Sapele Resawing and Planing

[Klappco]

I am planning to tease a 42” x 6.5” piece of 8/4 Sapele into three pieces and then run them through the planet to make them equally thick and smooth at about 1/2” or a touch more. This will be for a Bluetooth speaker setup. 

In doing this should the wood be stickered and rested for a bit after resawing before running through the planer?  Pic of the wood below. 

 

 

[Chestnut]

With this kind of resaw I'd make sure it's acclimated well before resawing. If it's a panel for something i usually try and cut them last and get them in the glue up the same or next day. Letting it rest a day probably won't hurt it'll let it get it's movement out of the way some.

[gee-dub]

Not sure where you are but the sapele I get out here on the left coast is pretty stable.  I have used it quite a bit and only recall one piece of really reactive material.  I normally mill any material oversize and let it rest a day.  If I am trying to stretch my material quantity and have to mill to near final dimension in one run, I will try to mill and assemble the same day.  This does not assure there will be no movement issues but, I have been lucky so far.  For table tops and other large panels I try to do the glue up the same day that I mill to final dimension regardless of material.

P.s. A Woodslicer takes a very thin smooth kerf.  This is the blade I mount when I have to resaw to near final dimensions as it leaves me just a bit more meat than a carbide blade does.

[Klappco]

We are running about 13% humidity right now and it has been in the shop in that for a week with no signs of movement. 

 

Thanks for for the help!  Of course our smoke scale EPA thing is at 203 right now (Unhealthy for everyone rating) so I won’t be working out there today. 

[Chestnut]

8/4 wood 1 week worries me. Do you know what humidity level it came from?

[Klappco]

6 hours ago, Chestnut said:

8/4 wood 1 week worries me. Do you know what humidity level it came from?

Not for sure but the retailer is pretty good. What way does it worry?

[Chestnut]

7 hours ago, Klappco said:

Not for sure but the retailer is pretty good. What way does it worry?

Thicker board takes more time for the moisture to equalize from outside to the center of the board. I don't know what the right answer is, i usually like to have my material sitting around for a while before i resaw it.

[Mark J]

If the resaw is into three boards then it seems to me that the center one would be the wettest.  So would it be useful to "favor" the center board in the resaw by letting that one be a tad thicker than the two outer pieces?  This would give you a bit more material to work with if there is some drying and movement.  

[Chestnut]

20 minutes ago, Mark J said:

If the resaw is into three boards then it seems to me that the center one would be the wettest.  So would it be useful to "favor" the center board in the resaw by letting that one be a tad thicker than the two outer pieces?  This would give you a bit more material to work with if there is some drying and movement.  

Yes but the center board if cut evenly should be the one board that has evenly distributed moisture. The two outside pieces will have un even moisture. IIRC wood moves when the moisture content changes unevenly among a lot of other factors.

[Brendon_t]

Chesty got it. If it's wet, the center will be there least likey to move severely.

 Are you at full 8/4?   If it's like the 8/4 here which may be a true 7/4, I don't like to attempt 3 pieces out of it at 1/2". May be me, may be the wood may be both but resawing boards that close to final dimension, essentially guarantees at least goes wonky on me.  Hope you have better luck.

[Klappco]

8 hours ago, Brendon_t said:

Chesty got it. If it's wet, the center will be there least likey to move severely.

 Are you at full 8/4?   If it's like the 8/4 here which may be a true 7/4, I don't like to attempt 3 pieces out of it at 1/2". May be me, may be the wood may be both but resawing boards that close to final dimension, essentially guarantees at least goes wonky on me.  Hope you have better luck.

It is a legit 8/4, a tiny bit over. I don’t have to have a legit 1/2” on the boards, a little under would work just fine. 

[pkinneb]

As long as a little under is ok you will probably be fine I would definitely sticker it for a day or two. 

[Coop]

I think you’re about to screw yourself out of a perfectly good piece of wood. I’ve never dealt with Sapele but  wouldn’t try it with nice walnut or maple. Two’s the most I would try. Good luck bud. 

[wtnhighlander]

I would sticker AND clamp or weight it down. Boards that thin will very likely try to move, but you might be able to restrain then until the moisture equalizes.