Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi guys! To be able to build my first guitar, i had to build my own drum sander as probably most of you did. Now, i'm about ot start building my own bandsaw, with a resaw blade. My question is : has any of you built one and if so, does it work well? how did it go ?

Serge, I built an 18" band saw about 30 years ago when I was building furniture and cabinets. But I had to get rid of it when we sold that house. That was 20 some odd years ago. It worked well for what I was doing, but due to my inexperience at that time, I'm sure it wasn't good enough for resawing. I currently use a Jet 14" and love it, but I'm not resawing.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Thank you Mr old man for sharing this experience with me.!

it sure tells me that it's feasible! I did see a few examples on the net of shop made bandsaws, the craftmen will proudly show pictures of their work but are not really explanatory about how they did it, maybe because it would take too long to explain every step of the building procedure. But i'm a hard headed young man and i'm sure gonna try my best to build me a straight cutter!

Take care sir!

Serge,

Not sure where you are at but if you are anywhere near Ottawa go into Lee Valley and look through their book selection. I am sure that I have seen some books there on building machines. Also, I think tha there is an article in one of the earlier versions of Fine Woodworking on building a Bandsaw.

I like building machines and have built a few, but usually ones that you can't buy. The other reason I would build one would be as Ed has done with his CNC machine because they are just too expensive otherwise. But bandsaws are not expensive at all and I am almost certain taht you will not be able to make the quality for the same cost. I have three of them, including a 24 inch re-saw, and as simple as they seem, they need to set-up fairly accuratley to work as they should.

Good Luck!

Shane

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Canada

If you are going to build a resaw & you don't already own, or have access to, a well equiped machine shop, you will probably spend far more on your creation than you will purchasing a proven & waranteed manufactured unit.
My 28" resaw uses between 1,200 1,600 PSI of hydraulic pressure on the blade tensioning actuator, depending on the blade installed. I mention this to give you an idea the forces involved.
A good friend of mine built an oversized copy of a Woodmizer sawmill & he had great success. He is however a career machinist & toolmaker with free access to a fully equipped commercial machine shop.
This is all just one man's opinion, so take it with a grain of salt... If you decide to go for it, I'd sure like to see some pics.

Thanks Shane and Daniel,

My thought on that is that i spent quite a bit of money on tools and different stuff for my first guitar that my wife started coming to my shop screaming that the budget was busted! So i decided to build my own to live my dream. So i went to Lee Valley and bought a resaw blade and will build around it. Not sure if it's gonna work but sure gonna have fun trying! Before i start, Shane,How much would it cost me for a 28" resaw like yours?

And Yes i will post photos if i succeed with that thing

Serge
    Here are a few things you need to know. building tooling can be fun but it can also be frustrating and dangerous. If you are not a machinist or know one it may be well worth the investment to get a machinist guide or Machinery's Handbook.
     This will help in that it will explain the different steels as you wouldn't want to use A2 when you need D2. I can understand your wanting to make your own tools but the saftey factor is something you have to consider. What good is saving $50 if you loose a finger or worse.
     To resaw you need a stoudt piece of equipment and the bearing loads need the proper steel or they will fail. Tracking and square are another think that you need to build into the machine and this is not attainable witout alot of luck if you don't have the proper measuring and machining equipment.
    I just want to give you something to consider . If you do want to build it be sure to get some good advice . Guarding the saw is a must as you don't want to accidentially get caught in the blade. This make doing important things like scratching inside your ear very difficult.
   Good luck
john hall

There is or used to be a kit 18" band saw called "The Gilliom" that you could get quite inexpensively. I have only read about it, but it's supposed to work OK with some modifications. I have an old Italian 24" and a 12" Asian import band saw, and they both need to be tinkered with to work properly. That is enough work for me; I'd rather build guitars than spend even more time on machines.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Serge,
   I think you'll find that few have built their own drum sanders simply because the cost of a unit that can yield consistently good results is not that much. I had aunit that I'd built and used for a time and it worked well. I'd built it after i saw the sander that Bob Benedetto used in his shop when I was there visiting him one day.
   I just needed something a bit more rigid and wide so I picked up a 24 inch Timesaver Sander that has been my main unit since. I do keep a smaller open ended pice made by Performax to take a light pass here and there to tweak a thickness or to clean up my glue joints in tops and backs, but the open ended units don;t give the consistency in thickness that the solid pillar units do unless you take very light passes to avoid any flex in the support arm.

Good luck in buildng anything that you take on. You know your needs and abilities better than anyone so you'll be able to closely customize ot to suit them.

Have fun,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

Thanks guys for your good advice and worrying about my safety. I might go with your idea Arnt and try to find that GILLIOM or try to find a used one at a fair price.This would help me concentrate on building my second and third guitar simultaneously and also avoid having my arms or fingers cut off!!!!!

thanks again everyone!

Hi Serge,

My saw, equipped with the sliding table I built is now over about $7,000. But it is a dedicated re-saw, a General International 24 inch with a 5hp single phase motor. It weighs almost 500kg (about 1,000 lbs). When I moving blocks of wood around I can still move the saw. I wouldn't want it any lighter than it is. But there are number of other smaller machines on the market now in $1000 to $2000 range that will give you 12 inch of resaw capacity but will also do all of your bandsaw work. Grizzly has a good variety of these machines but we can't get them in Canada. I recently ordered a machine from them (a couple of weeks ago!) and was told that they could not sell into Canada so I would have to go through a shipper or a friend or pick it up myself. THat got me thinking that there is someone else selling those products under a different name. Some search found some of the same tools at Busy Bee Tools under the brandname Craftex. I have used a 20 inch Craftex before and actually tried to buy it off this guy before I bought my re-saw. With the right bands it will do a good job as a small re-saw or as a typical bandsaw. Oh ya, Craftex machines are less expensive than equivelent Grizzly's and look and spec identical.

Good Luck if you plan to build, it will be an adventure and may yield some fabulous results!

Shane

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Canada

Thanks Shane for the link to busy bee, i saw a beautiful 16" bandsaw from craftex for 800$ with 8 1/2" max. cutting height and 1 1/2 hp motor which would be enough for my needs. I just have to convince my accountant(wife) to let me buy it now, wish me good luck!!

Serge

Indeed "Good Luck" Serge!

If you get past the accountant and end up with one please post pictures and comments when it arrives.

Shane

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Canada

i promiss Shane!

About 2 months ago I was searching for a bandsaw and was bugging everyone here about it. I'm sure they got tired of me. But my dilligence paid off. I was also calling manufactures and bugging them and finally, a guy from Mini-Max called me and said they had one that had been damaged in shipping, and would I be interested. I was and came out of the deal with a 24" Mini-Max bandsaw and saved about $1500. It pays to keep looking.
My friend Shane at High Mountain Tonewood walked me through setting it up and how to build a fence and all of it. Still got a lot to learn.
Good luck with your search!

Thanks Doug,

I'll keep you up to date on that one

Serge,

Perhaps I don't understand your needs, but why do you need a resaw for guitars 2 and 3? Your going to have to slice up a heck of a lot of wood to pay back the investment. While I'll admit that I'd like having resaw capability, I don't have it and get by fine without it.

Something else you might consider.....

If you live anywhere near a woodcraft store they usually have a shop attached. Our local store has a guy come in every wednesday to help customers with mill work etc. This is a great service when you don't have the right tool at home. I have very good success with this to plane blanks for electrics and other "odd jobs". In about an hour they can mill enough rough electric blanks and raw neck stock to keep me building for a year.

It is pretty cheap and it will keep your projects moving along.

Brock Poling38716.4600115741

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

The only reason i needed a resaw was to be able to have my wood quartersawn right here in my little shop.

Last spring, a cousin of mine, had access to white spruce logs that he gave me that had 24" diameter and that we cut in 24" lengths with his chainsaw. Since i need something able to cut 12" high or 8" high for half a top or half a back plate i would be able to get my top plates for free if i only succeeded in building my own bandsaw. In case you wonder, i'm a janitor by day and my earnings don't allow me to buy many tools for now. That's why i devellopped the jig making bug, i thought of building my own after having some success with my home made drum sander.

i'm probably the only amateur builder on earth using a kettle to bend sides, i would throw pics here but i don't know how.Anyways, i'm not tellin' you my story to make you cry on my case, i'm just happy to be able to manage the way i do and happy the way my first guitar turned out with 40$ worth of plywood. So when it comes to building stuff, i only think about saving money or at least give it a try!Serge Poirier38717.102962963