Alternate (no band saw) Resaw Methods

[cpeters01]

I did some searching and didn't find anything on this topic so I will ask.

Does anyone have any techniques for resawing boards that do not involve $500 - $1000 band saws with attachments and stuff?

I need to get a piece sawn up and am having a hard time finding someone to do it for me and am not interested at this time in dropping a bunch o cash into another tool(as much as I would like to).

So, I have an idea but would like to get some feedback on any tried methods first.

Thanks

[Ranger]

What tools do you have access to? What exactly are you trying to resaw? You can resaw on a tablsaw but the blade is thicker and you'll waste more stock. You'll also only find this method useful for smaller pieces. How large a piece are you planning on sawing? Is this for making a body? You might have better luck trying to find someone who has a bandsaw instead of looking for a substitute. All depends on what you're trying to cut.

[eryque]

Go to your local sawmill, lumber yard, cabinet maker, or someone like that. If one doesn't do it, ask if they can recommend anyone. The guys in that industry tend to know (or know of) each other.

It's only cost effective to buy all those tools yourself if it's something you intend to do over and over and over (and over and over...), otherwise you're better off paying a few bucks to the guy with the tools and the know how. It's really not that expensive, depending on what you want.

[Ed Bickert]

Originally Posted by eryque

Go to your local sawmill, lumber yard, cabinet maker, or someone like that.

Agreed. Back when I needed a some work done it was cheaper to spend 20.00 of gas to drive a few miles to have someone do it than to order a 1,000.00 machine. it's nice to do it yourself, but not 1000.00 nice.

[jwells393]

As mentioned earlier, a good cabinet shop would probably have resawing capability. You could probably have your own guitar resawing capabilty for about $450 if you bought the Ridgid bandsaw, the riser kit and a good resawing blade.

[cpeters01]

I have nice piece of curly/quilted/almost birdseye maple that is 3/4 x 7 3/8 x 36 or so. I would only use an 18" piece to do a bookmatched top for a body I am working on. I have a table saw am not planning on using it to do the cut.

Now I was thinking of making a guide out of 2 pieces of plywood and 4 sections of angle aluminum to sandwich the piece being cut and then use a hand saw to cut down the center of the maple.

I was just wondering if anyone had made any jigs or whatever to use a hand saw method??

[old_picker]

go buy the tool
you can resaw effectively with a 14" machine and a 6" riser kit
once you have the saw you will find plenty of nice grained wood to slice up
it gets addictive

i use a 14" jet deluxe with a 6" riser - some say you need a big saw but i found the 14" does it fine with a 1/2" blade around 4TPI is good to go

[jwells393]

What size is your table saw? A 10 in. saw would probably have a 3 in. depth of cut. The kerf would waste 1/8 in. minimum. If it's a good solid saw and you did a proper set up you could rip it from each side leaving 1 3/8 in. in the center to be sawn with a handsaw. The two pieces could then be planed flat to 1/4 in. However they wouldn't be a perfect bookmatch because of the 1/4 in. of wood removed between the two faces.

Man I wouldn't want to cut through 7 3/8 in. of maple with a hand saw.

[cpeters01]

Originally Posted by jwells393

What size is your table saw?

Man I wouldn't want to cut through 7 3/8 in. of maple with a hand saw.

It's an old Rockwell Beaver Cast (60's?) that I inherited from my Father and rebuilt. I could put an 8" blade on it but that is as big as I would venture. I really would like to get the book match as close as possible because it is a really unique and pretty piece of wood. The thing that has always frustrated me with using the table saw for re-sawing is the irregularity of the cuts that requires alot of planning.

And yes sawing it by hand is kind of daunting. I will try another friend/acquaitance and see if he has what I need to get the job done.

Between the possible need to tool up and the falling of Mighty Might from favor for necks this build may go a bit over-budget...seems to be a way of life in Alberta.

[Boubou]

Try the candaian woodworker forum , ask for someone in your area to resaw your piece.
Canadian woodworker forum

[RichardWitt]

I have this exact same problem!
It's going to cost roughly $600 for a bandsaw. I have found a bunch of recycled pine which no one will cut for me because it's just that, recycled!
So I'm going to bite the bullet and buy the bandsaw. I have sold off some equipment I figure I won't miss, and the way I look at it is if I make $600 worth of guitar bodies, then I've got my moneys worth.

[robt57]

Originally Posted by cpeters01

I was just wondering if anyone had made any jigs or whatever to use a hand saw method??

I set up a jig to make sure my table saw cut was exactly 90^, and ran around the piece [obviously fliped the piece not the 450 lb. Steel City table saw]

To cut out the middle, I used a long metal saws-all blade to finish the split on a piece of Bubinga I Split & Book Matched.

The nice sharp hand saw was getting it's teeth kicked out, as was I.

I had tried the hand saw only method on a piece of Black walnut, and ate near the entire thickness after planing.

The kerf and the blade sway on the handsaw took more planing and I lost more wood than with the long metal saws-all blade. Your mileage may vary...

[cpeters01]

Thanks all for the guidance. I think I found a shop that will help out so I will keep you posted.

BTW; How did the violin makers from 300 years ago do this?