Bandsaw/Hand Plane milling question

[Alex Gauthier]

Hey all,

I'm still very early on in the learning curve and I have used some machines in the past (jointer/planer,ts, shaper) but now that I'm building out my own tools I don't want to spend the money on all those machines so I've been studying hand tools and have procured a few planes, chisels, and various other things. I've learned to sharpen them well (I think) but I struggle a little with time investment.

I was considering getting a planer at some point but the ones worth having seem to be really expensive so I've kind of gone back to the idea of milling stock with hand tools instead. I was reading somewhere about how one can use a bandsaw speed this process up quite a bit and then nudge it into perfection with a plane or two.

Could someone kindly explain how that would be done?

[Jim Koepke]

My bandsaw is often used to resize a piece of wood from a 12x to a 6x or whatever is needed for a particular project. A hand plane is then used to remove the saw marks.

Sometimes a 1X, 2X or 4X is resawn to thinner pieces. A hand plane is also great for removing saw marks on these pieces.

The size plane used is determined by the size of the work piece and the preference of the user.

jtk

[Chuck Nickerson]

A band saw can rip wood to width and resaw to thickness. These are the two prep steps some HT woodworkers find most ornery.

[Mark AJ Allen]

As a primarily hand tools guy, I find the bandsaw is still worth the expense. As poster above mention, it does the ripping AND the resawing, which is most definitely one of the more heavy tasks for using handtools. The other thing it will do nice for you is cut curves and shapes in thicker boards, which requires a whole different set of hand tools than ripping and resawing would. I'm willing to say that if you don't mind some dust, noise and setups, the bandsaw could possibly replace some hand tools operations for you, depending on the size and kind of work you do of course.

[steven c newman]

I use mine because with the COPD I have, I am not going to get very far using just a handsaw to resaw and to do rips. Mine does a decent enough job, but....I need to plane off the saw marks, and to flatten out the "waves" where the blade tends to go off track...and then back on. I size the handplane used to match the length or width of the work being done.

[Alex Gauthier]

Thanks for your answers so far. I think I should have been a little more detailed in my question.

I guess that my perception is that a band saw blade being flexible and affected by tension of stock moving through wouldn't result in the resulting milled stock being square. I have no issue adding a bandsaw and based on what you guys have already said and what I've read elsewhere I'll probably get one. I just was hoping I could depend on it to do most of the grunt work of milling the stock. If all I need to do is plane off the saw marks that would be spectacular.

[Ray Selinger]

Bandsaws can do amazing things and do them well. The but is the set-up, there have been some books written on just that.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Alex

These pictures were taken a goodly number of years ago. THe bandsaw is a very basic 14" model. I have since upgraded it to a more powerful machine. Still, it did a pretty good job and, in fact, I am currently using the same technique to resaw boards for kitchen doors I am building in Hard Maple.

There are no "shoulds" or "should nots", no rules that must be followed in your shop ... specifically, no betrayal of some code when it comes to choosing tools. Get the ones that you find useful and fit with your budget. In my shop I find a bandsaw especially important.

Rough sawn She-oak. THis will be used for a box.









The box made ..



Regards from Perth

Derek

[John K Jordan]

I guess that my perception is that a band saw blade being flexible and affected by tension of stock moving through wouldn't result in the resulting milled stock being square. I have no issue adding a bandsaw and based on what you guys have already said and what I've read elsewhere I'll probably get one. I just was hoping I could depend on it to do most of the grunt work of milling the stock. If all I need to do is plane off the saw marks that would be spectacular.

Alex,

If the bandsaw is properly set up and the tension right, it will cut incredibly straight and square. If the tension is right the blade will be incredibly stiff. If you get a vertical bowing then the tension is probably too low or the blade is dull on one side or maybe both. Also, the guides need to be adjusted correctly or you might as well split the wood with a froe. (Just kidding!)

Once a friend brought over a 12' long 2x12 of Douglas fir, if I remember correctly. Using my 14" Delta bandsaw with a riser block we resawed that board into four pieces so he could skin a rough beam in his house. No bowing, no problems. A few light passes through the planer for all 4 boards and he went home happy.

That said, before I got the saw set up correctly I had terrible problems with the blade wandering from left to right, bowed cuts on thick green stock, crazy drift, and other problems. I bought bandsaw books by Mark Duginske and Lonnie Bird, shimmed the wheels to make them coplaner, learned to adjust the guides correctly, and most importantly, set the tension correctly. The tension marks on these and most bandsaws are horrible, even the 18" bandsaw I use the most now. I got a quality tension gauge from Iturra Design, handy for all my bandsaws, even the sawmill. My bandsaw problems have been close to nothing for the last decade+.

BTW, one huge problem people have is trying to use a blade that is too wide for the saw. This ties back to insufficient tension. I used to try to use wide blades myself, 3/4" and even 1" on the 14" saw. No, no, no. I found it a lot easier to use a narrower blade since the tension needed is so much less. These days I do almost all of my bandsawing with 1/2" 3-tpi or 4-tpi blades, mostly cutting thicker wood (up to 12"), green and dry, for woodturning. If I do thinner work where I want a smoother cut I use one with more teeth/inch.

Also, the blade needs to be sharp. I usually sharpen my blades 2-3 times before getting out a new one. I use a Dremel tool to sharpen. It takes a while for the bigger saw but saves me a lot of money on blades.

JKJ

[Prashun Patel]

It's possible to do what you are hoping, but it's not as simple as planing off marks. A bandsaw capable of resawing straight enough and tall enough will cost more than the thickness planer you could buy.

AN average benchtop planer will cost less than 500. That's about the starting point for a reasonable bandsaw new or old.

[Eric Schmid]

If the stock going in is square and straight, your resawn boards should come out square and straight. Better/bigger bandsaws will improve results. Tuning your bandsaw is also critical to getting consistent results. The variation from optimal results is directly proportional to these factors, combined with the skill of the operator.

With a well designed and tuned saw you still want to start with straight/square stock; at least two sides.

On the flip side there is going to be a lot of hand plane work if the saw is not up to the task (or the material isn't joined before). I recently threw an 8x8 rough sawn beam up on the saw, being too lazy or impatient to do all of the planing work required first. Needless to say there was a lot of work to do after the 3x8 slabs came out the back side. Fortunately I had plenty of machinery to do the heavy lifting so that I could enjoy finishing with hand tools.

[Derek Cohen]

I'd rather have a bandsaw than a thicknesser (planer in the USA). Much greater versatility. Incidentally, the bandsaw in the photo above is a generic Chinese 14" machine. It was about the same price as a thicknesser/planer. That was some years ago and I have since upgraded to a Hammer 4400. Nevertheless, the 14" did a perfectly decent job, albeit a little slower and with less resaw capacity than the Hammer.

If one already owns a bandsaw, given a choice of thicknesser vs a wide jointer (10" or greater), I'd go for the jointer every time. A jointer will make short work of removing cupping and levelling a board - which takes up much of the time when jointing by hand. It is a simple matter to resaw a jointed board and then smooth off with handplanes. A few months ago, Pop Wood published back an article I wrote on this. Having noted this, my recommendation is to avoid power jointers under 8" - aim your budget at a combo jointer-planer. Wait until you can afford one.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Dan Barr]

The bandsaw gives you so many options! If you're willing to joint/smooth after rip/resaw then definitely get the bandsaw! Planer/thicknesser is only going to do one job. Bandsaw can do many.

[Alex Gauthier]

Incredibly detailed and useful answer. Thank you so much.

Alex,

If the bandsaw is properly set up and the tension right, it will cut incredibly straight and square. If the tension is right the blade will be incredibly stiff. If you get a vertical bowing then the tension is probably too low or the blade is dull on one side or maybe both. Also, the guides need to be adjusted correctly or you might as well split the wood with a froe. (Just kidding!)

Once a friend brought over a 12' long 2x12 of Douglas fir, if I remember correctly. Using my 14" Delta bandsaw with a riser block we resawed that board into four pieces so he could skin a rough beam in his house. No bowing, no problems. A few light passes through the planer for all 4 boards and he went home happy.

That said, before I got the saw set up correctly I had terrible problems with the blade wandering from left to right, bowed cuts on thick green stock, crazy drift, and other problems. I bought bandsaw books by Mark Duginske and Lonnie Bird, shimmed the wheels to make them coplaner, learned to adjust the guides correctly, and most importantly, set the tension correctly. The tension marks on these and most bandsaws are horrible, even the 18" bandsaw I use the most now. I got a quality tension gauge from Iturra Design, handy for all my bandsaws, even the sawmill. My bandsaw problems have been close to nothing for the last decade+.

BTW, one huge problem people have is trying to use a blade that is too wide for the saw. This ties back to insufficient tension. I used to try to use wide blades myself, 3/4" and even 1" on the 14" saw. No, no, no. I found it a lot easier to use a narrower blade since the tension needed is so much less. These days I do almost all of my bandsawing with 1/2" 3-tpi or 4-tpi blades, mostly cutting thicker wood (up to 12"), green and dry, for woodturning. If I do thinner work where I want a smoother cut I use one with more teeth/inch.

Also, the blade needs to be sharp. I usually sharpen my blades 2-3 times before getting out a new one. I use a Dremel tool to sharpen. It takes a while for the bigger saw but saves me a lot of money on blades.

JKJ

[Alex Gauthier]

I believe this is the direction I'll go, actually.

I'd rather have a bandsaw than a thicknesser (planer in the USA). Much greater versatility. Incidentally, the bandsaw in the photo above is a generic Chinese 14" machine. It was about the same price as a thicknesser/planer. That was some years ago and I have since upgraded to a Hammer 4400. Nevertheless, the 14" did a perfectly decent job, albeit a little slower and with less resaw capacity than the Hammer.

If one already owns a bandsaw, given a choice of thicknesser vs a wide jointer (10" or greater), I'd go for the jointer every time. A jointer will make short work of removing cupping and levelling a board - which takes up much of the time when jointing by hand. It is a simple matter to resaw a jointed board and then smooth off with handplanes. A few months ago, Pop Wood published back an article I wrote on this. Having noted this, my recommendation is to avoid power jointers under 8" - aim your budget at a combo jointer-planer. Wait until you can afford one.

Regards from Perth

Derek