Resawing Questions

OK, I resawed my first lumber with my new G0555 and Grizzly planer. It was 8/4 X 6" Red Oak. The good news is all went well, everything seemed to work quite well with no issues. As I'm new to resawing, I'm curious how much material you leave on for planing to final thickness. I cut the first piece about 1/16 over my desired thickness and ended up missing my mark on the underside. My final 5 pieces all worked out well (all were sawn approximately 1/8 oversize). Is this normal or is there a general rule of thumb and does blade selection make a difference? FWIW, I was using the stock blade on the Grizzly, I know I need to pick up better blades, but it worked well enough for me to get accustomed to the operation of the machine. I do a lot of scrolling and these purchases will help me greatly reduce the material costs of my projects.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Kevin Daly

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Hey Kevin,

leave on for planing to final thickness

There are probably quite a few different views on this. When resawing, either air dried or kiln dried lumber, odds are that you'll get some cupping or twisting etc. The longer, wider and more thick, your final milled dimension is, the more material you should leave for milling.

Eg: If I'm resawing 8/4+ material, to get a final 5/8" thick board 60" in length, I'll resaw to a heavy 7/8". Plane it just enough to take the saw marks off, and sticker it in the shop for a few days to a week or so, then joint and plane it to the final dimension. If resawing material for small, shorter components, eg: stiles and rails 5/8" thick by 12" long, I'll resaw to 3/4", plane, sticker, then rejoint and plane.

Cheers,