Bandsaw Resaw Technique


TomInNC

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I am still pretty new to resawing, but I have now done it enough to know that something is wrong with my technique. I spent quite a bit of time setting up the tracking angle, but when I resaw, I get boards that are tapered. It is almost like planer snipe. After thinking about my technique and watching a bunch of resaw videos, I am wondering if I am applying pressure incorrectly as I feed the wood through the blade. If you are using a tall fence for the resaw, should you be applying pressure perpendicular to the blade as the wood passes through? I have so far been avoiding doing to avoid deflecting the blade, and I am wondering if that is what is causing the snipe. 

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Certainly milling one face and one edge is critical for precision resawing.  General resawing of lumber . . . no.  Veneer or turning 6/4 into 4/4 . . . yes.  Once you have a good face and edge (at 90 degrees) your table, blade and fence must also agree on their relation to each other.  It is all about the planes used for reference and the planes used to meet those surfaces.

If your blade is 90* to the table and your fence is 90* to the table you should at least get a consistent thickness at the point of the cut.  If your fence is drifted from the feed path you may get a poor quality cut but, that is something else.  There are videos on YT that explain why you can't resaw against the fence but I have been doing it for decades.

393780452_resawveneer(1).jpg.f63f9134fceab35acec3c795226f2348.jpg

1783799033_resawveneer(2).jpg.314d14c703cac8549bcff42cae4802ed.jpg

For heavier or taller material I use stacked feather boards to press the material against the fence. 

1318854797_GnGLowCoD(15).jpg.f3112c5bbea9313522f84f8d6308f3ba.jpg

1797360147_GnGLowCoD(16).jpg.7861a53e77e358087765cadc2caeb347.jpg

The table and fence are your absolute reference surfaces.  As long as those are correct and your material is well milled fence-face and table-edge you should be good.

 

 

 

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Aligning both your table and the fence to the blade make a huge difference. Then making sure the table is perpendicular to the blade and that the fence is parallel to the blade.

If you get an uneven cut once those are done, it’s either a problem with the blade (correct tpi, sharpen or replace), blade tension (see mfg and other recommendations), inconsistent pressure (use a featherboard), or bad feed speed (consistent and appropriate for stock and blade). 

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May or mya not be part of your problem but It is a good idea to smooth the back corners of the blade (the side opposite the teeth.  I do in by starting the saw and lightly touching a old arkansas stone to each the back corners.  You will hear and feel each tine the weld passes the stone.  That will decrease after just a few revolutions.  It doesn't take much.

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