Resawing Question

[Jeff Moore]

I have a project to do that requires me to resaw some 4/4 cherry down to 3/8" thick stock. I don't have a decent band saw, and a new one is not currently in the budget. What I do have is an old (20+ years) Sears Craftsman 12" bandsaw. It's basically a flimsy piece of junk, but it does run. My question is this: Would it be a total waste of my time and money to get a decent resawing blade and give it a go on this saw? I'd hate to waste so much good lumber planing 4/4 down to 3/8" stock. Your thoughts?

[James Phillips]

Originally Posted by Jeff Moore

I have a project to do that requires me to resaw some 4/4 cherry down to 3/8" thick stock. I don't have a decent band saw, and a new one is not currently in the budget. What I do have is an old (20+ years) Sears Craftsman 12" bandsaw. It's basically a flimsy piece of junk, but it does run. My question is this: Would it be a total waste of my time and money to get a decent resawing blade and give it a go on this saw? I'd hate to waste so much good lumber planing 4/4 down to 3/8" stock. Your thoughts?

If it is a full 15/16" thick and less than 6" you can resaw it on a 10" table saw. Make one pass, flip (keep same side against the fence) and make a second pass. More waste than on a bandsaw, but not as much as planing it down...

[Scott Rollins]

Get a good blade and you can resaw, but go slowly. If the machine vibrates as badly as my old craftsman you need to go the tablesaw route as you will waste just as much wood trying to straighten it back out.

[Lance Norris]

Also if resawing on a table saw, a thin kerf blade will be easier on your saw and not as wasteful. Leave a small amount in the center so the 2 sides are still connected(dont saw all the way through) and finish the cut with a hand saw. Much safer this way.

[Doug Shepard]

Why dont you put your location in your User CP profile. I'm sure there's no shortage if folks who'd volunteer to do it for you on a good bandsaw if they knew you were close-by.

[Gary Keedwell]

Originally Posted by Lance Norris

Also if resawing on a table saw, a thin kerf blade will be easier on your saw and not as wasteful. Leave a small amount in the center so the 2 sides are still connected(dont saw all the way through) and finish the cut with a hand saw. Much safer this way.

I'll second that.
Gary

[Mike Cutler]

Originally Posted by Lance Norris

Also if resawing on a table saw, a thin kerf blade will be easier on your saw and not as wasteful. Leave a small amount in the center so the 2 sides are still connected(dont saw all the way through) and finish the cut with a hand saw. Much safer this way.

To add a little. If the board is too wide for the tablesaw. You can do as Lance outlined and then finish the cut on the bandsaw.
The presawn "halves "will give you a great guide and the amount of wood being resawn will be lessened. You'll have a fair bit of cleanng up to do on one face of each resawn board. It's still doable though.

[Bert Johansen]

Jeff,

With the cost of wood these days I would certainly opt for a new 3/4-inch blade and give it a shot. Rockler (in certain Texas stores) is selling in-stock bandsaw blades at 25% off this weekend. Check around.

A word of caution. Don't immediately try to resaw the cherry after you install the new blade. You may have some tweaking to get the set-up ready for a good quality resaw operation. Test, tweak, test, tweak, test . . . you get my drift, but you might not get the bandsaw's drift right away.

[Bruce Page]

Originally Posted by Doug Shepard

Why dont you put your location in your User CP profile. I'm sure there's no shortage if folks who'd volunteer to do it for you on a good bandsaw if they knew you were close-by.

Yep. If your in Albuquerque, bring it by.
I did some resawing on the TS once. It scared the bejeebees out of me.

[Doug Shepard]

Originally Posted by Bruce Page

Yep. If your in Albuquerque, bring it by.
I did some resawing on the TS once. It scared the bejeebees out of me.

Not to mention how surprisingly long it takes to handsaw out that middle section that the blade cant reach.

[Pete Bradley]

You don't mention how tall a resaw, but I'd definitely go with your bandsaw. I would *not* try it with a 3/4" band - this saw almost certainly will perform badly with a band that wide. I'd go with a 3/8X4TPI thin-kerf silicon steel (aka Timberwolf), or if you're confident the machine will tension it, a 1/2"X3TPI. Don't get hung up on width. I've successfully done 13" resaws in green oak logs with the 3/8"X4.

You need to build a good resaw fence. Mine is made of mdf screwed together at a 90 degree angle and then trued&glued with inside corner blocks. You can clamp it to the table.

Pete

[Mike McCann]

You can always use a sawsall to cut the middle once you ran both sides thru the table saw.

[Jeff Moore]

Thanks for all the input guys. I ordered a 1/2" 3 TPI and some cool blocks and am going to give it a try. Will definitely do the test cut, tweak, test cut, tweak thing. I have some scrap set aside for that. I built a solid, tall fence this afternoon. We'll see how it goes; if I'm unable to get usable results, I suspect I'll find out pretty quick.

By the way, I'm in Kingston Springs, TN, about 23 miles west of downtown Nashville.

[Greg Cole]

Jeff,
If you don't have any luck with your old C'man... depending on how much you need to resaw... check with a local mill or a local Creeker should be able to knock it out for a princely sum of a 6 pack of a certain beverage. If you wanna come to KC , I'll gladly either do it for you or letcha have a few minutes on my BS.

Greg

[Justin Bukoski]

Use the bandsaw. I recommend a woodslicer 1/2" blade from Highland Hardware they are inexpensive and work really well.

When you go to do the resaw two things will help. Make a fence that almost as tall as the workpiece is wide. Then, draw a line down the middle of the board on its edge. THat way if you get a lot of drift you can follow the line on the board.

It goes without saying but make sure your saw is tuned up before you start resawing.


good luck!