How many members have a Bandsaw for resawing

[artanddecco]

One of my problems is not being able to obtain good quality wood for scroll saw projects. I think its a universal problem. I end up using mainly plywood. If you put a lot of effort into a project, it will look and be better and be more prized if it is made from solid wood. I was thinking that someday, that I shall have to invest in a bandsaw, and it would also be useful in cutting blanks for my new woodturning hobby. A bandsaw scares me, but they say its less dangerous than a table saw. Have many of you folk purchased a bandsaw and what are your experiences in resawing. What are you using, ie make and size, and have you had many scarey experiences ! What wood sizes do you generally start with and what do you generally end up with after resawing ! The only non plywoods I use on my scrollsaw which are easily obtained, is Pine, in thickness from 10mm upwards.

 

[deserter]

I use a hobby bandsaw at home, two large bandsaws and a band resaw at work and I can assure you there is nothing to be afraid of, they push your workpiece down into the saw bed and therefore never kickback as long as you adjust the guarding every cut you will only see the blade at the start and end of the cut so so long as you keep your hands away from the obvious blade they are in my opinion the safest tool in your workshop.
On a side note however if the blade breaks the noise is likely to scare the life out of you, but even though there are many stories to the contrary I have never seen a blade actually leva the machine when it breaks, but it does go bang.

 

[Gill]

I have a Kity bandsaw for resawing which can cut wood to a depth of about 15cm. The first thing I did when I bought the saw was to discard the blade supplied with it and phone a reputable blade retailer who equipped me with a number of blades that were suitable for resawing. Just as you wouldn't use the blades that come with a new scroll saw, so you shouldn't use the blade that comes with a new bandsaw .

Bandsaws are much less dangerous than table saws because the blade passes continuously from the top of the wood through to the bottom. It's not like a table saw where the rear of the blade can catch wood as it passes through, lifting it off the table.

If you decide to acquire a bandsaw it is also a good idea to acquire a thicknesser. Resawing will leave the surface of the wood rough and a thicknesser will tidy it up without all the effort of sanding or hand planing.

 

[RogerP]

Full agreement with all that's been said so far.

What are you using, ie make and size, and have you had many scarey experiences ! What wood sizes do you generally start with and what do you generally end up with after resawing ! The only non plywoods I use on my scrollsaw which are easily obtained, is Pine, in thickness from 10mm upwards.

I use an Axminster 350n which cuts up to 200mm. I resaw all sizes that the saw will take to various thicknesses as required including veneers. I guess you're mainly interested in stuff suitable for your scroll saw so if you can get a thicknesser as well (as mentioned in a previous post) you'll be able to go down to about 5mm planed both sides.

 

[Chippygeoff]

When I started scroll sawing i never realised how much money i would end up spending. I have a Jet 14Q bandsaw that will saw up to 10 inches. I never go that high though, the thickest timber I put through it is lengths of 6inch square ash, oak, beech etc to get the thickness I require for my scroll saw projects. On top of that i have a dust extractor, an air filter, a belt/disc sander, a dremel with various attachments. a large pillar drill, a router, cordless drills, 2 sanders, 2 scroll saws, lots and lots of clamps and a full range of hand tools and now I am saving up for a thicknesser and when I have got that there will probably be something else I will need.

 

[Leo]

The one and only problem with resawing on my Schappech bandsaw, cuts up to 160mm. that I stupidly had ( completely my fault ) I wasn't holding the wood much at all, it dug into the bed, well the plastic centre part, and broke the plastic centre. I now have to make a new piece to fit it, or it digs in, due to lack of support at the front of the wood. I now realize how important that little piece of plastic is.

My point is, in a very round about way, is that I had a very bad crash on my bandsaw, but my hands were so far away from the blade that it was still safe.

 

[Gerard Scanlan]

I have an Inca which I use for resawing I have friends with the Kity also good for up to 6 inches. However any of the better makes with a decent blade will do what you want. I too am not a great fan of the table saw but the bandsaw is a joy to use. You still need push sticks! The best way to avoid accidents is to only use it when you are fresh (not tired), never use it when you are in a rush and rehearse your cut with the machine switched off. Then you will know where the weight of the plank shifts. Oh yes and get a dust extractor. You could build a drum sander instead of a jointer . But a hand plane works well too.

 

[Clockie]

I use a Record BS350S and a record P/T 260. I deep cut what ever I can get under the top guide which is about 10" with a 3 tooth blade. This leaves a rough surface for the planer. When you deep saw timber about 8-9 mm thick you are releasing stresses in the timber and it will move usually in a cup shape. Beech and ash are by far the worse culprits. The procedure that I use is to plane face and edge of the baulk then if I want a finish size of 6.5 mm is to set the band saw to cut at 9 mm. I will the cut one board on the band saw then surface plane the baulk again and the cut on the band saw. When I have cut about half the baulk, I then thickness what I have already cut before it starts to move.
The p/t will only go down to about 10 mm, so I use a sub-table (photos below). I can thickness down to about 2 mm with clean, clear and straight grained timber (photos below).
Remember that the amount of waste generated due to sawing and planing is disproportionately large compared to standard timber and that the timber will be unstable subject to the whims of the weather etc. I use the lawn quite a bit to straighten timber.
Most timber mills will not do timber this size because to the amount of work, waste and timber stability.
I hope this helps and I do not give a recommendation to the above equipment.