resawing oak for bed project, advice sought

[manxman]

Hi I've been trying to set up my record bs300x set up to resaw some 200mm oak for a bed I'm making I want a rustic finish similar to this http://assets.indigofurniture.co.uk...0_2/5f90/oak-slat-bed-close-up.jpg?1271334413

I've got some new blades from tuffsaws (great service btw) and have managed to set the saw up to track straight when cutting a 1-2mm veneer from 100mm pine over about 2m so i was happy with that however when I try with the oak it veers off track.

I've attatched a few photos to show what I've mannaged to achieve so far.

Am I expecting to much from my bandsaw?

What blades would you recommended?

the bandsaw has 2 diffrent speeds so far I've only tried the higher one, would a lower speed help?

thanks.

 

[paulm]

I'm guessing that it will be one or more of the following problems:

Insufficient blade tension

Too fast a feed rate, should be a fair bit slower than for softwood

Inappropriate number of teeth on blade, too many and will not clear the sawdust on deep cuts, too few and might struggle with seasoned hardwood in deep cuts

Hard to say without see'ing quite what you are up to, but hopefully somewhere to start ?

Cheers, Paul

 

[jasonB]

You will never get the finish in the link from a bandsaw, thats been cut with a circular blade with quite a fast feed rate.

As said get the tension as high as possible, feed it slowly and use something like a 4tpi blade.

You may also be better off with a single point fence which will eliminate tracking errors.

J

 

[manxman]

thanks for the advice so far, I realise the finish in the link is done with a circular blade i'm just after a similar texture not to mach it exactly.

I'll have a go with a single point fence and whack the tension up some more.

I've also got some advice of Ian at tuff saws, very helpfull.

 

[Guggs]

Unless you have a proper resaw then you wont achieve the perfect straight cut on that sot of timber ,atleast not over that length using the guide fence . I would and have done so in the past using this method .

Using a marking gauge ,gauge the thickness along the length of timber and free hand cut the timber .It may sound daunting but you are less likely to get any wandering buy trying to keep the timber up to the fence . You can look at the teeth per inch and go with at least a 3/4 blade with a 4 skip tooth .However ,go with the free hand gauge method .Far better .Then just face up the timber and repeat the process .
ccasion5:

 

[mailee]

I have a Draper bandsaw forget the model but it is the 88" blade version and I also got a blade off Ian for deep ripping (Think it was a 4tpi) I made up a 4" high fence from and old tablesaw I had. I measure the distance from the fence to the edge of the table and hold it in place with a couple of clamps. (It is just a 90 degree alloy fence to which I added an MDF base to clamp) I have ripped 6" pine and Oak with it with excellent results. I think the solution to your problem is in the tensioning and not trying to force the timber through. HTH. :wink:

 

[dickm]

I've never managed a much better finish than your top pic off the bandsaw (Startrite 352). But would strongly recommend either the freehand or point fence methods. Using the standard long fence, even with a brand new, top quality blade, is a recipe for disaster in my book!

 

[jasonB]

Funnily enough there is a photo of a chest of draws in teh latest issue of F&C inside the back cover which has what looks like a bandsawn finish. It was infact done with an arbortec cutter and then sand blasted.

http://www.johnleefurniture.com/viewgal ... =1&pid=169

I would say teh pic in your link may well have been the sawn finish straight from teh mill when the wood was wet and then sandblasted to clean it up and give a bit more texture.

Jason

 

[marcus]

You might consider investing in a TCT bandsaw blade. They seem expensive, but they last more or less for ever compared to normal blades which go blunt frighteningly quickly when re-sawing hard timber like oak. As soon as the blade starts to blunt it wanders all over the place. In my experience they work out cheaper in the long run as they last up to ten times as long and can be sharpened and re-welded several times.