Resaw bocote, ebony, Bubinga tips

[Will79]

Anyone have experience resawing 4/4 by 6” Bubinga or Macassar Ebony? My ebony is 3/4 by 3”. The ebony I’m resawing into half’s. And Bubinga I am doing 1/8”. Any tips would be great. 

[riqmar]

To minimize waste and to maximize accuracy, you might do your resawing on the tablesaw, using an ultra-thin skilsaw blade.  When doing this I find it often necessary to cut halfway [or less] through from one side and then halfway from the other;  for boards that are 7, 8, 10 or 12 inches wide I still use the tablesaw to make a cut from each side before finishing with the bandsaw...........As with any other technique there are subtleties, but I have been doing this successfully for many years and just assume that any resawing job will best be accomplished thusly............

[pkinneb]

I've never done Bubinga but I have done Ebony on my BS without issue. I just make sure everything is dialed in on cheaper stock before proceeding and usually use a new or almost new Woodslicer blade.

[Chestnut]

15 hours ago, riqmar said:

To minimize waste and to maximize accuracy, you might do your resawing on the tablesaw, using an ultra-thin skilsaw blade.  When doing this I find it often necessary to cut halfway [or less] through from one side and then halfway from the other;  for boards that are 7, 8, 10 or 12 inches wide I still use the tablesaw to make a cut from each side before finishing with the bandsaw...........As with any other technique there are subtleties, but I have been doing this successfully for many years and just assume that any resawing job will best be accomplished thusly............

It's not a bad idea but with  woodslicer the kerf loss is MUCH less than compared to a table saw. After clean up you'll loose maybe 1/16". I used to resaw on a table saw with a 7 1/4" blade, and it works well but there is still some cleanup that is needed and the kerf is wider. This matters when the sawdust the wood creates could possibly be measured in dollars not cents, or fractions of a cent.

I'd say tune up the band saw and run test pieces before the real deal.

[Will79]

On 4/6/2020 at 4:42 PM, pkinneb said:

I've never done Bubinga but I have done Ebony on my BS without issue. I just make sure everything is dialed in on cheaper stock before proceeding and usually use a new or almost new Woodslicer blade.

I just bought a brand new Grizzly 17” resaw bandsaw and Woodslicer resaw blade. I cut a bunch of pine, padauk, walnut, with the grizzly blade, 1/2” 6tpi, with minimum resaw deflections at 3.5” of resaw width. The bocote I just ripped. As soon as the Woodslicer comes in, 3/4” blade, I’m going to resaw4/4- 6” by 58” long into 3/16” pieces of padauk, then go for the Bubinga. Then a $130 piece of Macassar ebony that’s 3” resaw width at 43” long, might actually cut off 16” first. 

Exciting and cringy at the same time

[davewyo]

I've resawed Bocote on the bandsaw with varying results.

Sometimes it will cup when cut thin. Oftentimes it will bow, but that isn't usually a big problem when you're dealing with thin slices.

I recommend letting it get used to the shop environment for as long as you possibly can.