does it pay to resaw your wood?

[Too Dusty]

I have a bandsaw and have been thinking of buying the extension to allow resawing of more than 6" wide boards. I've never done any resawing and recently priced the extension and a fence which totaled well over $300. This seems like a lot of money to me, but then the cost of wood is so high that planing it down to size seems like a waste too. Most of the wood I can buy locally (both hardwood and softwood) is 3/4, 4/4 and thicker. Can anyone give me their thoughts and/or experience on this? I know this is an open ended question, but I'm not sure what specifics to ask.

Bob

[tomsteve]

if you have a access to a planer and jounter, i would say yes it is worth it.i am guessin you mean a riser block for you band saw? i do a lot of resawing of lumber and it keeps the price down quite a bit. i get more gratification out of the work that way as i know how much work was put into a particular project.
i am going to be starting on a corner computer desk soon for a friend and will be using all reclaimed old growth pine from a very old barn on another friends' property. there is going to be a lot of work put into it by the time i am done but will be well worth it.
the possibilities are endless. you could even make some lumber right from the log!!!

[Max]

I agree. It will be worth it. If you plane 4/4 lumber down to 1/4, you will go through a lot of cutting heads on th planer. You will also be able to get work done quicker. And, here in Kentucky, we get lots of walnut from trees blown down in storms. Being able to resaw these saves money and, as tomsteve said, you feel gratified knowing you did it all yourself, from start to finish.

[Forester21]

Originally Posted by tomsteve

i am going to be starting on a corner computer desk soon for a friend and will be using all reclaimed old growth pine from a very old barn on another friends' property. there is going to be a lot of work put into it by the time i am done but will be well worth it.
the possibilities are endless. you could even make some lumber right from the log!!!

Does this mean you go the rest of the barn down? Would love to see the computer desk when you get it done. Will you leave the wood natural or stain it?
T

[Wood Dog]

If you decide to resaw, blades certainly do make a difference as to the smoothness of cuts.

[Rolf]

Bob,
Definitely worth it. I have been re-sawing for a few years. I get a fair amount of donated wood and I cut and plane it to whatever thickness I want.
The riser is around $150. you can make your own fence.
Wood Dog is absolutely right about the blade.

[sawdustus]

Go for it. Besides the savings, you can get the exact thickness you want. Since all band saw blades drift, but they do not all drift the same amount, a pivot or point fence that lets you stay on the line when the bandsaw wants you to drift. The wider the blade the tighter you can make it and the less it will wander or bow. Just take your time, use a sharp blade and don't push it.

george

[Jim Finn]

I resaw wood a lot. Softwoods mostly, pine and cedar. The riser is nice to have and a good dust collection system is necessary for resawing. I have a drum sander to smooth out the band saw cut also.

[tomsteve]

Originally Posted by Forester21

Does this mean you go the rest of the barn down? Would love to see the computer desk when you get it done. Will you leave the wood natural or stain it?
T

yeah, as i get the chance the whole barn is mine for the taking. i already took a beam that was 14" by 12" and 35 foot long. took some other assorted beams, too.hand hewn too. the cool thing ( well sort of) is that the barn is laying down, so there are a few less hazards.
it is unbelievable how tight the growth rings are in this wood( old growth pine so far). i had a 6" by 6" piece that was from the center of the tree. i started counting the rings and my eyes went goofy at 65. and there was still about 2 1/2" to go. i was checkin out the growth rings and there was one really dark one and an area where the rings were super tight( 1/64") and an area where the rings were a little space apart. i did some research and found out about a fire that went thru the area the same year as the chicago fire, which i think contributed to the dark ring. found out there was a pretty cold time here in michigan in the early 1800's that would hace made the growth rings super tight. okay...went off topic and started typin like a wood geek!!! but i am!!!

[georgewoodie]

Too Dusty:

I have only recently tried resaw. The truth is that I was afraid of failing at it.

I had the remains of a Western Maple that I was saving. The tree had been in our front yard and came to the end of it's life some years ago.

I have a Delta 14 inch with a riser kit. I bought this saw 10 years ago and got the riser kit at the same time. I did not want to limit myself, rather I wanted to have all the possible capacity.

Well, it took me long enough to get up the nerve to resaw.

I built a sled to carry my tree trunk sections and started sawing. I was using a 1/2 inch 3 TPI blade and happily cutting.

After a while, I kept blowing breakers on cuts that were quite short. I found that my blade was too dull.

My shop as a breaker for each outlet.

I decided to bite the bullet and buy a better blade.

I got a carbide particle embedded blade. This time, 5/8 inch also 3 TPI from you guessed it, my favorite wood tool store, Lee Valley.

I could not believe the difference. It cut like a hot knife through butter.

I cut my old tree into 3/8 inch slices. The resultant pieces were smoother and more parallel than ever before.

I plan to book mark these boards and mount them to a 3/8 inch Baltic birch to make a coffee table for my daughter.

If all works out, she will have a coffee table that came from the front yard where she grew up. [We are now over 45 years in the same house.] I am hopeful that this will make my woodwork more appealing.

The end of the story is, yes. Get into resaw and you will expand your possibilities for wood work.

By the way, when I was done, I jointed both sides of these boards. Once I have chosen which will be the final face side, I plan to glue them to a base and then plane that finished assembly. I jointed both sides so that I could match my book marking and have a good enough smooth side for gluing.

I also have a special finishing tool. If the project does not turn out well, I finish it in my chiminea!

Check out Lee Valley at;

Lee Valley Tools - Woodworking Tools, Gardening Tools, Hardware

Select wood work and when the index comes up, select band saw and you will get to their catalogue site for those products.

I bought the 03J57.06 for $ 69.00 which was 2 3/4 times the cost of my previous blade but it does a better job and I expect it to last much longer so in the end it will not be more costly. I check my project material for sand, debris and metal before cutting. At that cost, you bet I want to be careful.

Go for it.

Woodie