Resawing with a Grizzly Bandsaw

[Glenn Samuels]

I have a 14" Extreme Model Bandsaw (G0555X) with the 6" booster so I can resaw up to 12" wood. The blade is a 3/4" with 3 tpi and it is a 3 HP unit. Lately, I have been resawing 8/4 african mahogany that is 10" wide. The pieces were approximately 72" long. Just put a new blade in but I still find it hard to push through and the blade seems to be wandering. The wood seems to be dragging across the metal bed. I have gone over all the setting so I think it is set correctly. Could I be asking for two much from this bandsaw? I am using a unit with magnets to try to keep the wood against the resaw fence. When I push, it actually starts to move the bandsaw on the floor. That is how much pressure I am using. I could at times cut the wood to 36" which would be easier to control but most times, I need the longer lengths. Please let me know your opinion. Thanks

[Rich Enders]

Glenn.

I recently resawed 7 1/2 inch African Mahogany (sapele) on a plain old Ridgid 14 inch using a 1/2 inch Wood Slicer blade. I don't know the HP, but it is probably less than half of what you have. My cut is 30% less than your cut, but mine was quite easy. You say your set-up has been checked, so I would increase the tension a bit, and if that does not work, then maybe try a different type of blade.

[Herr Dalbergia]

What kind of blade are you using? Manufacturer? Type?

Cheers, Alex

[glenn bradley]

Sometimes this is a matter of expectation. 1 or 2 inches per second of feed rate is pretty quick for 10" of cut. Are you trying for faster than this? Too much push can cause as many problems as a dull blade IMHO.

[Peter Quinn]

Are you using a fence? African mahogany can have a lot of tension in it, what thickness are you resawing? If its veneer I'm not sure what to tell you other than wax the table, recheck the set up. But if you are slicing thicker pieces out of 8/4 it could be bowing as it comes out which effectively makes the board thicker, so it pushes on the fence creating drag and in turn pushes back on the blade creating more drag, a rough cut and can make the blade wander off course. Carefully watch the kerf ahead of and behind the blade if the wood seems to be splaying out or pinching in behind the blade versus the regular kerf, it may be the wood. One solution is to use a unipoint fence so the wood can move after the cut, and you can make thin wedges or shingles to shove in the kerf to keep it open behind the cut as you go. This takes a bit more "english" or user input than simply holding a board tight to a fence, and it wont make the bowed or twisted stuff you can wind up with any more usable, but it solves the drag problem. I've had a board here and there nearly stop a 5HP minimax and a 3HP meber, so your saw is not the only possible answer.

[Andy Fox]

I am using a unit with magnets to try to keep the wood against the resaw fence. When I push, it actually starts to move the bandsaw on the floor. That is how much pressure I am using.

Maybe there is too much pressure here, which is causing too much friction? Is the stock thickness consistent? Maybe it widens or cups?

[Steve Menendez]

A dedicated resawing blade will have much lower set values than a "General Purpose" type of bandsaw blade. The lower set values will result in less resistance to cutting (less power required by the saw and less pushing power required by hand).

One of the Sawmillcreek site sponsors - sawbladeexpress.com offers an excellent resawing blade called the Xtra Edge. It is every bit as good, if not better, than the woodslicer blades, and is made in the USA. The woodslicers are imported, if that makes a difference to you.

In any event, a dedicated resawing blade is a bargain when considering the value of a piece of African Mahogany.

Steve

[Glenn Samuels]

This is the blade that I used: (T25045 Timber Wolf 105" x 3/4" x .025" x 2/3 TPI Pos Claw Bandsaw Blade from Grizzly). Here is a continuation of the story. I was trying just to get (2) 15/16" boards from the 8/4 board. All 4 sides were rough. Probably should have jointed at least the bottom and maybe the side against the fence. I believe the fence is 6" high. I think I agree with Peter about the bowing. At the top of the board, I got a little variation but at the bottom, it was 3/4" and 1 1/4". Possibly the fence moved although I had a clamp next to it to try to avoid the situation. Obviously, I made some mistakes. Should I have jointed the 10" side? I would have had to hand joint it since my jointer is 8" wide. Let's see if these facts change anyone's opinion. Thanks,

[Peter Quinn]

Thats a good blade, bit too much for a 14" saw IMO, just because it fits doesn't mean the spring can give it enough tension, I used the 1/2" version when I had a 14" saw, but probably not the deciding factor in this equation. Rough boards against a fence for resaw is a no go, probably the source of much of your problem. You can flatten 10" on an 8" jointer using the rabbeting ledge, flatten the first 8", do the last 2" with a hand plane or jointing fence on a TS. Its actually pretty quick. At least you need a good edge to ride on, and in that case I'd mark a center line on the board and either resaw freehand or use a uni point fence, saw may have come with one, mine did, or you can make one easy enough using scrap plywood and a dowel. You should be able to resaw 10" of mahogany no problem on that saw. But honestly, unless you need a book match for some reason, or had the wood you needed to use, I'd skip the resaw and use 4/4 to begin with. Nearly impossible to split 8/4 for two useable pieces of 4/4 over much length on many boards. All that said, I've seen flattened and jointed 8/4 run against a fence release tension and stop a much bigger saw, so look out for that. African mahogany doesn't always behave very well, some has nasty interlocked grain with lots of tension trapped within, learning to read the boards and avoid the most likely to warp suspects is part of the game.

[Glenn Samuels]

This is excellent information. Thank you

[John TenEyck]

As mentioned, no CI 14" bandsaw can adequately tension a 3/4" wide blade. Actually, they can't even get a 1/2" wide blade up to the tension recommended by most blade manufacturers (18000 psi min.), but you can get enough tension on it to resaw well enough (around 12000 psi), if you use an Iturra spring. I regularly resaw 10"+ wide hardwoods on my 14" Delta with riser block using an Olson MVP 1/2", 3 tpi blade. A 1/2" wide Timberwolf blade should do pretty well, too, it just won't stay sharp near as long. I only have a 1.5 HP motor on my saw and it's more than adequate. As discussed, you have to start out with stock that's jointed flat on one face, and 90 degrees on one edge. Here's a photo of my simple set up with a 7" tall fence and feather board. I'm cutting white oak about 65" long into veneer about 0.090" thick.

IMG_3363.JPG

IMG_3369.JPG

The key to resawing with a fence is you have to get the blade to cut straight. For me, that means the wheels have to be co-planer above all else, and the blade has to be equally sharp on both sides and the set also has to be equal. With the blade centered on the upper wheel it should cut straight, but sometimes it takes a small tracking adjustment. If it won't cut straight with the fence set parallel with the miter slot forget it, you'll never get it to resaw straight and parallel with the fence even if you try to adjust for drift. Maybe some folks can, but it's never worked for me. Anyway, if the blade cuts straight you should have no trouble resawing most anything at a reasonable rate (maybe 5 - 10 feet/min) without having to push very hard. Pushing hard is a sign something is wrong and should be a warning sign because that's when something might go wrong and you get seriously hurt.

John

[Jim Finn]

I had this same problem with my GO555 when resawing 8"oak and maple. So I tried a 1/2" Woodslicer blade and it worked very well. It dulled quickly so I went to a 5/8" carbide blade I got from Grizzly. This blade works just as well and stays sharp 5 times longer. My saw has a 6" resaw fence and only one HP motor. I also resaw a lot of 8" cedar. I run the rough wood through the planer before resawing. I also joint the bottom edge.

[Thomas L. Miller]

Glenn,
I recently had trouble resawing domestic hardwoods (cheery and ash) with my 555x. I tried two 1/2 inch woodslicer blades and the saw would NOT cut straight. I almost screwed up a piece of 9" 8/4 cherry trying to make 1/8" drawer veneers . I've resawn 8" wood before and the saw did fine. I went through all the set up stuff I could find and to no avail. Long story short, I was in a "do loop" of adjusting the fence to the table and then trying to adjust the fence for drift. I finally sat and stared at the saw for about 30 minute and realized that the "reference surface" is actually the blade not the miter slot. I tracked the blade using Alex Snodgrass' method and then carefully squared the table TO THE BLADE. I then squared the fence to the table miter slot. The blade at the time was a 1/2 3tpi blade from Carter. I also reset my guides according to Alex's method. The results were fantastic. The saw cut beautifully with not even a hint of lugging. The cuts were almost jointer smooth and required only one pass over my jointer set at ~1mm cut depth. The resawn pieces were within a .002 of being the same thickness end to end and edge to edge. The pieces were 9" ash that was 50" long. I cut the veneers 3/16" thick. I think what happened in my case was I or someone else had grabbed the saw by the table to move it on the mobile base. The table became wonked enough to throw the whole thing saw set up off and I was just going through motions without really thinking about the problem. Hope this helps.
Tom

[Howard Acheson]

I'm a little confused. I have a Model #G0555X Grizzly bandsaw. It's called a 14" "Ultimate Model" and has a motor rated as a 1 HP motor. Do you really have a 3 HP motor on yours?

My saw does a a good and reasonably fast job when resawing. Even though the manual says the saw can use a 3/4" blade, almost all 14" band saws perform best with 1/2 wide resaw blades. You say you installed a new blade. Where you able to resaw effectively with your prior blade?

[Glenn Samuels]

Gentlemen, There is so much good information here that I don't know where to begin my thanks. I went back to basics and adjusted my table to be square with the blade. Then the fence to be square with the blade and parallel with the miter slot. I was slightly off co-planar but I made the adjustments. Cut a 42" long piece of 8/4 mahogany and it cut very straight. I should be good now.