No Board is Perfect

[Tom Bender]

I have some 5/4 Maple to make drawer sides. Going for 7/16 thick after resawing. The stock is a little twisted. Cut to length plus 1/2" then rip to width plus 1/2". Ripping twisted stock is a little tricky. First I hand plane an edge kinda straight so it rips to a constant width. My push block is Balsa so the saw can't grab it and throw it back at me. It's big enough to keep my hands away from the blade and it allows me to control the stock. I hold the right edge tight to the table which means one corner on the left edge is raised. As long as it doesn't rock I get a good cut.

Twisted Lumber.jpgFlattening.jpg

Since I have no jointer the next step is another hand tool exercise. Choose a side, set it on a flat spot and rock it to find the high (well low since it is turned over) spots and mark them. Plane them off and repeat. Once one side is flat it goes thru the lunchbox planer.

Then tune up an edge and resaw.

Oops, there is a pic attached of a log with twisted grain. I did not use it. Can't seem to delete it, enjoy.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I recognize that twisted stick, is that not one of the sticks that will become a big box store 2x4?

[Phil Mueller]

I do it a little different. I hand plane one face flat, run it through the lunch box planer to flatten the opposite face and then resaw on the table saw. I add a secondary fence about the height of the piece I’m resawing, and use a stackable feather board to add height to the support. Resawing on a table saw doesn’t scare me, but I give it a lot of thought before the process.

[Tom Bender]

Hi Phil

Yes that's another way to resaw, one I have used for some narrower stock.

How about your method to rip wider stock? Flattening first wastes more wood.

Tom

[Thomas Wilson]

I had never thought of using balsa as a push stick. You would have to be careful not to push too hard. I have a L-shaped scar in the palm of my hand from a sturdier scrap of wood.

[Phil Mueller]

In general, I want the wood side against the saw table and the edge against the fence flat. I flatten both faces for resaw if I’m looking to book match the pieces. If I’m just slicing off pieces, the saw side face can be rough for the initial cut. Wide boards are flipped end to end to get through as much as possible, and if necessary, anything left in the middle is cut apart by hand.

I do try to account for waste when sourcing the stock.

Same for rip cuts. Face against the saw table is hand planed flat as well as the edge against the fence.