Video Tutorial Setting Up The Bandsaw for Resawing

[Tarhead]

This is geared for Guitar makers but the same rules apply to resawing for any project. I picked up some great tips and I'm no Spring Chicken. He starts with a big ~20" saw and repeats everything on a Jet 14": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZviQKoKJ3yI&feature=player_embedded#!

 

[Glennbear]

Thanks Mark :icon_thum that is about the best video I have seen on one of the most persnickety operations we do. :wsmile:

 

[Joe Scharle]

I like his common sense explanations.

 

[blbradford]

I liked this video- thanks for pointing it out. One question tho' .... what did you think about his comment about using the smaller 1/4" blade over the 3/4" blade? I have always tried to use the bigger blade because I thought it would have less drift.

Another thing I was happy to see happen in this video was the way that one bad cut came out. That recently happened to me on a big buck board of quilted maple. How do you stop that from happening? And before you say it, yes, my blade was the right tension :eusa_danc

 

[Ben325e]

I like his common sense explanations.

Amen. That and the fact that he *wanted* the part where he messed up to be in the video. Learning from someone who isn't prideful is so much easier.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Thanks. Really informative.

I wish he would have explained why, after resawing a slightly warped board, one piece would bend differently than another. I'm sure it had to do with the stress, moisture content, or maybe he could tell by the grain pattern, but I would have liked to hear the explanation.

 

[Ben325e]

I liked this video- thanks for pointing it out. One question tho' .... what did you think about his comment about using the smaller 1/4" blade over the 3/4" blade? I have always tried to use the bigger blade because I thought it would have less drift.

Another thing I was happy to see happen in this video was the way that one bad cut came out. That recently happened to me on a big buck board of quilted maple. How do you stop that from happening? And before you say it, yes, my blade was the right tension :eusa_danc

As long as you adjust for drift, the smaller blades seem to be fine. The instructor in the video said that the bad cut was due to him not having his push stick available, which made his feed rate inconsistent. Keeping the feed rate consistent from start to finish seems to be the moral of that story. I'm not saying any of this as a master of the resaw, that was just what I got out of the video about that part.


The only thing about smaller blades would be making sure you feed slow enough that the sawdust can be cleared by the gullets and that you aren't trying to resaw with a TPI that's too high.

 

[Tarhead]

I liked this video- thanks for pointing it out. One question tho' .... what did you think about his comment about using the smaller 1/4" blade over the 3/4" blade? I have always tried to use the bigger blade because I thought it would have less drift.

I don't think he was talking about drift. Wide blades require more tension than narrow ones. 3/4" blades will cause most standard issue 14" Bandsaws to deflect while you are in a wide resaw cut d/t the extra drag on the blade. This causes the blade to cup. Narrow blades don't drag as much and cause less deflection. My 18" Rikon was labeled to hold up to a 1.25" blade for ripping and low stress jobs. If I put on a 1" blade, tensioned it to slightly above the 1" mark on the scale and tried to resaw wide stock, the top section would deflect down during the cut. A 3/4" blade gave me much cleaner resaws. Now if you have one of the Italian bandsaws or a 1930-40's Yates Cast Iron saw you don't have to worry about this much. They are built to withstand the sudden increase in blade drag/blade tension and don't deflect.
This is the reason I'm not a big fan of Riser blocks on 14" Bandsaws. They significantly reduce the amount of drag the top can handle before flexing.

 

[llucas]

Great video, some really good points on tuning.
But, I am curious why he demonstrated a resaw on the smaller BS without a fence...Even a cheap fence would seem to me to help hold a line and avoid the problem he had with the bottom of the board moving away from the cutting line.
Is resawing without a fence a common practice?:icon_scra
What say ye?

 

[Joe Scharle]

Great video, some really good points on tuning.
But, I am curious why he demonstrated a resaw on the smaller BS without a fence...Even a cheap fence would seem to me to help hold a line and avoid the problem he had with the bottom of the board moving away from the cutting line.
Is resawing without a fence a common practice?:icon_scra
What say ye?

He was using his finger as a point fence. I do it myself when I need just one piece, instead of taking the time to make a setup.