how often do you need a resaw capacity of more than 12" ?

[Martin Rock]

Hi all

Just curious, this might help me decide which bandsaw to buy.

how often do you need a resaw capacity of more than 12" ? and for what type of work or situation.

thanks

Martin

[Scot Ferraro]

Hi Martin,

I have never needed to yet -- very rarely to I come across wood wider than 12 inches -- on occasion I have seen it, but most wood at my suppliers is less than 12 inches wide. I think that a wider throat depth is more important, especially if you are ripping stock or using the bandsaw for joinery. This is not to say that being able to resaw wider than 12 inches is not necessary or that you would not have a need for it, but I find 12 inches to be more than adequate for my needs and I resaw a lot of wood.

Scot

[Montgomery Scott]

About 30% of the time. I have received numerous tree sections and purchased planks far in excess of even my 16" resaw capability. I cut slabs for flat work and turning blanks. Three weeks ago I got a wild cherry tree that was ~24" diameter. I had to quarter most of it to run it through the saw after cutting it in half with a chain saw. I also have some 10' slabs up to 28" wide from the branch of a walnut tree. Those will either have to be cut down or worked by hand.

[David Hostetler]

I do some of my own band saw milling, but I wouldn't be willing to wrestle a log bigger than 12" across my band saw in the first place... So never needed resaw capacity beyond 12". While a bigger band saw may be nice, I have never felt that a 14" saw with a riser block was any sort of limitation...

[Neil Brooks]

My gut tells me we shouldn't be looking at resaw capacity, in isolation.

When you start going up in resaw capacity, you usually start getting more/bigger/better, in other areas, too.

Meaning ... you MAY think about how often you'd need the extra horsepower, cast wheels, or ... some other feature. Extra resaw capacity might just be gravy, in the purchase of a saw that you'll keep for a lifetime.

On the flip-side ... short-changing yourself on resaw capacity may push you to a cheaper saw that you ... won't keep for very long.

Depending on your goals ... I think table and band saws are places where it's better to *stretch* your budget, than to save a few bucks on the front end.....

[Ryan Hellmer]

I've never used more than 12". Anything bigger than that (and some smaller) gets put on the sawmill. There are some speciality fields (guitar making) that may justify it but I doubt it. And in many cases it may be just as easy to rip the piece in half and then resaw and rejoin or bookmatch. I've seen some pretty wild drift in really wide resaw cuts and it'd be a shame to ruin a 16" wide piece of burl or crotch trying to push a machine to the max.

[David Kumm]

I need it about once a year. I have an oliver 217 with a 14" resaw that gets used all the time and a 116 that has a 20" resaw and seldom is needed. There is a big tradeoff in that when resaw height on steel bandsaws goes above 12" the saw has to be structured MUCH stronger in the neck to avoid twisting and handle some serious tensioning of the blade. If you go with more resaw, get the stoutest, heaviest saw you can afford. Any flexing screws up the tracking and causes problems that can't be corrected. Resaw height is more of a marketing issue that was begun about ten years ago to differentiate saws than a practical issue for most people. If I could only have one saw- and cast iron was out- it would be a 24" steel with 12-16 resaw. Big enough table and throat, stout enough for resawing. There are many happy camapers with the MM16 and 20 though because they are very well built. Everyone with an Agazzani seems happy as well. Besides the two Olivers, I use a Yates y20 for a small saw so I like the idea of two of everything. Dave

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Martin....the only time I have resawn, it was over 12". The person involved was a friend and co-worker who lives 2 1/2 hours drive away. He couldn't find a professional shop in his area that could reasaw 16" and my MM-16 does. So he waited several months until a "business" opportunity brought him into my area. I installed my 3/4" bi-metal blade, tensioned it, adjusted the fence for drift. We practiced on some 14" apricot I was given and then we resawed his expensive wood. He builds acoustic guitars as a hobby.

When it comes to tools, I tend to buy what I can afford but more than I initially will probably need. I don't find myself selling tools at a loss to upgrade to something else later.

[Dennis Ford]

I use more than 12" height fairly often to cut turning blanks. This is not really "resawing", the wood is green and I don't care about cut quality.

[Andrew Joiner]

You will find a need for 13" resaw capacity right after you buy the 12" capacity saw! Just kidding.

I have 14" capacity on my 21" Grizzly saw and have only used it to resaw 12" so far. I can modify the upper guide post to get 18" resaw if I needed it.

[Paul Symchych]

I think you're asking the question the wrong way.

The question to ask is how often YOU think YOU will buy and resaw 12" lumber or plan to saw 12" logs.

How often I resaw 12" is irrelevant to you [for the record I have an 18" saw but have never needed 12" resaw capability]. I have often made thin panels and veneers, glueing and typically bookmatching slices. The extra power of a bigger machine is nice but even better than that is a first class blade on whatever machine you choose.

[Myk Rian]

More than 12"? Never.
12"? A couple times.

[Harvey Pascoe]

Bigger is not better, just more expensive, a lot more.

If I had to resaw something that wide I'd simply rip it in half, saw it and then rejoint it. Hardly worth the price of a large saw unless you're doing it often.

[glenn bradley]

I haven't yet; close but not over.

[Peter Quinn]

I have a 20" saw that stops at 12" and I'm pretty happy there. From there I rip and glue, one thin glue line would take me to a 24" resaw, and I can certainly live with that. I have found that even at 12" resawing can lead to so much cupping it renders the wood useless anyway. Certainly those handling logs on a BS, or effectively treating there BS as a band mill would like a bit more height, but there are limits to the practicality of these things for most people. If I need very wide veneer it is available commercially at a quality and price that I could not really beat slicing it myself. I got by for years with a 14" and riser quite happily and would probably still be there had an opportunity for something bigger not presented itself.

Now, what I would not like to give up are the very smooth cuts, large table, soft start, quiet operation and ease of adjustment of my present 20" BS. These things are all frankly more important to me for my work than a few extra inches of height under the guides.