Resaw on bandsaw?

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oaktreeguy

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I see a lot of mention about chainsaw kerf (seems valid). Does anyone mill down to large cants and then resaw those on a vertical stationary bandsaw?
 
Yes, do that all the time. Advantages that I see are many, but there are a few disadvantages.
First, advantages;
Save wood like you mentioned above.
Less wear and tear on your saw.
Less work processing and milling a log.
Resawing on bandsaw gives me book matched boards that can look great on you woodworking projects.
I think the wood warps less when dried in thicker pieces, but you still need to watch out for hidden stress and tensions in the dried lumber.
I cut most boards at 2.25-2.5 inches or 9/4- 10/4, this will give me different thicknesses to work with and after milling. After resawing and resurfacing I can easily have two 1" thick book matched boards. Of course if you are shooting for 3/4" then you probable could get away with cutting cants 2". I've been making chairs lately and these 9/4-10/4 thick cants let me do everything I need with the wood.

Disadvantages;
Thicker cants are heavy.
Thicker cants take longer to dry. I do not use a kiln, I prefer my wood air dried, air drying is likely a minimum of 2 years for this thickness. This means if you go thicker than you need to wait even longer.
Can't run live edge boards on bandsaw, need a flat/squared edge. This isn't a disadvantage for me as I typically square up one or both edges when I mill. Squaring up the edges when milling makes it easier to stack and does make the thicker cants a little lighter and easier to handle. I'm milling wood for personal use and I enjoy furniture/cabinet making. I usually only mill crotch wood with a live edge.

I probably missed some advantages and disadvantages, but those are my reasons for cutting thicker cants.

As many will notice this is my first post. It's been some time coming but I want to thank the guys on this site, especially this forum, you have been a wealth of knowledge. My CSM technique has improved dramatically this year because of this forum. I would have posted sooner but when I had an issue or question I always found the answer after a search.
 
I should have also mention this;

I've cut larger cants and immediately tried to resaw on my bandsaw, that didn't work as well if the wood was still wet or had higher moisture content. The wet sawdust this produced was not picked up as easily by my dust collection system and it resulted in wet sawdust building up in the wheel compartments and on the wheels. The bandsaw did not run as well and seemed to get slightly out of balance from this. Of course my dust collection system is low tech, large shopvac I move around. Perhaps a high tech more powerful system would work better. My large shopvac works great with dry wood.

I would be interested in hearing if people have had luck resawing wet wood on their bandsaws and it there are any tricks to that.
 
Most conventional Wood Shop bandsaws are on the slow side to be efficient at cutting green wood. The optimum speed for cutting green wood is over 5500 fpm where as conventional Woodshed saws run at ~4000 FPM.
On very long-wide cuts this results in higher temperatures so band cooling (usually by water) is needed but this is not desirable in small wood shops. Gum adhesion to the band can also be a problem.

The other factor is band TPI and band width. For resawing wide boards you need around 1TPI and a width of 1"+. The big gullets on these teeth help clear the sawdust more efficiently than the smaller TPI bands
I modified my 19" WW bandsaw for resawing by replacing the 2HP single phase motor with a 3HP 3 Phase motor running via a VFD.
CompleteBSC.jpg
This allows me to change the speed of the cut from very low speeds to 5700 FPM - this is done via the grey box on the door just above the blade.
I don't resaw much at high speed so for cooling I use methylated spirits in a spray bottle as this leaves no residue.
For added safety I also added a foot brake to the saw.
Painted-Brake.jpg

I I have a 3TPI band I use for small stuff and a 1.33 TPI 1.5" wide band.

While I'm at it you might like to see my extra under-table "bell mouth hood" dust collection point.
IMG_1919.jpg

I also have a small sled for this saw and mill small logs and branches up to 2'6" long with it.
This is a 20" long piece of Olive wood being milled up
BSS5.jpg
 
Most conventional Wood Shop bandsaws are on the slow side to be efficient at cutting green wood. The optimum speed for cutting green wood is over 5500 fpm where as conventional Woodshed saws run at ~4000 FPM.
On very long-wide cuts this results in higher temperatures so band cooling (usually by water) is needed but this is not desirable in small wood shops. Gum adhesion to the band can also be a problem.

The other factor is band TPI and band width. For resawing wide boards you need around 1TPI and a width of 1"+. The big gullets on these teeth help clear the sawdust more efficiently than the smaller TPI bands
I modified my 19" WW bandsaw for resawing by replacing the 2HP single phase motor with a 3HP 3 Phase motor running via a VFD.
View attachment 571282
This allows me to change the speed of the cut from very low speeds to 5700 FPM - this is done via the grey box on the door just above the blade.
I don't resaw much at high speed so for cooling I use methylated spirits in a spray bottle as this leaves no residue.
For added safety I also added a foot brake to the saw.
View attachment 571283

I I have a 3TPI band I use for small stuff and a 1.33 TPI 1.5" wide band.

While I'm at it you might like to see my extra under-table "bell mouth hood" dust collection point.
View attachment 571284

I also have a small sled for this saw and mill small logs and branches up to 2'6" long with it.
This is a 20" long piece of Olive wood being milled up
View attachment 571285
Thank you for more insite! My lil piker has a capacity of 13" which isn't used since my planer is 12 1/2" which never has full width use since no project calls for that width (yet). When I want wide, router planer comes into play on pieces that were already at 1 1/4" roughly, or 2" plus with other intent.
BobL your equipted shop would be worth money to tour for the quality of ideas that can be gleaned from the way your approach over time has developed equiptment.
 
5000 fpm is not nearly attainable for most woodworking bandsaws. I saw green wood with success MUCH slower. 1/10 of that... No problems whatsoever with pitch build up or any need for lube. Cut quality rivals a tablesaw. Dust collection works just fine. I tend to use a 3/8, 3 TPI alternate set blade for very green wood, or a 4 TPI blade for dryer wood.

No reason in the world not to resaw on a bandsaw....it's one of the most logical reasons to own one.

Welcome, Bmac!
 
5000 fpm is not nearly attainable for most woodworking bandsaws.
That's what I said. For example the Grizzly 14" deluxe has a single speed of 3000 FPM and its 19" model has two speeds 1700 and 3500 FPM.

I saw green wood with success MUCH slower. 1/10 of that... !
What sort of a saw was it that you could get that speed with? Most WW saws don't go less than 1000 FPM

Interesting - I will give it a go with my variable speed saw although a I could have a problem because 500 FPM will require at about 10Hz on the VFD and the motor won't have a lot of power at that frequency.
 
I have a 20" 5hp powermatic bandsaw and find sawing green wood to be a nightmare. Just as bob stated wet sawdust and pitch gum everything up and throw things out of alignment. I've actually had to repair the saw before for exactly this reason. I use blades from timber wolf specifically for resawing green lumber.
In my opinion the labor involved resawing large cants on a band saw far negates anything gained.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
What makes a bandsaw mill work fine but not a "regular" bandsaw?

I know the blades we use are 7/8" pitch, so 1.25 tpi?. I just finished sharpening about 250 blades.
 
What makes a bandsaw mill work fine but not a "regular" bandsaw?
I know the blades we use are 7/8" pitch, so 1.25 tpi?. I just finished sharpening about 250 blades.

Crikey! 250 blades!

On the bandsaw mill I use the 2" wide bands are 1" and 0.75" TPI.
We're running around 4700 - 5000 FPM with 27HP on a 35" wide cut with water cooled band.
That's about a HP per inch and every horse is needed in Aussie hardwood

On my 3HP BS the max cut width is 12" but It struggles to cut with any sort of speed in green Aussie hard wood.
Even though it hardens as it dries I usually let the wood (small trunks or precut cants) dry off a bit or a lot before putting them through the bandsaw.
A couple of months of wait saves a lot of headaches.
 
My problems with resawing the green wood was not speed, lack of power or heat buildup, my bandsaw seemed to handle those factors fine. I use a resaw blade and don't ask my saw to do too much. I only tried to resaw green wood from larger cants that was black walnut. Pitch buildup wasn't a problem with that wood but it clearly was the wet sawdust that threw the saw out of balance.

I did find, like BobL noted above that my issues were greatly reduced if the wood sat a few months. I was able to resaw some larger cants with no issues after waiting, but right off the log was a bad result, and I stopped doing that. I was worried I would damage my bandsaw, looks like from what Cease232 said above I was wise to stop.

As for BobL's setup, I'm jealous of that, but my bandsaw does get a workout in my shop and performs like a champ for the duties I ask it to do. Of course getting bigger and better toys is always a desire. My tablesaw is a lot more lonely since I added a bandsaw to my shop.

Resawing makes all the sense in the world, just as Boogedy stated, and I appreciate everyone's input on this subject.
 
Bob...I have a 14" delta clone with a riser. I'm not suggesting slow speed is the answer....I'm just saying that I have no choice because my little motor is inadequate to pull through a green log at a higher speed. So I just use what works and worry not. I'd have to do the math, but I think I'm somewhere around 650fpm.
 
Bob...I have a 14" delta clone with a riser. I'm not suggesting slow speed is the answer....I'm just saying that I have no choice because my little motor is inadequate to pull through a green log at a higher speed. So I just use what works and worry not.
Sure - that's what I'm effectively doing anyway with the wider cuts.
 
From what i've seen, blade set, tpi, and hook angle will have more of an effect than speed. There was a blade mfg some years ago, carried by Suffolk Machinery I believe ? Swedish silicon steel they advertised, that had a chart about what blade for what hardness, thickness, etc of wood you were sawing. I haven't shopped blades in a long time after settling on Simonds Red streak from Cooks Saw, 7/8 pitch .042, 10 degree hook, I use them on everything from 36" pine to 12" locust. As long as they're sharp, and set for the wood your milling, they do all I want.
 
I've resawed cants on my shop band saw, also on my BSM, of course, it's MUCH easier to use the BSM as it slices through cants wet or dry very easily.

A low end BSM cost "about" the same as a high end shop band saw. I'd rather have the BSM and a used or cheap shop band saw, than a high end shop band saw alone.

I've had guys bring me a thicker "dry" boards asking me to resaw them into thinner lumber with my BSM, it works out just fine for them....

Something to think about...

SR
 
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