Resawing 4ft Blocks

[Joe Eagar]

I recently bought two 4-foot lengths of 4-6 inch poplar. It's reclaimed wood (and wet), thus it was cheap, and I intend to use them for learning projects. But first I need to cut the wood into planks so I can dry it. What's the best method of resawing wet hardwood? Can I use my table saw? I tried cutting two planks with it, and it seemed to work okay, though it made this really fine dust. I also have a 9-inch benchtop bandsaw, but the thought of using it to resaw such thick wood is enough to give me nightmares.

Also, once I do have the boards cut, can I dry them in an upright, vertical position? Oh, and I'm thinking of cutting the boards into 1.15 inch planks, to give some room for planing; is the extra .15 of an inch enough?

Thanks for any help!

[Grain Guy]

For resawing my band saw is the go to tool. If your band saw cant take it and you feel safe on the table saw, do it. Try your band saw for a cut and make sure. It may not be so bad. You can always hit up a bro with a bigger bandsaw.

I wouldn't dry them vertically. They are reclaimed and should be acclimated to moisture exchange. I don't think you have to worry about shrinkage, but you do gave to worry about grain tension making your cut off move. Also the inner moisture content will be greater so there will be movement as it dries.

You very easily could have to join a good 1/8 off one side to find flat. Shoot for .25 or better. Take a look of the overall thickness, divide it by 1 1/4 and distribute your remainder between the # of cut offs.

You want enough thickness to handle resawing, a run of surfacing, a little dry time sticked up under weights, and a final surfacing.

[Joe Eagar]

Thanks Grain Guy. In my case, the wood is about 1/16th to 1/8th higher than the table saw blade, which oddly seems to make it safer. Of course that doesn't mean I can put my hand on the top while sawing, but it does seem to prevent kickback pretty well (though these are pretty heavy boards, too).

[Nick2cd]

Thanks Grain Guy. In my case, the wood is about 1/16th to 1/8th higher than the table saw blade, which oddly seems to make it safer. Of course that doesn't mean I can put my hand on the top while sawing, but it does seem to prevent kickback pretty well (though these are pretty heavy boards, too).

just don't get a false sense of security. resawing on a table saw can be a very dangerous operation if not done properly. if you can fit the wood into your bandsaw, id encourage you to go that route. im honestly not trying to be Debbie Downer.....just don't want to see you get hurt over a preventable accident. kickback on a table saw will scare the hell out of you and make you look at that tool much differently (ask me how i know). keep us updated on what you do.

[Trip]

how wet is 'and wet'? Resawing very wet wood can really put a strain on tools -- i would not resaw wet wood on the TS.

[Eric.]

If it were me...I'd wax the ends, set it aside for a few years, and go buy some dry lumber. Poplar is cheap, and I wouldn't put my tools through the abuse of cutting wet wood.

To answer your other question about drying...if you do end up resawing what you have and you set it to dry, you should sticker and stack them horizontally.