Resawing with a bandsaw

[Escudo]

Hello all,

Looking for some wisdom and guidance.

I have been trying to resaw a piece of oak in half. (approx 9" x 1 1/4").

My bandsaw which has the capacity for this cut, groaned and moaned and did not seem to want to make the cut.

I have a 3/4" 4tpi blade which is almost new and set the blade tension to number 10 on the scale (max).

Have I overlooked anything?

Blade speed?
Should I make an extra high fence?
How aggressive should I be regarding feed rate and pressure?

Any tips / help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Esc.

 

[Paul.J]

Hello Esc.
Is the blade the original one,are the guides set correctly and in line.
I recently resawed some Oak about 6" x 2" on my little Rexon Bandsaw and it cut fine with a new blade,Axminsters Axcaliber ones,which i think are very good.
Made my own fence from a piece of 4"x4" clamped to the bed.
Also the Wood Whisperer as done a good detailed description for setting up a bandsaw that's worth looking at.
And Alan Holtham as done a good one in last months Wood turning mag
Paul.J.

 

[Scrit]

Hi Escudo

Firstly, you say that your bandsaw has the capacity for this. How big is the bandsaw (wheel size) and how powerful is the motor? Certainly using a tall rip fence or a point fence can be a help when resawing, but there are other factors. For example, if your machine is smaller than about a 16in wheel it will probably not be able to tension a 3/4in blade at all, despite the manufacturers' claims. However, I think the main source of your problem is possibly the blade:

I have been trying to resaw a piece of oak in half. (approx 9" x 1 1/4")......

.....I have a 3/4" 4tpi blade which is almost new and set the blade tension to number 10 on the scale (max).

If you are trying to rip that down into two pieces then the blade is simply too fine - you need something like a 1-1/2 to 2-1/2tpi blade to do a 9in high cut and preferably a hook tooth rather than a skip tooth if possible.

Have I overlooked anything?

Blade speed?
Should I make an extra high fence?
How aggressive should I be regarding feed rate and pressure?

I don't think that blade speed shouldn't be an issue unless your saw is a 2-speed machine, and although a high fence makes ripping easier it isn't the solution to your problems. Just like table saws, though, you don't want the rip fence plate to extend too far past the blade to ensure free sawing. In terms of feed rate and pressure goes you don't want to be pushing so hard that the blade is grinding against the rear thrust bearings all the time, so with smaller saws resawing should be done only as fast as the saw will allow - and on a 1 or 2 HP machine that can mean a lot more slowly than on the table saw.

Scrit

 

[Alex]

If your bandsaw has two speeds which speed would be best?
Alex

 

[inventor]

Scrit, of course, gives excellent advice. I did rip a sleeper-shaped chunk of oak in half on my Record BS300 using a 3/4 inch 3TPI blade which was far from new. I used a slow feed, but, truth to tell, I probably pushed it through as quickly as I could, given the thickness and weight. I did have sparks coming off the rear blade guide for much of the cut. It all worked fine for me. The one challenge I did find with such a heavy chunk is that tiny lumps on the bottom of the timber tended to get stuck on the cutout in the table around the blade, and, unlike with smaller pieces, it's hard to notice this and fix it. I eventually ripped this chunk into 8 pieces. Only the first cut, with timber weighing 60kg, was any trouble.

 

[Escudo]

Thanks for your replies fellas,

The bandsaw is the Axminster SWB4300 model

Wheel size 17"
max cutting height stated as 12"

The blade is quite new, supplied by Dragon, so it is good quality.

I think the motor is 1.5hp

I am incline to think it is the blade. I will take Scrit's advice and get a different blade width and tpi. and give that a go.

I find it problematic to store used blades. I seem to change my blade quite a bit and haven't been able to master the art of folding these up.

Inventor, you must be made of stronger stuff than me.

I did have sparks coming off the rear blade guide for much of the cut.

That would frighten me to death. Esc.