Resaw Question

[roughsawn]

When resawing, is there an advantage...or correct way to position the smaller piece to be sawn off? In other words, should the piece to be used off of the larger piece of wood be positioned to the inside (up against the fence), or to the outside of the bandsaw blade?

And, is there a reason for it to be one way or the other?

[G Ragatz]

Positioning the smaller piece against the fence allows you to saw multiple pieces of the same thickness without adjusting the fence.

[difalkner]

I like the thinner piece to be toward the fence when I'm cutting multiple pieces.  If I'm sawing guitar backs or sides I want them the same thickness so I may cut 0.150" for backs and 0.125" for sides, but whatever thickness I cut they should be the same for each piece, one thickness for backs and a different thickness for sides (usually).  For me it's easier to push the board through with the thicker piece toward the outside, too.

However, if you're not paying attention it's possible for the piece to walk away from the fence resulting in a thinner piece than desired.  Placing the thick piece toward the fence and letting the target piece fall away to the outside means it's just about impossible to cut the target piece too thin.  You'll have to reset the fence for each cut and will likely end up with a variance but some prefer to do it this way.

[gee-dub]

If your bandsaw is well setup I would use the fence to set the "keeper's" dimension.  That is, the part you are making would be against the fence.  Starting with a board milled on two faces and at least one edge I cut off my part, use the remaining milled face as a reference to re-plane the blank faces smooth and parallel then cut off another part, etc.  As to resawing thin stock, I forget who but someone wasted a lot of time and energy on a video explaining why you cannot resaw thin stock with the "keeper" against the fence.  I've been doing that successfully forever and will continue.  So, in short I prefer the keeper, thick or thin, against the fence when possible.

[roughsawn]

Thanks guys! Good stuff there.