Barrel resaw!

[Jonny Durango]

I bought a nice big chunk of 12/4 korina, chopped a piece off of it and attempted to resaw it for a solidbody guitar. Anyhow, I knew the stock blade that came with my JET 18" BS was junk, but I didn't know just how bad it was until I attempted to resaw this wood, which was about 7" thick. First of all the blade began to wander immediately and it cut very slowly. But what's worse, when I got through the cut, the blade bowed inside the wood and gave me one concave and one convex piece of wood (a barrel cut)...I had thought I might run into this so I fed the wood extra slow and put a little extra tension on the blade. Nonetheless this blade performed horribly.

I tried cutting a 1/4" piece off of the remainder w/ my 1/4" Timberwolf blade (which I usually only use for curve cuts) and it worked beautifully (save a little wander)....no bow at all and a much faster cut. Anyway, I learned an expensive lesson in resawing, DON'T USE SHITTY/DULL BLADES AND DO A TEST PIECE FIRST!!!

I was happy with the way the timberwofl cut and will probably pick up a 1" blade for resawing. Can anyone recommend a better one? Perhaps Lennox? How about TPI, and skip vs/ hook? I'll mostly be resawing hardwoods about 7".

[Digger]

been a long day.

Is it REALLY cheaper to buy direct when figuring shipping? The local Woodsmith sells them for $22 - $29 bucks. I just bought a new BS and was going to just go pick up a couple.

Digger

[Digger]

Sixty bucks for four blades seems like a great deal. What four blades did you buy, and what would you suggest for someone who wants to be able to do everything from fine work to resawing?

Thanks,

Digger

[David Hajicek]

The other lesson is to check your setup on a piece of scrap before sawing the good stuff.

Dave Hajicek

[Michael Latcha]

Ask the TW people when you call. Tell them what you will be sawing, what sorts of things you want to do with your saw, then order what they suggest. They will not steer you wrong.

What they told me: I am primarily a turner, so a 1/2" 3 tpi blade for cutting bowl blanks from wet, green hardwoods (up to about 10" thick - like butter, if you follow the TW advice on tensioning and lubrication) was high on the list. This one can double for resawing, but that's not a high priority for me. 1/4" 6 tpi and 3/8" tpi blades for general-purpose sawing. I tend to use the 3/8" band more than the 1/4" blade, but that's me...

Michael Latcha - at home in Redford, MI

[Digger]

Thanks for the help.

[Sawblade]

One thing you might try is the aftermarket spring at Iturra Design (no connection, just a satisfied customer). Using the tensioning guidelines for Timberwolf Blades I have been able to easily tension a

3/4" blade for resawing.

Iturra has no website, but here is their contact info:

Iturra Design

4636 Fulton Rd Jacksonville, FL 32225 1-888-722-7078 e-mail- [e-mail] (yes, 3 L's)

Sawblade