Resawing lumber and log are common among woodworkers, but not everyone knows how to resaw on a bandsaw. For you to master this technique, you need to spare some time for the learning process. Unfortunately, there are a few resources that you can rely on when it comes to learning how to resaw wood on a bandsaw. But don’t worry, we’ve gathered all the techniques, tips, and methods you can learn right here in this guide, to help you become a bandsaw trickster. In this guide, we’re going to talk about how to resaw with a bandsaw, how to resaw lumber with a bandsaw, how to resaw wood with a bandsaw, how to resaw logs on a bandsaw, and how to resaw wood with a bandsaw. All of this will be learned in our easy-to-follow guide.
Table of Contents
How Do You Resaw with a Bandsaw?
Generally, there are three major kinds of cuts- resaw cuts, rip cuts, and cross-cut. If you want to know how to resaw with a bandsaw, you must first know all these three types of cuts.
Re-sawing cuts: Re-sawing cuts are not commonly done by woodworkers, but can be used for some applications.
Rip cuts: Rip cuts are the most common between the three types of cuts done on the table saw. It involves splitting a bigger board into small sections by cutting through its length using the grain of the log.
Crosscuts: Crosscuts are the second most common cuts on the table bandsaw, involving shortening the length of the board while you cut across the grain of the wood. Learning how to resaw lumber with a bandsaw requires you to know all these cuts.
Tools Required for Cutting a log with a Bandsaw
Here are the basic tools required on how to resaw with a bandsaw. Some are optional while the rest are necessary.
- Handplanes or Jointer and Planer (necessary)
- Table Saw (necessary)
- Band Saw (necessary)
- 4X4 with square and jointed sides (optional)
- Resaw fence for the bandsaw (optional)
- Grr-ripper push-block (optional)
How To Resaw With A Bandsaw (Step-by-Step Guide!)
Follow the steps below to master all the techniques required on how to resaw wood with a bandsaw.
Step 1: Choosing The Right Saw Blade
Picking out the right resawing blades doesn’t just involve size, it also involves the type of material you are looking to saw and the activity you are carrying out with your bandSaw…
Resawing is an activity that is carried out by cutting through thick timber. Normally, as you saw through the timber, the tooth on the blade shaves off large amounts of sawdust that goes directly into the bullets or space between two teeth on the blade. Because of this, the gullet gets full and the sharp edge of the teeth isn’t able to make contact with the wood. The type of blade is important here because, for resawing, you will need a blade with gullet depth to hold the sawdust until the tooth emerges from the stock you are cutting.
A blade with 3 teeth per inch would have a big gullet to hold sawdust, choosing 3 teeth per inch blade is best for resawing thick timber. Wider saws have higher beam strength and a good capacity to keep up with a straight line cut. Moreover, it’s best to pick out a perfect blade for your bandSaw and not just the widest blade you find.
Step 2: Always Tension your blade
After choosing a perfect blade, tension should be added to it so it doesn’t flutter or keep on shaking as you saw through the wood, an unstable saw won’t give you good results. During installation, there are three things you have to do to safely tension your blade:
- The lateral guides and thrust bearings should be opened up and backed off above and below the bandSaw table to avoid contact with the blade.
- Unplug the saw and put some tension on the blade using your index finger. Push the blade sideways halfway between the upper and lower reels of the saw. This would make the blade deflects and return in a short distance. Repeat this same procedure from the beginning, put some tension on the blade, and push to see how far it would go. This action should be repeated continuously until the blade stops deflecting easily. The deflection is measured according to the depth of the bandSaw’s cut. For blades that give 6 inches cut depth, the deflection ranges from ¼ inch to 5/6 inch, saws with 12-inch cut depth deflect within a range of 3/8 inch to ½ inch. While trying to get the perfect deflection size of your blade, don’t look at the saw gauge until it has been properly tensioned. The reading you get after all this is what you use later in the future.
- To get proper results when you start reading, you have to track the blade’s upper wheel to get the deepest part of the gullet to be at the centerline of the tire.
Step 3: Adjust your blade guides
This can be archived by closing the week covers without the lateral guides and thrust bearings coming close to the blade. This can be done by first plugging in the saw and making sure the blade isn’t blurry because that means it is vibrating, instead of running quietly in a consecutive line from wheel to wheel of your bandSaw. The vibration can be stopped by increasing or decreasing tension on the blade. Adjust the track settings if necessary. After this bring your lateral blade guide and rear thrust bearings close to the blade.
Step 4: Use A Point Block For Resawing A Smaller Amount of Timber
A point block is used for resawing a small amount of timber. A point block fence is used instead of the main fence. It is a curved fence that is tall enough to hold your stock to use to freehand the cut. Mark out the cut line full length on your stock and cut. Ensure that you leave a margin for errors as it is a freehand cut. Set the point block to your target width, place the stock, and cut. Adjust the direction of the feed as you cut through.
Step 5: Adjust The Saw Fence To The Lead Angle Of The Blade
When you have a large number of stocks to resaw, you will have to apply this step because the point block method won’t cut them as straight as it will be if you adjust the saw fence to the lead angle of the blade. This step makes your work faster because it makes accurate cuts repeatedly. To achieve accuracy with this step, follow these steps:
- Set the fence to be skewed to the right or left side of at least ½ inch not parallel to the milter slot.
- Take a scrap wood, join the edge and mark a straight line.
- Resaw with a freehand across that line and adjust your feed to make sure you are cutting across the line.
- Hold the stock on the table and saw 5 inches into the line you drew, turn off the saw and mark a straight line on the table.
After doing all this, then you can set a resawing fence parallel to the straight line and make your first cut. With this cut, you find out where it bows to and adjust it. When it bows to the left, you adjust the far end to the right, while when it bows to the right, you adjust the far end to the left. Before you get the quality you need, it might take a few tests.
Step 6: Feed At A Good Rate
Feeding at a moderate rate would help you complete the good work you have started. Feeding at the wrong rate would spoil your efforts. When you need to slow, the blade wears off, and when you feed too fast, it leaves big teeth to mark as you cut. Feeding at a consistent and good rate would give you a smooth surface. Although using a planar makes it smoother, following these steps would give you something clean, a planar makes it extra clean.
Precautions on How to Resaw with a Bandsaw
There are some safety tips you should be aware of before and during the process of resawing on a bandsaw.
What You Should Do Before Resawing with a Bandsaw
If you don’t use a bandsaw properly, it can be a very dangerous tool. Ensure that you follow precautions before working on a bandsaw.
- Go through the user’s manual provided by the brand.
- Before working with any tool or machine, make sure you’ve read and understood all the instructions in the manual.
- Before starting the resawing process, make sure you’ve learned all the limitations and applications.
- Make sure you reduce the vibration produced by the machine by fastening it to the floor or on a workbench.
Safety Tips on How to Resaw on Bandsaw
Before you consider learning how to resaw logs with a bandsaw, you need to learn some important safety tips. Take note of all these safety tips for safety and the safety of the machine.
- Wear protective goggles or glasses or probably a face shield equipped with safety glasses.
- Put on protective footwear like a durable pair of boots.
- Ensure that you properly enclose all band wheels.
- Check the conditions of the blade and wheels.
- Make sure you adjust and place all the guards properly
- Position the blade properly in the track.
- You have to consider the level and frequency of noise in the woodworking area, so put on hearing protection.
- Remove any jewelry, tie back your long hair, and put on body-fitted working clothes to prevent any serious accident.
- Make sure your hands are far away from the line of the cut, bracing them against the table.
- Make sure you use sharp bandsaw blades and the other perfect materials and tools for the job.
- Ensure the bandsaw blade is under required tension. We advise that you go for a bandsaw that comes with an automatic tension control function.
- Your blade must run freely in and against the lower and upper guide rollers, so make sure it is tracking correctly.
Final Words
Resawing with a bandsaw involves a process of cutting the wood in the face of a wide board. It is a process carried out in two ways – either manually or with a machine. Resawing can be challenging and time-consuming if you’ve not learned the required techniques. Fortunately, our guide contains all you have to know about how to resaw with a bandsaw.
Make sure you read through all the safety tips and precautions. We’ve reached the final session of this blog post. We hope you were able to find good and reliable resources in your quest to know how to resaw with a bandsaw. If you have any questions or comments about the article topic, don’t hesitate to contact us. Thanks.
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