Which Way To Resaw?

[guitarnut]

Hello all. I have a question about resawing on a band saw. Is it better to resaw with your finished piece between the blade and fence or, keep the bulk of the stock between the fence and blade and take your finished piece from outside the blade? I have watched many videos online, read many posts here in the forums and taken a look at some of the cool jigs that have been shared. I have seen cuts made both ways.

I have spent a fair amount of time fabricating a new table and fence for resawing on the SS band saw...I opened up the throat to 6.75" by filing material from the top guide casting, and lowering the table height by making a new table using 3/8" aluminum plate.


I will be resawing figured maple at 22"x6.5"x2.5" into 1/2" bookmatched sets if that dictates the approach any.

What are the pros and cons of each method?

Peace,

[dusty]

Wow. Wow, that is all I can say. When you said you were going to rebuild your table and fence you were serious. It certainly looks as though it should be stable and the fence shall forever be 90* to the table - unless you drop it of course.

As for your question, I have no authoritative answer. I do it both ways and I don't even know why. I have promised myself to pay more attention in the future to see if I have a reason for one way or the other.

I almost always plan to run the cutoff through the surface planer before use. For that reason I believe I have done it without forethought. It made no difference -- I think??

[guitarnut]

Hi Dusty. Thanks!

Yeah, I might have over engineered it a bit but I wanted to have a tool I could count on down the road. It weighs in at a little over 15 lbs but it sits very nicely on the saw and doesn'r feel top heavy at all. I'm very pleased with the design and performance. I'll add some slots for the fence to slide in and some permanent ruler markings soon.

For resawing, I went with keeping most of the stock outside the blade with my finished cut between the blade and the fence. It seemed to be the most common method and I figured there was less chance of pinching the blade in the kerf if my pushblock sneaked past the blade. And as you pointed out, the planer deals with any inconsistencies.

Results and pics here:

www.crenshawweb.com/texastele/texasteleproject.htm

Peace,

[dlbristol]

I am amazed! I have nothing to add, I am pleased if I can just get a smooth, straight cut. As long as my Planer covers the variations, I'm cool. In thinking about it, I don't know that I have ever thought about it. Good topic for the PTWFE chapter.
The modification is indeed a great piece of work.

[charlese]

Which side of the blade for the favored thickness? Honestly, I don't think it matters one iota!

That said, I favor the side with the fence. With the pressure (from feather boards or hands) keeps the wood firmly up against the fence, I am pretty secure in thinking the desired piece will not be (much) wider than the set gap.

I have never had over 50% success using a straight fence for re-sawing. I prefer to follow a cutting line drawn on the top edge of the board while using a curved guide, like the photos below.

However, there were photos just posted on this forum withing the past week showing veneer strips 1/32" re-sawn using a straight fence and an Incra setup. There are many ways to "skin this cat". Your method will work out to be "whatever works best for you".

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EDIT: Mark - I just ran through your guitar site on the other thread! - After seeing your re-sawing of the quilted maple - it seems you really don't need advice from a guy like me. You should be the one handing out advice. I REALLY ADMIRE YOUR WORK!!