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But after paying them, I may as well have bought sets all cut.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

True enough but you have to compare the cost of the service to how many potential sets you will lose doing it yourself or buying tools to do it efficiently, or, or, or. If you don't plan on making lots of guitars it might be more cost effective to buy back and side sets cut and sanded to your spec's.

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

One reason to keep your backs at 7 inches, is that is wide enough for a classical or double 0 back set. If you wanted to sell a set or two to recoup some (1 set) or possibly all (2 sets) of your money, you might get a couple of sets "free" (for the work of resawing it).

I planned on making this part of my retirement stash so I won't be selling while I'm alive and healthy. In the interest of not wasting any I may go to my friends house when I'm ready to cut it but, I'd rather cut it in my shop. This is why I bought 7" wide material so I can cut it down to 6" and run it through my bandsaw. Think of the tool handles I can make with the scrap!

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Why 7 1/4? Seem like a 10 would get it done.

BTW, I got the boards, they stank!

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

The 7 1/4 Diablo blades have a thinner kerf than the 10" blades. Plus, it's the blade that stays in my tablesaw.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Blade kerf loss is somewhat a theoretical consideration. If everything is perfect it can make a difference. Blades can "wander" (especially bandsaw blades in difficult woods) so you need to cut your wood a little thicker to allow for that and for surface preparation (planing, scraping and sanding).
The kerf of a full thickness 10" blade is about 1/8th inch (.125), 10"Diablo 3/32 (.098) and a 7 1/4 Diablo 1/16 (.059) , so you lose about 1/32nd inch each time. The Diablo blades have a coating on them that reduces friction, which reduces the strain on the saw and heat on the blade and helps it cut truer.
If I was resawing the 5 inch stuff I would use a 10 inch Diablo blade and set it up well, lose a 32nd" to the kerf over the 7 1/4" blade, and not bother finishing with the bandsaw. A little bit of bandsaw wander will also lose a 32ndso what's gained may be lost.
Like Steve, I will not bother to setup a resaw for small jobs but use my table saw and underpowered 14 inch bandsaw. I have an old 20 inch Rockwell/Delta bandsaw in the shed, but I'm too lazy to clear all the junk around it to resaw a couple of boards.
Personally, I would take Brad up on his generous offer and have him resaw the wood - especially the 7 inch board. Tool handles can be made out of almost anything, but 7 inch wide guitar backs waste less material than 6 inch three piece backs and are much more resalable if a retirement stash is a consideration.
If he made me that offer I would send some wood his way - resawing is work when done right.

I'm going to try the TS with a 10" thin kerf blade and cut the full 7" and see what I get. I don't mind the work I think I can cut pretty close to 1/8" and get good boards sandable to .100. Anything that won't clean up will be on the inside.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Be sure to have a good set up that supports the board vertically against the fence and a sharp handsaw to finish it off - that rusty one worked O.K. for curly maple, but rosewood needs something better.

I realize that what I am about to say should be self evident, but I will say it anyway: if you are going to use any table saw other than a SawStop, you need to set this up in a way where your hands stay safe. People get very seriously hurt doing imprudent things on a table saw. So, please plan a procedure that keeps you in one piece, even if things go wrong.

I pay my non-SawStop table saw the same respect I would pay to a tiger if I were trapped in its habitat and it was starving.

"I pay my non-SawStop table saw the same respect I would pay to a tiger if I were trapped in its habitat and it was starving."

That would be a good reason for you to not attempt resawing on your table saw. I would never advocate that someone do something they felt was "sketchy" on a machine they are not comfortable with. I don't care for shapers with insert cutters. I have used them, but not to the extent I feel proficient with their setup and operation. They are dangerous, especially for those of us who are not familiar with them.
On the other hand I have cross cut 5'X12' sheets of Formica by rolling them up and running them through the table saw free hand after removing the fence.

I have cut boards on my ts with the blade full height in the past. It wasn't a big deal. With something this large to hold on to, I can easily overpower my saw and trip the 15A breaker. It's one reason I prefer saws like mine as to industrial saws I've used. Those things can hurt you.

I will have to make a tall fence for this.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I’ll take those in turn.

Full blade height cutting? I do it, too. I just take precautions. I’m glad it wasn’t a big deal for you. Most days, things go right, but there is always the potential for it to go wrong, and the results for your fingers depend on the precautions you have taken for those few days when things go wrong.

I honestly don’t understand your viewpoint that your less powerful table saw is less dangerous than a more powerful table saw. It really isn’t. The cheapest, least powerful table saw can cut through wood. If it can cut through wood, it can cut through flesh and bone. So, as I said, it is a good idea to take precautions.

Yes, a tall fence sounds like a good idea.

I’m being a nag about safety with good intentions, andI hope you take my comments that way.

I thought I explained it but really there's no stopping a kick back on a powerful saw. I've stopped many on my saw just by keeping pressure on the board with a stick or my hand depending on the size and orientation wood. I've been using these saws all my life and I'm 67 and the only time I got bit by kick back was on and industrial saw that I couldn't overpower, I'll never own one. So I have to keep my blades sharp and use the right blade for the job and go a little slower. I'm safety conscious and still have all my fingers. Yes I'm afraid of getting my hands any where near that blade.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

That's the important part for me. I understand that you are experienced, and that counts for a lot, but I'm a 57 year old lawyer, and unfortunately, I do come across cases where somebody got badly hurt while using a table saw. I'll bet that every person who loses a finger thought in the moment that they were being safe enough. Humbling food for thought.

It doesn't scare me enough to cause me to buy a SawStop, but it does scare me enough to plan out my table saw cuts very carefully to make sure my hands cannot touch the blade, no matter what happens.

Sorry to over-nag.

A friend of mine--a cabinet maker--was cutting stile and rail doors on his table saw. One day, one of the rails kicked back on him, but not a straight kickback--it was rotational kickback. It hit him in the head right in an eye socket, blinded him in one eye and nearly killed him. I think that he was always thinking of fingers and straight line kickback, but hadn't ever considered this possibility. There's plenty of ways to get hurt, and especially with full height rotating blades.

I do full height cuts with my table saw fairly frequently, but have jigs that keep my hands away from the blade and the rest of me far to one side of any potential kickback.

Dave

Over nagging is not a problem.
I have done it many times. I try to explain the pitfalls when I see someone doing something I think is unsafe. I once saw a fellow woodworker hook his thumb inside the base of a 3 1/4 hp Porter cable router. he felt it gave him better control of the router. I told him I thought it was a dumb idea because if he hit a knot or other hard spot in the work he might lose his thumb. He thought about it, and quit doing it. I also told another person who was cutting aluminium with an abrasive blade that he should use a carbide tipped blade instead, because aluminium can clog up an abrasive blade and make it heat up and shatter. He was unaware of that. I have learned better and safer methods of doing things from people who might be considered "nags" by some, but generally their intentions are good, and they only want to keep us safe.

A few years ago, I was having a good year in sales. I bought the SawStop. I’ll be embarrassed if I ever trigger it, but I feel a lot safer using it. It actually has a practical riving knife—one that doesn’t get in the way so that it has to be removed. It’s a way better saw than the Craftsman it replaced. The saw improved the quality of my work and made things possible that I couldn’t do on the inferior saw. I still wear a face shield when I make a cut. I still use push sticks. The saw will stop immediately if I touch the blade, but it is so much better designed than the old Craftsman that I am less likely to have that experience. I’ve never regretted buying a good tool.

Where are you located? Maybe one of us guys with a good bandsaw can help you out.

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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."

Warwick, RI

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Use a new blade. The woodslicer from highland hardware will cut that if your saw is set correctly. Practice a bit with some less expensive,, but hard wood. Clean your blade after each slice of coco. Don't try to cut if the blade is dull.