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In investigating resawing, I've run across the resaw post now and then. It seems many outside of luthiery use this method.

Here's the method:






As I use a Craftsman 14" bandsaw for other purposes and there is a little drift to deal with this seems like a good option for occasionally resawing without resetting. An comments or bad sides I'm not seeing to this approach. I've adjusted the guides to minimize drift but can't seem to get it dead nuts. This seems like a good work around.

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

I work mainly outside of luthiery and I have never used this method in 35 years of woodworking. (As a professional I might add)




How does one adjust the guides to minimize drift ? This is a rhetorical question. Can't be done, isn't what guide adjustment is for.
Billy, so simple to make a plywood fence , figure drift , clamp to table and saw away. Dead accurate, cheep, solid, perfect results, whats not to like ??

L.

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Those posts are worthless as far as i'm concerned. The best way is to make a tall fence to hold and support the wood against which works the best when a saw is set up properly for resawing. Those dummy posts are for people that don't know how to use a bandsaw.

Okay, Billy, here's my two cents' worth:

You've set up a sort of "pivot" fence for resawing, and I've seen this technique fairly frequently in articles about bandsaw jigs. The pivot fences are all a bit different in design, but they're all the same in function. With this design, you compensate for blade drift with your angle of feed. Nothing wrong with this method, IF you have a good sense of the compensation angle you are feeding in. But you will need to have that sense for compensation, and you will have to be STEADY AND CONSISTENT with your angle of feed. I believe these pivot fences are more commonly used for resawing thicker pieces for furniture projects. I don't believe they are commonly used for the very thin resawing that luthiers do every day.

Now, having said that, the other guys have a good point. Find the drift of your blade (lots of info on the web is available if you google "bandsaw blade drift". Then set a tall fence parallel with the drift of your blade. This method will work very well. You will need to change the angle subtly to accommodate the drift of each new blade you mount on your bandsaw.

Either way will work. Like so many things in life. It's up to you, as the operator. Don't let anyone tell you it can't be done as you have proposed. I just think it will be MUCH easier for you using the second method I described.

Patrick

What I've seen these used for is warped lumber. You can scribe a line on a board that would not fit against a straight fence, cut it then straighten the thinner stock as opposed to trying to square your large stock and losing a bunch of wood.

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Chris

I have had my resaw (16" Makita) since 1990, and I have never had to use one of these. There are times when I thought I needed one, but when I have trouble, I just go back to the basics: blade, tension, guides, feed rate, etc. I have had blades that drifted out of the box, and in rare cases I have compensated by reangling the fence. But most of the time, I either ditch the blade, or turn on the saw and hold a sharpening stone on the side of the blade that the cut is drifting toward. In many cases, it is just a few teeth that have a bit more set on one side that cause the drift.
Long ago I learned that the most important factor is using a blade that is appropriate for the type of sawing you are doing. Hardwoods, softwoods, green, dry, thickness....it all makes a difference.

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John

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A bullnose, pivot type fence can work nicely. On a smaller saw, in my experience the drift angle can change as you are cutting, as the blade heats more on one side than the other. With a pivot and a line to follow, you can compensate for that as you cut.

I've had to employ a variety of tricks with different blades and saws. It's great to have a good setup with a flat fence (I do now) and a blade that doesn't drift (or doesn't change its drift). But whatever works. There are not a lot of woodworking machines that don't require variable operator input during the process to get the best results. I think many of the problems people have come from thinking that if they only had the right setup, outputs would be guaranteed by that.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Guide width adjustment won't minimize the blade wobbling back and forth? Especially as it hits the grain. Unstable drift is a sign of loose guides as I thought?



Thanks for that stone bit. I'll have to try it.




Yes. It seems that way to me to! You could keep a close eye on what shape the stock is in and compensate very easily.

I've seen Pros cut down stock in a planner in one pass that would make a whole guitar. They don't seem so concerned about waste as a small builder. Nothing wrong with that in that environment. This pivot post idea seems stupid simple and quick to set up, and you could work around less than perfect stock.

I'm not set up to do resawing yet and I like to investigate well before jumping in. These pivot posts come up far too often outside of luthiery. Just considering the options.

I can see why the saw manufacturers like to make them...it's a freak'in post...LOL!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

If the wood has a smooth lengthwise curve, I just place the convex side against the flat fence.

The fence is two-piece hardwood plywood. The L-shaped part bolted to the Makita fence is about 8 1/2" tall, but steps down to 4 1/2" tall just in front of the guides. That is used for cutting sides. The second part of the fence (for cutting backs and tops) is 8 3/4" tall over the entire length. It attaches to the first part with thumb screws. That makes the total thickness 1 1/2", which is very solid.
For resawing dry wood, I have been using Timber Wolf 3/4" X 3TPI alternate set special (AS-S) blades. They are thin kerf and have a 0.025" body.
For cutting green wood (mini-sawmilling), I use 1" X 5/8" blades with a 0.035" body. I haven't done that in a while, but the last blades I used were Simonds Red Streak from Cook's Saw and Machine.
The Makita is similar to the Hitachi CB75, but was designed for 2" blades, rather than the 3" blades of the Hitachi. Like the Hitachi, it came with a universal (router type) motor that probably turned 18,000 RPM. That necessitated a gear reduction, which made it very noisy. Not only that, it wasn't very powerful. It only drew about 13 amps on 120 volts, so it was barely equivalent to a 1 horsepower induction motor. Since I had bought the saw used, I was fully prepared to replace the motor with a larger induction type. The actual replacement came a bit earlier than expected, because the gear reduction stripped out less than a year after I got the saw.
I installed a 3 HP motor, using pulleys that would give me a blade speed of about 4700 FPM. For cutting guitar wood, I have found that that is plenty of power. It is virtually impossible to choke it under normal circumstances.
The saw originally came with Bakelite blade guides. When they wore out, I replaced them with wood guides. I have tried several woods, but pau ferro works about as good as any.

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John

When I first started re-sawing I used a fence like that and while it works, it's quite hard to use. The issue is that one little slip and your piece might end up with a "gouge" that renders the whole piece useless.

Here's a couple threads with a lot of fence advice:

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=29953&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=Resaw+fence

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=28291&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=resaw+fence

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Where the best place to get your Timber Wolf blades John?

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

From the source:

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/

I have always gotten great service. If I get a bad blade (which is rare), they replace it right away.

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John

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Time for me to post my plug for the Laguna Driftmaster fence. You can now upgrade it with an 8" fence! I am in no way connected to this company (Laguna), but this fence is amazing and takes all the guesswork out of the process. Your saw looks plenty beg enough to support it. (14" saws a really too small in my opinion).

That said, the plywood, clamp down fence is a good solution too. Regardless, you need to figure out in your head what causes drift (understand it). To measure the angle to mount the plywood fence, use a square piece of wood, maybe 6" wide by a foot long (or longer). 1/4" thick is sufficient. Draw a square line down the middle of the board. Now, freehand cut half way through the board. Then stop the saw and hold the wood in place. If there is any drift, the board will no longer be square to the saw table. Use a pencil to mark on the table using one or both edges of the board as a guide. That line forms the basis to which you clamp your fence. Now, using the fence to guide the board, finish the cut. It should go straight down the line. The difficulty with using the plywood fence lies in adjusting the location of the fence with respect to the blade (or the cut you want to achieve). This is where the Driftmaster comes in and solves those problems automatically.

Mike

Thanks for the info guys! I need a new blade...and a new saw!!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Why a new saw? Your saw looks to be a Jet 18" or so, right? I am basing that on the first picture with the resaw post. They include that with the cheapo fence. This fence slides on rails located on both sides of the table... it is held square wrt the table. Rarely will this feature be of use. Either build a plywood fence (FWW has a great article on this) or buy a fence that can "swivel" to account for drift. Or, spend endless amounts of time getting the blade in just the right place on the convex tire.

Good luck to you. You might also want to check out videos from Borson Resaw.

Mike