Bookmatched walnut - a table saw re-sawing adventure

I had this piece of walnut sitting around for awhile that I didn't think had much future in anything guitar related. That is, until I got to wondering what it would look like bookmatched.

I took a photo of it and used PhotoShop to get an idea. I liked what I saw so off to the garage I went. I had seen some tips online before on how to re-saw with a table saw. I built a jig and a feather board and started making my cuts.

Here is a photo of what I started with:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2791/4305062115_840e6c6038.jpg

Here it is on the table saw with the jig:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2757/4305060605_c0e551abde.jpg

Unfortunately the wood was just a bit too wide for the blade to reach the middle, and thought I was stuck. I decided to go ahead and make all the cuts for both pieces and wound up with this:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4305806934_0be009fa73.jpg

Japanese pull saw to the rescue:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2758/4305807954_35725d6da0.jpg

I was able to get my two pieces this way but they had humps/ridges down the middle. I glued them up and after taking them out of the clamps I hit them with a belt sander.

Here is what I ended up with:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4305798294_880af0f46e.jpg

I think it will make a nice top for my current Tele build.

Nice grain. I would build it with the neck on this side--> if it were me. I like the darker part and wouldn't want to hide it with pickups/pickguard.

You did a good job with what you had to work with...

but the kerf thickness on a table saw blade makes a good accurate book-match hard. With that nice piece of wood, I would have paid to have it done on a band saw if I didn't have one.

Still, nice job!

Dababy, I do plan to build it with the grain oriented the way you say. I'm thinking of using a pickup ring and not having a pickguard on this one.

Targ, thanks for the compliment. I did not think of the thicker blade being the reason for the bookmatch not being as accurate as I hoped. That is good to keep in mind. With this piece I mostly just wanted to see if I could do it with the table saw.

It worked well enough for what I wanted this time, but if I was going to do it again I don't think I would go with the table saw. It was not easy, and my saw did seem like it was struggling a little. It is a low end Ryobi and does well enough for small jobs, but was not meant for this.

Band saws present there own set of problems, mostly a wandering blade when dull. But if you have access to a wood shop that has the proper setup it is well worth it.

What you did was incredibly difficult to get right, so once again kudos on the herculean effort.

Is there any power issue with the Ryobi 10-inch saw used this way - I'm wondering if doing this with hard maple would bog the rotation of the blade too much.

I would love to find a less inexpensive table saw to replace my old one that only cuts properly with thin stuff. Any ideas?

I would love to find a less inexpensive table saw to replace my old one that only cuts properly with thin stuff. Any ideas?

One of the tricks to cutting very thin pieces on a table saw is to make a zero clearance blade insert.

http://woodgears.ca/delta_saw/insert.jpg

Mojotron, I think I would be a little hesitant to try this on hard maple. I felt like my saw was struggling a bit with this walnut. If you did try it I would say be sure to take a very small amount of wood with each pass. The problem with that though is the more passes you have to make, the more chances there are for things to shift. I think Targ's advice to seek out a good shop with a proper resawing setup would be best.

I make alot of my tops and even fingerboards this way..On the table saw. It does not make pefect book match due to a bit more wood removed, but a wondering blade on a bandsaw could be worse. At least the cuts are straight.

Even with my fingerboards (which I could cut through all the way) I leave about 1/8" connecting it. I then run them down my bandsaw to cut in half. I just think its safer than having the blade raised and exposed that much.

Anyway, I have several archtops made from walnut. The backs were cut exactly as you have done..minus the fancy jigs.

J

Bear with me....I've got two planks of ash 20" long x 8" wide and 2 1/4" thick.Could I use a table saw to cut through one side,lengthways,then flip it over and do the other side and use a handsaw to cut the remander middle piece.In theory I would then have,depending on the thickness of cut of course, two pieces left.......one say 1 1/2" thick and the other 1/2" thick (eg.minus thickness of saw blade).Otherwise the only way for me to get down to 1 1/2" or 1 3/4" on these planks is to use my thickness planer and that's a hell of a lot of wood to get rid of using that.What d'ya think?
Thanks

On closer examination of the above pics.....I don't see why not...unless someone says otherwisw!

Here is what I ended up with:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4305798294_880af0f46e.jpg

I think it will make a nice top for my current Tele build.

heck yeah it will, that looks great!

Mojotron, I think I would be a little hesitant to try this on hard maple. I felt like my saw was struggling a bit with this walnut. If you did try it I would say be sure to take a very small amount of wood with each pass. The problem with that though is the more passes you have to make, the more chances there are for things to shift. I think Targ's advice to seek out a good shop with a proper resawing setup would be best.
What I have been doing is to take my skill saw and doing the same thing - only with the wood clamped down to a bench and running the saw over the top of it. The skillsaw only works for 2-4" boards when making fretboards - I find a piece with nice grain, cut it out rough, then plane it out flat. I've been thinking of getting a good table saw for this, but I'm not sure which to get - I'm looking at a Ridgid, but perhaps a cheaper one would work?

Tweet, what you're describing is pretty much what I did. Just be careful, I saw some pretty gnarly pics of table saw re-sawing gone bad (severed fingers) but I guess that pretty much goes for any woodworking, right? The thing I saw most repeated was that the board needs to be as straight and flat as possible. A twist in the board could cause some nasty kickback. I think if I had a thickness planer though, I would just use that. I've used my router to do thickness planing and taking off 1/2" of wood really didn't take that long. I use a 1 1/4" wide mortising bit for that.

Axmaker, thanks. I have it gluing up right now and will be updating my build thread with pics soon.

Mojotron, it might work just fine, but if I were planning on doing this with a table saw on a regular basis I think I'd be looking for a beefier saw.

[QUOTE=gsoutherland;2271514]Tweet, what you're describing is pretty much what I did. Just be careful, I saw some pretty gnarly pics of table saw re-sawing gone bad (severed fingers) but I guess that pretty much goes for any woodworking, right? The thing I saw most repeated was that the board needs to be as straight and flat as possible. A twist in the board could cause some nasty kickback. QUOTE]

Thanks GSouth...I'll ponder over it.If I do go ahead I'll have to take it to the timber merchants as I haven't a table saw anyway.....the wife won't be too happy if I buy another piece of machinary!

just a word of caution resawing with a table saw
The TS is the most vicious tool in the woodwork shop

remember the blade is fully extended and completely buried in the stock

it takes only the slightest deviation in any direction to jam one of the saw teeth

the full energy of the motor is then engaged to your heavy chunk of hardwood, hurling it towards your head at 60 miles an hour

i have had a small TS [2hp] grab a piece of 1/4" mdf around 12" square -
it flew off the bench and hit me in the upper stomach - it tore out a chunk of skin and winded me pretty badly - it was over before i knew what happened - it was instantaneous - my attention went off the job - bang - i was on the floor

doesnt take much imagination to picture a 9lb chunk of walnut colliding with your head at this kind of speed

dont want to freak anyone out but in my mind the bandsaw is a much friendlier way to resaw - even if the blade wanders a little

properly setup with a decent blade and the right type of fence its very easy

I just did a top the same way instead of using the band saw. Main reason the wood for the top was about $90 and I could only get one top from it. What I do is depending on the wood type I just make a lot of passes average about 1" I also use a thin kerf blade. I just go against the fence and use a spring board against the wood to hold to the fence. I finished mine off with the bandsaw. Like everyone else is saying just be carful. I’m using a 3HP cabinet saw I’ve been put on the ground a couple times. One thing to remember if the blade gets to hot it will literally start to distort and then you’re in for some fun. But it looks everything came out nice.

Nice job, kerf make a lot of sawdust, don't it...

Been there, done that as far splitting walnut too.

Minimum estimated 70 year reclaimed, very happy to see what was in te middle of this reclaimed barn rough cut plank. Full 5/4 x 8 rough cut when I started. My sis got it from the owners of the barn, well their parent had owned it.

http://home.comcast.net/%7E7511/Gits/walnut-cedar-shaped.JPG

That's a nice lookin' hunk of wood there, robt57

That's a nice lookin' hunk of wood there, robt57


5/16" Walnut drop top on clear 1/4 sawn cedar back.

The biggest problem with using a band saw is if the blade is
1) dull
2) fence is FLAT, yes that is a problem.
3) blade is not deep enough or too many teeth in wood to allow proper clean out.

When you use a fence for the bandsaw for re-sawing you should make a tall fence that is flat top to bottom, but tapers away both on the in-feed and the out-feed side of the blade. this allows you to steer, with out this the blade will take a set direction and as it binds it will turn more... disaster.
A dull blade will turn away from the sharper side of the teeth.
The re-saw blade we used was almost 3 inches deep, but that may be overkill.

Tablesaws on re-saw duty need BIG HP, blade selection is very important because once again the teeth gullets need to be able to hold waste wood from the entire engagement or they over heat. Sharp carbide is a must. As said earlier, it is a dangerous thing to do.

In all my time in a wood shop, the #1 rule is, if you have reservations about what you are doing, you are doing something wrong.

I use my 12" Table saw. I leave about 1.25" left in the middle and hand saw. Not fun with the old walnut or even worse with when I did it with a bubinga for a drop top. I have done two do far with one piece tops where I had to cut more than 2-1/2" left in the middle. But since that experience, I just stick with a center seam strictly to reduce my pain and suffering for the process.