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Can someone refresh my thinking here. What's the minimum size of bandsaw I need to think about in order to re-saw 8-9" of vertical (accurately).
thanks
-j.

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

j. 14" with riser block or 16" saw will do it.

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I would go with something with a bigger motor with at least a 10-12 inch cutting depth. The riser will work slowly, but you will bog down the motor with hardwoods and your cuts won't be quite as clean as say a Bridgewood or Laguna 18"

Ya, the sizes generally assigned to bandsaws refer to the distance from the blade to the "body" horizontally, I believe. So a "12 inch" bandsaw may only have a resawing capacity of 6". It's the riser block that will allow you to do resawing of larger pieces on a smaller bandsaw. So... I think you can get 12" bandsaws that will accept the riser kit, but if you can afford a 14" then that would be sweet and you could let me come over and use it

Mike

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

I just bought a 16" jet with light resawing in mind. Haven't had a chance to try it out but it sure looks pretty sitting there.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I think that as well as opening size an important aspect is power. I have an Axminster, it has a throat of 510mm (20") and a cutting capacity of 310mm (12"). A smaller machine was available in the range for a better price but this one could be upgraded to a 5Hp motor for a little extra, and it was the horsepower I was after.

The point is if you are cutting through 8" of hardwood, not only do you want the cutting depth you also want the horsepower to pull the blade through it.

Colin

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I have the Laguna LT14 14" saw and the resaw capacity is 8-5/8". The limiting factor is the upper guide mounting block hitting the chassis. It looks like an extra 1/2" could be easily gained by trimming the lower edge of the chassis for clearance. Laguna also sells a model LT14SE with a 12" resaw capacity.

Buying the LT14 was a stretch for me financially, but if I where doing it again I think I'd try to reach for a 16" saw.

Good point there Colin, i sure will take your thoughts in consideration when buying mine. Thanks!

[QUOTE=SniderMike] Ya, the sizes generally assigned to bandsaws refer to the distance from the blade to the "body" horizontally, I believe.
[/QUOTE]

I thought it was the wheel diameter, no?

Pete! Where you been?!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
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If one were to do this on the cheap, what about getting a 14" bandsaw with riser, and then swaping the motor out with a 2 hp. Anybody done this? You can get them for anywhere from $50 used to $200+ new on ebay.

Seems like it would be cheaper than buying a 16" saw or bigger, since those run four digits. Depending on how cheap you got the bandsaw, you could do this for $600 or less. I'd do it, I just don't know anything about electric motors and would hate to buy the wrong thing and start my world on fire!

Oh, so I'm an idiot and didn't see Todd's post above about doing just this same thing.

I guess the question would be, what to look for in a new motor? Specs, RPM, and such?

I use a 14" Rigid from Home Depot with a riser block and a 1/2" very coarse blade . With the stock motor, as long as I don't rush the cut it resaws quite well. It's obviously not the ideal setup, but it works for the small amount of resawing that I do.

Al

Thanks, I appreciate the info, and the pics!

[QUOTE=A Peebels] I use a 14" Rigid from Home Depot with a riser block and a 1/2" very coarse blade . With the stock motor, as long as I don't rush the cut it resaws quite well. It's obviously not the ideal setup, but it works for the small amount of resawing that I do.

Al[/QUOTE]

Al, I just bought me one of these this week end, do you feel that a 2hp would be helpful for cutting through 12" of hardwood? cuz i think we got the 3/4 hp now.

Thanks Todd, i guess if i take my time with all the set up you just mentionned, that i'd be able to do just fine in hardwoods with my 3/4 hp!

Thanks, i'll try posting pics of my new toy tonight!

You rock!

Serge I use the stock motor, and it works ok. I'm sure a larger motor would be an improvement.
I have resawed 10" cocobolo, 8" lacewood, walnut , maple etc. I have also cut up slabs of maple and black locust.

AlA Peebels38810.8271990741

Thanks Al, what kind of blade do you use for resawing, length, width, tpi and alloy please???

WOW Todd, thanks for so much input, i just saved your post, so much info in there! I'll be checking all of this out, love your fence,pretty easy to make, for the spring, it sure will be a challenge but seems feasable, i'll be in touch with you when i get to this point, if ya don't mind of course!


I really appreciate your devotion

Regards

Serge

Cool Todd, just added that link to the favorites!

Again man, you rock! Serge Poirier38812.0114236111

Serge:
What Todd said, except I use the woodcraft brand blades, and they work fine. I tried a 3/4" blade and the rigid wouldn't tension it properlly, so I wentback to the 1/2" with much better results. I have'nt tried the type of fence that Todd shows. Mine is musc shorter front to back (1/2") I adjust the tracking to a line drawn on the edge of the board manually as I cut. My fence just keeps the board vertical, and the thickness constant.

Al












;

Thanks Al, my bandsaw came with a black 1/2" blade,with i don't know how many tpi but will check, that cuts fine for now but will be checking that out as soon as my riser block gets here next week. Do you have any pics of your fence and set up? Sounds interesting as well!

Serge, the Timberwolf blades also require less tension, and are therefore easier to get tensioned properly on the smaller saws like the 14". I have a 14" Delta with a riser block and the Timberwolf resaws wood just like cutting through butter.

I also installed the Carter spring as Todd suggested above. The original on the Delta was pretty worthless.Dave Rector38812.4404513889

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

The 5/8" Bladerunner II blades from Iturra work really great. They are the same skip tooth pattern as the 1/2" version they sell, and also identical to the Woodslicer blades sold by Highland Hardware. They are thin kerf - .032" or so, and cut even cocobolo like butter. Oh...and at $20 they are a great value. he is out of inventory right now, but is expecting delivery of more soon. They are worth trying.

Another nice upgrade for resawing is to add a set of Bandrollers, (also an Iturra product), which are a bearing unit that fit right in the standard Delta guide holes. Bearing guides are great because they help keep blades from overheating, which causes them to lose temper and wear out quicker.
For resawing resinous woods like cocobolo, a set of ceramic guides are great because they don't heat up much, but also keep the blade relatively clean. They sort of "scrape" the resins off the blade.

Plus...on a lot of these parts, you can save a few bucks from buying directly from Iturra Design.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Thanks Dave, i'll take that into consideration as well!