How can I effectively resaw on this?

Jak3

New User
Jacob
I've found a small piece of oak out in the yard thought I'd try and make maybe a dovetailed candle box out of. My joiner is only a 6" so I used a no.6 to flatten one side and ran it through the planer. It's about 1 5/16" thick. I have never resawn anything except on a table saw. I was wondering if I can use my bandsaw to resaw this board. Its about 7 - 8" wide I didn't measure width. My bandsaw has no fence though, so how do I set up a fence on it? I've seen many people do this on youtube on big bandsaws with a built in fence with great ease and effectiveness. All the time in my shop I wish I could resaw boards and not have to plane so much material off in some cases.

What do you think?

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Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
OK, you can build a fence and a couple clamps to do the job rather well. With that saw it will be slow going but it will do the job.
 

Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
You can start by aligning the fence to the blade, you can also gauge a line all the way around the piece and follow the line. I would suggest you use a test piece to tune it in. Once you have tuned in your fence then you should just control your feed rate.
 

Bas

Recovering tool addict
Bas
Corporate Member
Resawing with a fence works only if it is perfectly parallel. When I resaw a board, I typically draw a center line on the edge, then cut it freehand. Just try to "split the line". Afterward, run both halves through the planer to clean up the saw marks and even things out. If you use a sharp blade and take your time, you won't lose more than 1/16" of material.

Another option is to make a simple "pivot" fence, as shown here ->

Finally, if you're having a hard time sawing straight, you can make a cut using your table saw about 2" in both the top and bottom edge, then use the band saw to cut out the remainder in the middle. The table saw cuts will essentially keep the band saw blade straight. But you'll lose 1/8" of material due to the saw kerf, plus a little sanding/ planing.
 

Jak3

New User
Jacob
Ok if I get a chance I’ll try it tomorrow. I don’t use the bandsaw a lot so to follow just on the waste side of a line I go really slow.
 

Dan Bowman

New User
Dan Bowman
I'd consider putting a thin kerf blade on my table saw and cut part-way through on each edge, maybe 2". Then resaw the rest on your bandsaw. It will make it a lot easier and you probably will end up with just as much thickness as you would trying to resaw the whole 8" directly on the bandsaw. With your bandsaw, the blade is very likely going to wander. It will be much less likely to if you pre-cut each edge.
 

Jak3

New User
Jacob
I'd consider putting a thin kerf blade on my table saw and cut part-way through on each edge, maybe 2". Then resaw the rest on your bandsaw. It will make it a lot easier and you probably will end up with just as much thickness as you would trying to resaw the whole 8" directly on the bandsaw. With your bandsaw, the blade is very likely going to wander. It will be much less likely to if you pre-cut each edge.

I don’t have any blades like that, I was hoping not to have to use a table saw just for the sake of saving as much thickness as I can but we’ll see what happens tomorrow.
 

llucas

luke
Senior User
plus 1 to all the above...now that you have the two faces parallel, make sure you have jointed at 90 degrees the edge that will rest on the bandsaw table so that the faces will at least start out parallel to the blade.
 

marinosr

Richard
Corporate Member
A nice way to make sure the board is kept completely vertical is with a pin fence (I think this is what they're called?) You put a vertical dowel exactly in line with the teeth of the saw, so that the wood makes one point of contact with the fence, allowing you to follow the line freehand while keeping the board vertical. (Freehand is much easier than trying to compensate for drift, especially if you're only getting one shot to do it right.) You can make a quick and dirty one by drillling a hole for a 1" dowel in a 2x4, then cutting the 2x4 lengthwise so that you remove 1/4 of the wood surrounding the hole, so that when you put the dowel in the hole it protrudes past the 2x4. Then just clamp that assembly to your table.

The "round nose" fence here is a similar idea.

A sharp 3tpi blade will be your friend.
 

Jak3

New User
Jacob
A nice way to make sure the board is kept completely vertical is with a pin fence (I think this is what they're called?) You put a vertical dowel exactly in line with the teeth of the saw, so that the wood makes one point of contact with the fence, allowing you to follow the line freehand while keeping the board vertical. (Freehand is much easier than trying to compensate for drift, especially if you're only getting one shot to do it right.) You can make a quick and dirty one by drillling a hole for a 1" dowel in a 2x4, then cutting the 2x4 lengthwise so that you remove 1/4 of the wood surrounding the hole, so that when you put the dowel in the hole it protrudes past the 2x4. Then just clamp that assembly to your table.

The "round nose" fence here is a similar idea.

A sharp 3tpi blade will be your friend.

I see. I've got lots and lots of 2x4's laying around. I think I'm going to make a fence to clamp on and make sure it is parallel with the blade miter slot and then use a combination square to set it, and I'll use a block of wood as a sort of feather-board to help keep the board against the fence.

I am actually not sure what kind of blade is in there right now, It was on there when we bought the bandsaw. I know it's a narrow blade not ideal for re-sawing. I'm not really familiar with changing the blade on a bandsaw or tensioning it. My blade still cuts well, so I haven't crossed that bridge yet.
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
From past experience: It will go a lot better if you rig up some support on both the infeed and outfeed side of the band saw table. It gets very hard to control the cut (especially at the start and end) when also trying to keep the board vertical and flat on the table. I used my drill press to help, laying a piece of plywood from the bandsaw across the drill press, and clamped to both tables for the outfeed, and just a tripod roller stand for the infeed. If you have a floor drill press that you can adjust the table up and down, you may want to consider doing something like that. This picture isn't exactly my set-up, but gives you an Idea of what I am describing.
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Joe Scharle

New User
Joe
I cut my rough stock close to finished size (add 1/2 inch). But if my planner snipes, I'll add for that.
Then I test resaw a piece to see if I need to tilt my table slightly to compensate.
Finally, I'll resaw against a pivot fence if I'm using my old bandsaw.

Your pivot fence need not be adjustable....

Resaw Fence 1.jpg
 

Roy G

Roy
Senior User
Jacob, I would recommend that you practice resewing on a piece of scrap wood. Even a two by four would help you get an idea of how the saw cuts. And do you need the full width of the board in your proposed box? It would be easier to resaw a narrower board. And it would be best to invest in a 3/8 or 1/2 3tpi blade for your saw.

Roy G
 

Jak3

New User
Jacob
Alright I've got some adjustable roller support things I can use to support the cut. I'll make a test cut first on a scrap 2x4 that I'll mill square. No I don't necessarily need this wide of a board for the project. I just wanted to save some width because I all the time have to cut boards narrower to fit on my jointer. My bandsaw is not on wheels so I'll need to walk it away from the wall.
I'm currently working on some schoolwork I'll go in the shop a little after lunch and set all this up.

Jacob, I would recommend that you practice resewing on a piece of scrap wood. Even a two by four would help you get an idea of how the saw cuts. And do you need the full width of the board in your proposed box? It would be easier to resaw a narrower board. And it would be best to invest in a 3/8 or 1/2 3tpi blade for your saw.

Roy G
Recommend any brand blade or any website I can get them from?
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
I am actually not sure what kind of blade is in there right now, It was on there when we bought the bandsaw. I know it's a narrow blade not ideal for re-sawing. I'm not really familiar with changing the blade on a bandsaw or tensioning it. My blade still cuts well, so I haven't crossed that bridge yet.
If you use a fine tooth blade the gullets will fill up with sawdust, the blade will overheat, it will start to drift, you may end up with a curve in the middle instead of two flat boards. Yes, I mean curved from side to side. Yes that can happen. You also risk breaking the blade, in which case you will be forced to learn something new rather that taking it at your leisure.

You really should get a 2 or 3 tooth per inch blade and probably 1/2 wide for your saw. Bigger saws can use wider blades but the tension required is too great for a small band saw.

www.woodcraftbands.com
 

Jak3

New User
Jacob
If you use a fine tooth blade the gullets will fill up with sawdust, the blade will overheat, it will start to drift, you may end up with a curve in the middle instead of two flat boards. Yes, I mean curved from side to side. Yes that can happen. You also risk breaking the blade, in which case you will be forced to learn something new rather that taking it at your leisure.

You really should get a 2 or 3 tooth per inch blade and probably 1/2 wide for your saw. Bigger saws can use wider blades but the tension required is too great for a small band saw.

www.woodcraftbands.com

Okay I will definitely look into those. I would like to get into re-sawing more to save material instead of planing it into nothing. I'd like to be able to re-saw anytime on the bandsaw and not have to use the table saw.

How do I know what length blade goes on my saw?

I recently was milling up some large heart pine beams and to cut boards from them I had to split the large beam in half and mill it up and slice boards out on the table saw. It was very laborious. I'd like to be able to saw wider boards out on the bandsaw.
 

marinosr

Richard
Corporate Member
Jacob, your saw takes a 105" blade. (The manual will say 96" or so, but you have a riser block kit installed.) I have the same saw. I replaced the 1/2 HP motor on it with a 2 HP motor. Your 8" oak resaw will be VERY slow with the 1/2 HP motor, but it will be possible with enough patience.

As Mike said, a new blade will be an absolute must. You need a very sharp blade for resawing, as dull blades will cause deflection and the bowing that Mike described. You also definitely need a wider blade with fewer, larger teeth. Don't get anything bigger than a 1/2" blade, even though the manual says it can take up to 3/4"... the top wheel assembly can't actually handle the tension that a 3/4" blade requires, and the pot metal hinge that the top wheel is on will eventually bend/shatter. There are MANY pictures of this occuring all over the internet and it also happened to me.
 

Jak3

New User
Jacob
Jacob, your saw takes a 105" blade. (The manual will say 96" or so, but you have a riser block kit installed.) I have the same saw. I replaced the 1/2 HP motor on it with a 2 HP motor. Your 8" oak resaw will be VERY slow with the 1/2 HP motor, but it will be possible with enough patience.

As Mike said, a new blade will be an absolute must. You need a very sharp blade for resawing, as dull blades will cause deflection and the bowing that Mike described. You also definitely need a wider blade with fewer, larger teeth. Don't get anything bigger than a 1/2" blade, even though the manual says it can take up to 3/4"... the top wheel assembly can't actually handle the tension that a 3/4" blade requires, and the pot metal hinge that the top wheel is on will eventually bend/shatter. There are MANY pictures of this occuring all over the internet and it also happened to me.

Ok great thank you!

Yeah I've heard these old deltas aren't the best saws in the world but I'm still pretty novice in my projects and I don't do a lot of curves, thus it doesn't get a whole lot of use but it is still invaluable to me. I have used this bandsaw to saw waste off of table legs for tapering legs on the jointer.

If I don't need the total width of the board for something small as a candle box, should I just rip it narrower and resaw it on the table saw this time and wait till I get a better blade and get it properly installed to use the bandsaw?
 

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