Interesting resawing method. Is it useful?

[ruffcutt]

A feather aboard type has always worked for me.

[Steve N]

Arlin Eastman said:

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I like the box idea. I use feather board to keep the wood close on the bottom but it does not keep it tight at top.

Arlin

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Arlin, before you run it through the bandsaw do you do any prep work on at least one face to make sure the stock is dead flat? I have an 8" jointer, and only a 12" resaw height, so it is easy for me to face joint the board with 2 passes (ala Joe Grout method, not that he invented it, but he mentions it frequently) Sometime for giggles after that I also run it through the planer. What I am getting at is with a dead flat surface I don't have a problem with the top being out more than the bottom when I run it through the BS. If it did it would suggest you have a set up problem, likely your table isn't 90* to the blade, and that is almost always table tilt. If you can easily flatten at least one face, keep that against your fence side of the cut, see if that doesn't fix that top out problem

Regardless as suggested another fence is easier to build than the block, which must be absolutely square. Or a push stick, or drunk push stick. I like them drunk, they keep my fangers further away, and if you cut out several you can use a flush cut router bit to make them exact, and stack and glue a few on top of each other to make a taller version.



Some people chuckle at this, but in 20+ years of ER work I saw more fingertips cut off on a BS, than TS injuries, and unfortunately saw a bunch of them. I want my fangers as far away from any cutter and still effectively control the stock

[Bibliophile 13]

Yeah, it looks like a great idea until you actually try it. I have yet to eliminate drift on my bandsaw blade, try as I might. I'm told it's possible, and I suppose it is. Apparently it takes some pretty careful adjustments.

Plus, that thing looks annoying to adjust. The fence and box have to be set perfectly parallel, and the stock itself must be a consistent thickness. But most of my resaw jobs involve stock that is either rough-sawn or planed only on one face. Resawing S4S stock seems like working backwards to me.

The single-point fence is much easier to set up and yields consistent results as long as I pay attention to what I'm doing. Don't over-complicate a simple process.

[JGrout]

captured cutting on a BS is not a new idea

using a box however IME would not be the way to accomplish it

making two feather boards and stacking them with spacers would be the most efficient way for manual feeding using shop constructed materials,

a set of mag switches with stacked feather boards would be the more elegant solution,

the best solution for production cutting with a bandsaw is a feeder like the comatic AP10 but the feeder costs more than your BS

worth looking at the video though for example

ap10 page and video

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Thanks, folks. I appreciate the insight.

[Alan S]

There are lots of good things mentioned here, but it's worth saying that the blade is probably more important than anything else. Not only should the gullets be large enough to handle the dust, but sharpness is required to a greater degree than for other cuts. Without this, it may be impossible to tune a bandsaw for resawing.

[BubbaGus]

Watch this video. It works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU

I have stock Delta 14" bs and I can resaw down to 1/8"

[TucsonLawrence]

SawDat said:

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[blockquote]Cecil said:

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However, I just use my joiner push block to hold the wood against the fence.

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Exactly what I do. The process is too dependent on the tuning of the saw and the variances in the wood to trap it like that. A regular high fence and the jointer push blocks work fine for me.

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[/blockquote]

+2 - spend an hour tuning your saw to EXACTLY the right place after putting on a sharp blade and you will be rewarded.

Don't spend the time and the location of the wood being resawn will be the least of your problems... the blade just will wander or bow on you.

Also make sure you use the best blade for the size of the resaw you are doing and LISTEN to your saw as you cut... the resaw might seem slow, but the "chug chug chug" of the kerf being properly cleared out will be the guide that you are doing it right.

Lawrence

[PaulM85]

Brad,
I resaw on a 14 inch with a riser and I had some difficulty at first with drift. Watch the video that BubbaGus posted. It worked for me and resolved my drift completely. I use a fence about 5 inches tall and I have no problem just holding a board flat by hand and getting great consistent thickness results as thin as 1/8." Proper setup, sharp blades, big gullets and patience is key to good resawing results. Good luck.

[rwe2156]

You don't need it or feather boards either. Just keep the wood pressed against the fence with your hand it will be fine. IMO its just one more unnecessary jig that increases setup time.

If your saw is tuned up, tensioned and the blade is perfectly square to table and fence is aligned for any drift you should get good results.

And oh, be sure you've got a decent blade!!