Resawing Imperfect Material

[Tom Bender]

Wood is not metal, it has grain and internal stresses. Wavy grain can lead the cut off the line. And when sawing, release of internal stresses may result in warped parts. The parts may still be useful, particularly for veneer, but they will push the stock away from the fence. I use a point fence and watch the cut. It's easy to set and the stock doesn't get pushed away from it. I watch the cut and adjust the feed angle for wandering due to grain. Works pretty well.

[Dan Hulbert]

Me too. Setting up for drift just seems like an added hassle.

[Jim Becker]

Slowing down while cutting through a difficult place can also help with reducing blade deflection.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I came to resawing from using a band sawmill, so my expectation is that my bandsaw will cut straight with a straight fence. The fence runs on a rail like a table saw fence. If the blade wanders it is because it isn't sharp, or I am feeding too fast for the conditions, or something else is not set up right. Usually it's one of the first two. Once I was resawing a 20" long piece of jatoba 4/4 into three 1/4" pieces and while I made the first cut the board developed about 3/8" of bow, starting from pretty dead flat off the planer. The piece I had cut off was even worse. That was the worst tension I have encountered.
Zach

[Art Mann]

I don't know why, but I never have problems with drift. I adjust the blade forward/backward to cut parallel to the miter slot and then just use a tall fence for resawing. I am always surprised at the reports of the trouble people have.