Resawing long boards

Aaron Beaver

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427
Location
Missouri
How do you guys resaw long boards, lets say 4-6 feet and 1 1/2" thick. I am not sure my saw will even handle it but I find handling pieces that long to resaw a hassle.

Do I need infeed and outfeed tables or would just some roller stands to help support the wood work?

Pics of setups will be accepted.:thumb:
 
Do you mean turning 2" boards into 1" boards on a bandsaw? Agreed "hassle" would be an understatement. With my set-up, I couldn't do it. Would have to rearrange shop and, even then, still major hassle. And, I have a big stack of maple and walnut that might be needing it one day. Oh, well.
 
I've looked into roller supports for just this task (the job was to mill some "small" bits of green lumber) and found that most roller supports do not come up high enough for the bandsaw table. My bandsaw is a stock 14" Harbor Freight plus ~3" due to a homemade mobile base. The 3" would not make a difference as to whether or not the roller stands I've seen would work.

I've though about adding infeed / outfeed supports through a table expansion, but all of my ideas to date regarding this are incompatible with my Kreg fence.

Good luck - I'll be interested in hearing answers too.
 
Roller stands would be adequate for a short run, however, if you are planning on doing this more and more often or a large run I'd consider true outfeed tables. You can get Aigner (or similar) extension tables that basically hook on a rail mounted to you bandsaw table (which can be taken off and stored easily when not in use), or, since I use my bandsaw as an everyday saw I have a dedicated outfeed table for it. That table is mobile though, in case I needed it as an extra workbench or something similar. The other advantage is you can stack your pieces after they are cut on the outfeed table. For 4-6 footers you should be fine with just outfeed support, but for longer than that I'd consider support on the infeed side, as well. For that I have another roll around utility bench that I use there and many other places in the shop, depending on need. Here's a picture with both tables in use, and on the side of the bandsaw table you can see a mounting bar for my Aigner extension tables, which I use on the side quite often, and on other machines as the need arises.

02-Prepping-Stock-03-Old-Wo.jpg
 

Tod, you don't use any infeed or outfeed support?

Roller stands would be adequate for a short run, however, if you are planning on doing this more and more often or a large run I'd consider true outfeed tables. You can get Aigner (or similar) extension tables that basically hook on a rail mounted to you bandsaw table (which can be taken off and stored easily when not in use), or, since I use my bandsaw as an everyday saw I have a dedicated outfeed table for it. That table is mobile though, in case I needed it as an extra workbench or something similar. The other advantage is you can stack your pieces after they are cut on the outfeed table. For 4-6 footers you should be fine with just outfeed support, but for longer than that I'd consider support on the infeed side, as well. For that I have another roll around utility bench that I use there and many other places in the shop, depending on need. Here's a picture with both tables in use, and on the side of the bandsaw table you can see a mounting bar for my Aigner extension tables, which I use on the side quite often, and on other machines as the need arises.

Sam, I tried just using outfeed support, but doing that I would have to stand at the end of the board, far away from the bandsaw, and in doing that I can't keep the wood pressed up against the fence well enough to make a good cut. I don't have much room for long tables but a couple of feet infeed & outfeed would help, as long as they can be removed maybe like the ones you mentioned. Got a link to those Aigner tables you mentioned, I did a search and couldn't find anything.

I just hate buying 1 3/4" or thicker wood and just chewing it all up in the planer to get it down to 1 1/4" but thats my only choice until I find a better resaw option.
 
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That's enough to give a guy 'yours is bigger than mine' envy. :eek:

*sigh* You're not kidding!

Sam, major tool and shop envy as usual here.

Aaron,
Back when I had a working shop (hobbyist, not pro like many here) I rarely had need of a board longer than say 4' long. As for resaw and thicknessing, I made it a practice of buying 5/4 or 4/4 roughsawn, to yield 7/8 to 3/4 'finished' thickness. Yep, tons o planer shavings, but that's just part of woodworking for me. Someday I'll have a resaw capable bandsaw, I hope...
 
I do as Tod does. I'm the infeed and roller stands are the outfeed. I use a simple resaw fence (the pointy kind) if the material is too thin or rough edged (the table resting edge) to just guide free hand.

Generally my sequence goes like this:

Face joint (or planer sled) one face
Plane faces parallel
Edge joint (or TS with a "Triple-T" [ that's a Tod's Top Tip Jig])
Prepare roller stand(s)
Draw or snap a guide line
Banzai! (that is, go ahead and resaw)
Use previously prepared faces as reference to plane resawn faces
Cut to size and enjoy
 
Hey Glenn,

Your sequence sounds perfect to me. I got jumped on in another thread by a couple of professional woodworking members when I suggested that I liked using my jointer to surface one side, then flip the board and plane the other side. They said that if your boards were not any better than that they should be used as firewood. Seems to me that they have to be surfaced sometime, even if it is just sanding. I am anxiously awaiting responses to your post.
 
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If it was the earlier thread where some of the pro guys were saying that they didn't face joint, I don't think they were jumping on us hobbyists so much as saying that their time and space is more important than face jointing and that the added materials cost (of quality lumber not needing face jointing) just gets passed on to the consumer.

I got the impression that the pros were all in agreement that what works for the pros doesn't always translate to better work for the hobbyist. After all, we hobbyists bear the entire cost burden of materials and machinery - but, unlike the pros, our labor is, essentially, free.

It's a nice place here - I don't want to see anyone out of joint without a fist even being thrown.

On the other hand, Allen is probably using "jumped" in a humorous connotation that I am missing due to text communication making this whole post meaningless.
 
aaron, i have about 3` of outfeed support after the table. enough to resaw 18`x8/4x15" stock by myself. no infeed support other than me:eek:

I just returned from a visit to Tod's shop. He showed me how beautifully his MM bandsaw resaws. Big, mean looking, coarse carbide toothed, blade cuts smooth as a baby's butt.
BTW, the 'yours is bigger' envy bit was all in jest. We all have what we have and do what we do. I would never get enough use out of an El Gigante bandsaw to justify it's cost.
 
:rofl::rofl:
If it was the earlier thread where some of the pro guys were saying that they didn't face joint, I don't think they were jumping on us hobbyists so much as saying that their time and space is more important than face jointing and that the added materials cost (of quality lumber not needing face jointing) just gets passed on to the consumer.

I got the impression that the pros were all in agreement that what works for the pros doesn't always translate to better work for the hobbyist. After all, we hobbyists bear the entire cost burden of materials and machinery - but, unlike the pros, our labor is, essentially, free.

It's a nice place here - I don't want to see anyone out of joint without a fist even being thrown.

On the other hand, Allen is probably using "jumped" in a humorous connotation that I am missing due to text communication making this whole post meaningless.

Mark, good point there, we hobbyists tend to do htis for the process, whereas a pro can be more focused on get the item out the door and the paycheck coming in. The not quite opposite/flipside of this is that we're buying in relatively smaller quantities, and while wood ain't cheap, s4s lumber is more than we're going to pay for usually. As you say, our 'labor' isn't a line item it is what we're investing in the project. To the Pro it is an expense, and likely the Largest expense he faces.

I just returned from a visit to Tod's shop. He showed me how beautifully his MM bandsaw resaws. Big, mean looking, coarse carbide toothed, blade cuts smooth as a baby's butt.
BTW, the 'yours is bigger' envy bit was all in jest. We all have what we have and do what we do. I would never get enough use out of an El Gigante bandsaw to justify it's cost.

Frank,
justify? we have to justify our tools? I'm in Biiiiig trouble then!
:rofl::rofl:


I agree, howevever, the 'tool lust' is just admiration with a slight twist. we all have what tools we do. And admiring our 'neighbor's shop is just human nature.
 
Hey Glenn,

Your sequence sounds perfect to me. I got jumped on in another thread by a couple of professional woodworking members when I suggested that I liked using my jointer to surface one side, then flip the board and plane the other side. They said that if your boards were not any better than that they should be used as firewood. Seems to me that they have to be surfaced sometime, even if it is just sanding. I am anxiously awaiting responses to your post.

Like a lot of us 'home shop' guys, I don't have a lot of stock on hand although I wish I did. I generally purchase material about a month ahead for whatever I am planning. If I see a grain pattern I like and the board is less than perfect, I mill it down.

I don't purchase enough of a given material to just walk over and grab another board if the current one doesn't suit me. This is just the nature of how I work. When my output is 2 or 3 pieces a year my lumber runs are nothing to write home about.

I do select carefully and always buy a little more than I think I'll need even after factoring in about a 20% waste figure. Worst-case scenario; I have enough wood if I goof up. Best-case scenario; I have extra stuff for small projects and "suddenly" needed smaller items left over ;-)

P.s. In their defense (not that they need it) the pros make a living at this. I dump networking hardware that someone else would love to have because dealing with it costs too much in my line of work. Those lucky folks who make their living making 'things wood' cannot add 4 or 8 hours of goofing around to their product. I'm sure there's some folks out there who stoke their wood stoves with stuff I would love to have, eh?
 
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allen, i`m one of those guys who doesn`t use a jointer....sorry if i`ve come across as jumpin` on you....i certainly didn`t mean to cause harm:eek:
it`s all about making stuff not how you get there, boards can be made flat (or round) by many different methods and just `cause one person or group of people does things a certain way doesn`t make the end result any different..
 
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