One of those days ...

[Frank Hagan]

Ever had one of those days?

Destroyed $24 worth of oak trying to resaw it ... didn't notice the creep out at the bottom until it was too late. On my second try, the same thing happened (think I need to re-think my resawing jig setup). A quick trip to Home Depot for some more oak (since the hardwood store had already closed), and I was able to get the two planks I needed. Then drilled through the inside face of a piece of mahogany not once, but twice, when assembling the last plank. And, the plank I had carefully resawed and planed down to 5/32, then rabbetted the ends so they would meet well at stem and stern split in two at the final turn of the final screw. Not just a small end split, mind you, but all along the length.

I carefully removed the screws and pulled the plank away, tossed it with the other "junk" wood for final disposition later, wiped the glue off the remaining parts I hadn't had time to destroy yet, and looked around the shop. Destruction everywhere. Turned off the lights, and decided it was time for a shower.

I'll clean up the shop tomorrow, but probably won't turn on a machine. Too many other things to do this weekend, and I have to buy more wood. "More wood?"

I know I'll salvage the wood for other projects, and a new day may bring a new perspective. At the very least, I have a baseline for a bad day in the shop, and things have to get better from here! At least I can say it was just "one of those days," because I have had better, and will again.

[Guest]

Yep, bunches of those days. Frank, if I may stick in a thought for the day on this topic, a great way to obtain a bettttttter resaw job for most occasional resawers on hardwods is to run you planks first on the table saw with the blade up as far as possible, even if the blade will not saw all the way through the board. Then flip it over running the saw cut on the other edge, sawing with the same side against the fence.

When you do this, first take a peek down the board checking for any curves in the flat line of th board. Make sure any curve or crown that is in the board on the flat side allows the curve to run to the open edge of the fence. Most boards will have some of this in them. Then you will have a guide that minimizes much runout with the conventional bandsaw and bandsaw blades that most use in lieu of some of the better resaw blades and setups, if this is your case. Go slow with the hardwoods, even pulling back while doing this act. The blade in the conventional saws will almost always walk on you.

Looks good from here, but can you gve the name rank and serial number for personal interest??? :wink:

[Dave R1]

Frank, I can empathize with you. I've had those days, too. Fortunately I have a neighbor who has a burn pit and likes to get the wood pieces I destroy.

Maybe it's too late now but just a word on the screws. I'd guess you're using flat head screws and the wedging action is the cause of the splitting. You'd have less splitting if you use a round head screw with a washer to do the clamping. Then, after the glue has set, replace the screw with the FH one. It is certainly worth the trouble of replacing screws

From what I can see, that cradle is coming along nicely. You do good work, Frank.

Dave

[Guest]

Oh the cradle is what I see... Thanks Dave, my old mind is failing me somedays.

[Frank Hagan]

Mike, good idea on the "pre-resaw" technique. I'll often to that with stock that is narrow enough to rip all the way through, and that would make the amount of wood I'm bandsawing much less. I also have to rethink my expensive jig ... I have one of those "fast track" style aluminum fences with a curved aluminum extrusion that serves as a resaw fence. What I noticed, after the second failure, was that the fence deflects, and really should be clamped on the aft end. The stock fence is better, but doesn't allow for as much adjustment for "leading" as the fancy one. Since buying that fence, I've seen several examples of shop-built ones that address more of the issues with bandsaws; I'll probably end up building my own before this project is done.

Dave, I think the splitting was because of the wood itself. Red oak is pretty porous already, and I had some "figure" on that piece I thought would be OK ... I wet sand oak with heated boiled linseed oil as part of my finishing, and the slurry that creates fills those kinds of areas pretty nicely. Red oak is pretty hard to handle at 5/32" anyway, so I was pressing my luck.

I also just wasn't up to snuff ... my usual visual accuracy failed me when I went to drill and countersink the screw holes. I may have been in too much of a hurry.

[Guest]

ON a conventional bandsaw, its best that you haveat minimuma 1 inch blade, if the saw will work with that size on most hardwood sawing. The fence requires a bit of trial ands error to do the job that you are asking it to do. Heck sometimes adjustment between two differentr pieces of the same wood is required to saw close to being straight. Heck, its not uncommon to have 3/4" out of square to the blade angle to keep it somewhere close to true widths. The blade will make you look like you do not know what you are doing, but thats not always the case.

[Craig]

Hoser!

[Bruce S Kershaw]

I have those days more often than not! :oops: :roll:

A coworker turned me on to this for resawing wide stock.

Use a finish nail instead of a fence.

Cut as deep as you can from both directions on the table saw.

Then clamp a piece of scrap ply on top of the bandsaw table, with the blade running through it.

Drive the finish nail into the ply about 1/2" in front of, (tooth side) and in line with the blade. Leave it sticking up, but no higher than the depth of the cut you made with the table saw.

Slip the bottom saw kerf over the nail as you start your cut.

The nail guides the bottom of your board, keeping it centered on the blade, and you just eyeball things from the top.

[Frank Hagan]

Good tips, guys. Thanks! I will definately try the table saw slot trick, and have to rethink the whole resaw fence thing as well.

I just hope Ray hasn't read all the tips; it might ruin his run of good luck! :twisted:

[Craig]

Great tips guys. I have just always bought extra wood cause I knew in advance I'd waste a good portion of it. I don't do much resaw so have never gained any skill at it. These tips will surely help.

[Barnacle Jim]

Hi Frank,

Here are some suggestions that I have found helpful--

Blade Width

Wider blades are usually best. Avoid fine-tooth blades for resawing as these will generate heat during your cut.

Blade Tension

Follow your user manual and adjust your blade tension and blade guides. This is very important for precision cutting.

High Fence

Add a piece of plywood to your fence. You want the stock to be supported the full width, so keep your fence high, higher than your stock.

Set Blade Drift

Every blade will have a natural drift. Mark a center line on a piece of practice stock and begin your cut. AFter you have cut a few inches, turn off the saw, and set your fence to the same angle of the drift. Finish the cut just to see if your angle is correct.

Feather Boards

Once the blade drift has been determined, clamp a feather board to your table. You want to keep the stock next to the fence. It is often difficult, if not impossible, to make an accurate cut without a featherboard. You may want to use two featherboards.

Other Factors

Is your stock straight? It may help to run your stock through a jointer first. Is your stock level? Use temporary supports such as adjustable roller stands to keep your stock level. You want the stock to be level going into the blade and level following the blade. How fast are you feeding the stock into the blade? Be sure to give the blade time to cut. The rate of feed can affect the accuracy of the cut.

Yes, the tablesaw can score your cut, but with loss of material. I sometimes score the stock on the tablesaw if I want to avoid the time needed to setup the bandsaw properly. When I use the tablesaw approach, my cuts tend to be sloppy, and sometimes that's OK.

If you want precision, you must take the time to setup the bandsaw and make all the needed adjustments. I once cut some oak louvers; my tolerance for each cut was 1/32. (The stock was wormy oak.) As I recall, I may have cut 200 or so louvers. I think I only made 5 miscuts in the whole batch, and every miscut was because I had hurried the feed rate into the blade, or did not hold the stock absolutely straight. Even using a featherboard does not mean that we can simply automatically feed our stock into the blade without care and without thinking.

Hope these suggestions help. Good luck on your project, Frank.