Resawing On A Table Saw

[DerbyDad03]

For my bed project, I am one horizontal board short of what I need to complete the headboard. For this headboard I would like to add one more long horizontal board instead of butting 2 boards together and creating a visible seam.

The boards are 60" x 4.5" x 1.25". I have 6, I need 7.

I have lots of shorter 4.5" x 1.25" boards, so I was thinking of resawing one long board down the middle to get 2 long boards, then resawing 4 shorter boards and gluing (screwing?) them to the backs of the long boards to get back to the 1.25" thickness. I would then put the butt seams on the back of the headboard where they wouldn't be seen.

Here's the issue: I don't think my bandsaw (or maybe me) is capable of doing a good enough job on the resawing, so I called around and found a local lumber yard that will do it for me.

He said that he has a table saw that has the capability of resawing the 4.5" boards, adding "It's a roughcut blade and you'll loose about

3/16" of material." When I mentioned that the total linear feet for the 5 boards (1 long, 4 short) would be about 16', he said he'd charge me $10 and do it while I wait. The plan would be to have him resaw the long boards down the center and then resaw the short boards "off center" so that I get the 3/16" back.

Am I missing anything with this plan? Will a "rough cut" table saw blade leave a good enough resaw cut for me to glue (screw?) the boards back together? Once the headboard panel is built, the sides and ends of the "new" long boards will be hidden, only the faces will be seen, which is the whole point of this exercise. (I need one more long face.)

(BTW...I called 4 millwork places and this guy was the only one willing to do it. The other 3 said that they don't mill wood that they didn't sell)

As always, thanks for any advice.

[Swingman]

If you are planning to edge glue all the boards in the photo to create a panel, I would personally go to the trouble of buying another board to match the others ... you will thereby remove any troubling problem of possible seasonal movement.

That said, if you use the "laminated" stock boards on top and bottom, and not the middle, you may still have a good chance of success with the above plan.

However, if they are NOT going to be edge glued, the above plan should certainly work for the way you describe what you want to do.

FWIW, I have done similar face to face "laminations" on much wider stock to make up the desired thickness of end panels, and by matching the grain and cut (flat, rift, etc.) have had good results doing so.

You do have a table saw?

If so, might want to resaw it yourself partway through, and finish the cut with a handsaw, then plane/sand any uneven residual material from the cut.

While these are short pieces, long boards are not a problem with a featherboard setup like the one you see:

Despite the above, I may well have misunderstood your goal. If so, sorry.

[Larry Blanchard]

I really doubt it. Could you have him resaw a little thick and then run the boards through your planer or thickness sander? Or his, if you don't have either.

But my suggestion would be to get one of the Highland Hardware Wood- slicer blades:

and follow their instruction sheet. Practice on some of those extra short boards. I can tell you that I suddenly became much better at resawing and I doubt it was me :-).

But I still think you'd want at least one pass with planer or thickness sander, but you might get away without one.

[Puckdropper]

Swingman wrote in news: [e-mail]:

*snip*>

I saw one video where the resawed by cutting partially through with the TS then finishing the cut on the BS. It didn't make sense at the time, I thought they should do the whole thing on the BS. Seeing how many bandsaws tend to cut, it makes sense now.

My browser doesn't know what to make of that link. Do you basically have the feather boards set up as tall as possible near the front edge of the blade, maybe with another on top pushing down?

Just a guess.

It's been a while since I've resawn on the table saw, but IIRC the most important things were keeping the feather board ahead of the blade (to avoid pinching the blade) and keeping pressure down on the table to keep the board from lifting.

Puckdropper

[Leon]

No one can answer whether "he" can resaw good enough for you to reglue. If he says you are going to get a rough cut, loosing 3/16 is a lot, no. But you might consider using the good, outer sides, of the boards to glue together and sand smooth the outer rough cut pieces.

It is not an easy thing to do and the type of wood can make it harder to do. I have it countless times with Ipe and got a slick smooth surface. Oak on the other hands not so good.

[DerbyDad03]

No can do. This is the 20 YO reclaimed quarter sawn douglas fir that I bought on Craigslist a while back. I doubt I could come close to matching the grain and color.

I don't want to use one of the laminated boards on the top because the top edge of the panel will be exposed, therefore the seam from the lamination would be visible.

Could you explain why edge gluing enters into this? I'm sure it has something to do with wood movement, but why would edge gluing the boards be a problem just based on the fact that 2 of the "boards" are laminations? And why does the location (top and bottom vs. both on the bottom) matter?

Yes, someone you know sent me an dado set to use on it a while back. :-)

Max height of the blade is 3.25". That's another 1.25" X 16' that I would have to cut by hand. I can't afford to ruin any long boards because, as I mentioned earlier, they are the last ones in the entire universe. ;-)

My computer wants to know what I want to do with:

13, 11_44_46 AM.webp from ih3.googleusercontent.com

I think you've got it! I just wish I could see your featherboard set up.

[DerbyDad03]

Thanks, but my 10" band saw can't handle a 4.5" board. 3.75" max.

[DerbyDad03]

Based on my experience with this quarter-sawn douglas fir, once the interior is exposed, it won't match the other boards. I think that it has to do with being "aged" for almost 20 years since it was reclaimed and then S4S'd. We love the slightly red color and want to retain that.

Like I said, douglas fir. When I rip it with a 40 tooth blade, it comes out pretty smooth, smooth enough that I wouldn't hesitate to laminate it if that's how the "rough cut" resaw ended up.

[dadiOH]

Yes, should be.

[Leon]

But you are not ripping it, some one else is. And he said you will lose

3/16". Since most any 10" TS has the capacity to resaw up to 6" his may not be a large industrial, larger than 10". Most 10" blades will remove 1/8 or less. I'm thinking that you are going to end to with tooth marks 1/32" deep on each side of your cut. Just something to think about/clarify with the person that is going to do this for you.

[Swingman]

Basically it involves the reason why you always attempt to use a dimensionally stable "substrate" when laminating.

In your case, and even though the two pieces of the "lamination" being joined are from the same wood species, they are still subject to the possibility of having differing inherent dimensional instability properties from being cut from different parts of the same log, or a different log, or a different cut.

IOW ... any differential movement in one piece making up the lamination will likely effect/telegraph to the other.

If the this happens to one of the end boards in a glued up panel, the effect is liable to be less noticeable/or disastrous than it would be in a middle board.

In short, both the visible, and problematic, effects of expansion or contraction of a piece of wood is most often observed at its edges ...

.... if one edge is free to move, and given room to do so, the overall problematic effect of that movement (cracked joint, warping, ect) is usually mitigated.

Just use common sense ... when resawing on the table saw I simply set the featherboard in a location, and only with a light enough pressure, that it won't close up the previous cut on the blade.

[DerbyDad03]

Makes sense. If I go down this path, I'll ask him to resaw a short scrap first so I can see how it turns out.

I was laying out the boards last night and I'm torn between making the headboard "uniform" in it's look all the way down to the rails - even the part that will be hidden by the mattress - and just using the shorter boards which will result a vertical seam. Again, the seam would be hidden by the mattress.

I may forgo the resaw idea and just go with *3* seams, spaced at 1/3's and call it a "design feature".

That would certainly be the safer route for a part of the bed that will rarely be seen.

[Scott Lurndal]

I may have missed earlier posts on this, but when I used to resaw on the tablesaw (or resawr as Norm would have it), I'd leave the cut short from both edges and finish with a handsaw to avoid the kerf closing on the cut.

[Swingman]

Yep, that is the preferred, and safest method. For the OP, since the last photo link didn't work, let's try this:

[DerbyDad03]

Thanks for those links. They work fine.

[Larry Blanchard]

Ouch! You're taking on a big project for that level of equipment.

Time to start dropping Xmas hints :-).

Or perusing Craig's List.

[DerbyDad03]

I don't see why you are saying that. Everything else I've wanted to use the bandsaw for on this project had worked out fine. Other than not being able to resaw a 4.5" wide board, why do think a 10" band saw is a problem for my bed build?

When I say the max is 3.75", I am talking about the amount of blade that can be exposed for the table upwards with the guides raised to the highest point. Other than the 4.5" resaw desire, nothing I've needed cut on band saw has required the full 3.75".

It's this model, mounted on a leg base.

[Trenbidia]

Maybe because I've got a 14" bandsaw that will resaw 12" and I frequently mutter that it's too small :-).

It's not just the resaw. For example, try cutting out a 24" diameter table top or tray. Or try rough cutting a bowl blank out of a large log (if you do any turning). I suspect cutting 8/4 oak/maple/cherry would be pretty difficult with the HP of a 10" bandsaw.

BTW, most (but not all) woodworkers will tell you that 3 wheels and direct drive are bad things. I won't get into the details, a web search will tell you more than you ever wanted to know :-).

But in the end, it's what works for you. If you're happy with the saw, keep it till it dies - *then* get a bigger one.

[DerbyDad03]

Not what I have a need to do. You'll recall that Larry said that I was "taking on a big project for that level of equipment."

Again, the uses for which I needed the band saw for this "big project" have not required anything bigger. The only thing that I am not able to do for this project is resaw the one board that I was considering turning into two.

(BTW I have decide to forego that task.)

It's a two wheel unit, but yes it is direct drive.

It's been alive for about 30 years, so I'm not sure it will ever die. Besides, "a bigger one" and "my shop" wouldn't play well together. ;-)

[J. Clarke]

This is what a planer's for--after you saw, plane the surface and you'll be good to go. You'll lose a little more thickness to the planer of course.