been doing it with a $17 ryoba from Menards too! Of course, I'm doing wood that's relatively small but none-the-less hard. Here's some pics of doing a 6'' x 12'' x 1 1/2'' hunk of rock maple. You just have to mark the board up properly all around, establish the kerf and take your time while you flip the board a lot. It's kind of meditative, actually I've done some nice black walnut too. It's not perfect in the end but it's no problem that a bench plane can't handle. I have a Disston D8 rip saw too, but I prefer the Ryoba here because I feel it takes less effort and the kerf is smaller

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[Jerry Olexa]

This is one time when the speed and accuracy of the band saw prevails...Resawing by hand (altho I've done it) is SLOW and cumbersome....Suppose I'm spoiled..

[lowell holmes]

Why not find a cabinet shop that will re-saw it for you?