bandsaw/ resaw questions

[DME72]

how many of you resaw thicker boards to get thin wood for your scroll saw projects? most of what i cut is thin stock, but most of the lumber i get is from a family member who likes to build furniture and bigger stuff. i get the cut offs he does not want.oak, cherry, walnut and some maple or even ash.what size saw are most of you using for this? i dont think i could cut as much stuff out as i do if i had to buy all the thin stock i use.i am still looking to get a bigger saw than my old delta 14 inch, but if i buy a new saw i want this to be the last bandsaw i buy! you hear so many different stories on youtube and other places about how great or horrible one brand is over another.so if you resaw what size saw do you have and would you do anything different if you had to buy the saw again? never thought looking to buy a new saw would be so difficult or time consuming.

doug

[BadBob]

I make mostly toys. I resaw when I need to. I have a Shopsmith bandsaw, and it does an excellent job for me. Good blades and guides combined with and a properly aligned saw are key to getting a good resaw. I never use my resaw blade to cut curves. Once you twist the blade it will never track straight. I learned about this from paperwork included with my Wolf saw blades.

Lately, I have been resawing parts after I cut them out. It the parts are very small I can resaw them on the scroll saw. I figured out how to do this after I cut a large number of parts for wood that was 1/4-inch to thick for my project. it worked like a charm.

[browders]

There was a recent thread about band saws and you're right, many different opinions. I will tell my sad tale. I own a Grizzly G0457 band saw which I bought new about 5 years ago. It worked great for about 3 years. Like you, I'm able to get scraps from others which I cut into thin stock. My saws developed a couple of problems. I was unable to set the tension correctly and it wouldn't saw straight. If I set it to saw a 1/2" thickness, by the time I got to the end of the board it was half that. I have spoken with Grizzly service and they have been friendly, but not terribly helpful. Whatever the problem is, it's beyond my capabilities to repair. Here is my problem with the brand: There is no local authorized service center. We have a very capable repair person in town, but he isn't trained on Grizzly products. That limits my options to sending my saw to the Grizzly service facilities of which there are only two. One in Bellingham, WA and one in Missouri. To ship the saw ( it weighs almost 300 lbs.) would be prohibitive. So there it sits in my shop collecting cobwebs. My point to this rambling rant is to say that whatever brand you decide to buy, make sure you can get it serviced. Even the best saws will break from time to time.

[DME72]

i started that thread a few weeks ago. that grizzly saw looks like a good saw.the tension might just be a bad spring, its not always an expensive fix. i am very  well rounded fixing stuff being a HVAC- maint tech for a living. unless the frame is twisted or something you should be able fix the saw. how long of boards were you cutting? what width blade are you using, i would say a 1/2 inch is the limit for a 14 inch saw. 

doug

 

[OCtoolguy]

I had considered buying a bandsaw, planer etc. to cut my own thin stock. Then I found Cherokee Products. I decided that it would be cost effective for me to buy my wood from them over spending thousands of dollars on equipment and many hours of learning how to create my own stock. I'm 77 years old so time is a high priority. I do have a Delta 14" bandsaw and have successfully resawn wood down to 1/4" x 6". It still required planing. Now I just call Chris at Cherokee and tell him what I need and in a couple days it shows up ready to use. It hurts my wallet but I save a ton of time. You might give that some thought. JMHO!

[dgman]

I do a lot of resawing but not on my band saw. My band saw is a crappy Sears tilting head. I have never been able to set it up properly for resawing even with a good resaw blade. So.... I resaw on my table saw. I use a thin kerf ripping blade. Starting with the blade height about 1”, I’ll cut the board on both sides, then raise the blade another inch and cut both sides again until it is cut all the way through. It is a very dangerous task, but with feather boards and push sticks, it works for me. Unfortunately, I can only resaw 6” because the blade will only rise 3” above the table. If I need wider boards, I’ll either glue up thinner boards to make up the width I need or, I’ll resaw a wider board, cutting from both sides on the table saw. That will leave an island of wood down the length of the board. Then using a Japanese pull saw, I’ll rip the board to separate to two halves. Then plane the boards to final thickness on my planer.
I would love to get a good band saw That can resaw, but that may never come.

[kmmcrafts]

I'm with Ray, Life is too short to spend it re-sawing and milling lumber, LOL

That said.. I get much of my wood rough cut right from my brother or my uncle ( both own sawmill business's ) so most everything I get free but with the cost of having to sticker dry it.. then re-saw it.. then plane it to my final size.. I did a lot of re-sawing with my tiny 9" ryobi bandsaw.. yeah that's right..and it only had a cutting height of about 5".. so I made a lot of ornaments with the material I got for free but spent hours milling. I thought I needed a much bigger bandsaw for re-sawing.. I didn't have a crap ton of money back in 2014 when I decided on the Grizzly anniversary edition 14" with added riser block.. It does a great job doing what I wanted it to do... however... all the free lumber in the world thrown my way that i could use.. I just don't have the TIME to fool with it.. Hobbyist yes or when I was first getting into business and not busy like these days.. a one man operation that i run doesn't allow me the time to use free lumber.. my point is.. free isn't always free.. and as Ray pointed out.. lots of money spent on machines could be lots of lumber to burn through on a scroll saw.. NOW.. some of you guys do larger projects and that free lumber is a great thing.. but you cannot scroll saw enough hours in a year to burn through that money that the equipment to do it all would cost.. probably not in 5 years.. so I think you need to ask yourself how bad you really want to use this free cutoffs.. how much time do you want to spend milling lumber vrs. scroll sawing.. New toys are great and if you just want to spend the money... have the shop space then all the power to you.. I once thought I was going to make a killing on free wood and scrolling all my items to sell from free wood.. planer knives don't last forever nor do the "GOOD" resaw blades for the bandsaw.. Didn't take me long to see that buying my lumber close to the size I need is a bunch more profitable.. 

You mention having a 14" Delta bandsaw.. do you use it to re-saw now?  Why do you need a bigger bandsaw? one set up to do one thing and another set up strictly for resawing? Why not add a riser block to the Delta?  I'm just asking.. No need to answer these questions.. Things to ask yourself I suppose..

 

[Jim Finn]

I enjoy re-sawing and milling wood!  I use mostly cedar , maple, bubinga, walnut and oak.  I am making boxes with images inlaid into the hinged lids.  I have a 14" grizzly GO555 band saw with a 6" riser and a resaw fence.  I re-saw all my wood to 3/8" but could just as easily re-saw to 1/4".  With the 6" riser I can resaw up to 12 1/2" wood.  Usually resaw 6"-8" wood. The secret to resawing is a sharp blade.  As soon as I get a tapered cut I toss the blade and install a new one. I pay less than $30 per blade at "Supercuts".  1/2"  their top of the line carbide impregnated blade 3 teeth per inch.  After resawing, the cut needs to be run through the thickness planer.  I buy some eight foot boards of different woods  and resaw it all to 3/8" .  I need to do this about every three months.  I purchased the Grizzly bandsaw in 2008 and have had to repair it twice. (I use it a lot.  not just for resawing). Repairs cost me less than $20.  

[Gonzo]

I too enjoy resawing lumber. The only downfall, okay, one of the downfalls is setting my saw up to resaw, tuning it to a gnats butt. Once that is accomplished, I don't like switching blades to do other work. So now I'm looking for another bandsaw, and then I'll have two, one of which will be die dictated to resawing.  I have the Shopfox 1706 with a riser. 

[Woodmaster1]

I have a Rikon 14" deluxe with a 1/2" blade the does a great job resawing. I resaw it then sand it with my drum sander or plane it. I can get the wood down to .075 or less with this method. The thinner wood I use for bands when making shaker oval boxes.

[trackman]

Jim I see there are different prices for the GO555. Which model do you have?

[kmmcrafts]

This is the one I bought back in 2014.. 

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-14-1-HP-Deluxe-Bandsaw-35th-Anniversary-Edition/G0555LA35

Then I got this stuff along with it..

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-Riser-Block-Kit-for-G0555LX-G0555LA35/T25555

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-Resaw-Fence-Attachment-for-14-Bandsaws/H7584

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Shop-Fox-Heavy-Duty-Mobile-Base/D2057A

 

Been a real good saw.. I used it quite a lot for resawing until I got burnt out resawing, LOL  I had the power line guys here that took out several cherry trees.. and most my lumber for a few years came from that.. but there was a lot of trees and I wasn't cutting the chunks up fast enough so a lot of it went to fire wood too.. If I could have had away to get full logs to my brothers mill I'd have done that.. But couldn't find any reasonable way to do that at the time.. I would probably do more resawing but I also use it to make bandsaw boxes.. and the last couple years it's been set up for that with 1/8" blade.. plus use it to rip 2" strips for clock bases. If I had another bandsaw set up to do resawing.. I'd probably do more of it.. But as I said also.. it does take a lot of time to run enough lumber through and also keep up with orders.. and I also do not use all that much "thin" stock like I used to.. I now make most all the ornaments out of 1/8 BB ply. and most clocks and puzzles that I make are 5/8 - 3/4"  

[OCtoolguy]

3 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

This is the one I bought back in 2014.. 

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-14-1-HP-Deluxe-Bandsaw-35th-Anniversary-Edition/G0555LA35

Then I got this stuff along with it..

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-Riser-Block-Kit-for-G0555LX-G0555LA35/T25555

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-Resaw-Fence-Attachment-for-14-Bandsaws/H7584

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Shop-Fox-Heavy-Duty-Mobile-Base/D2057A

 

Been a real good saw.. I used it quite a lot for resawing until I got burnt out resawing, LOL  I had the power line guys here that took out several cherry trees.. and most my lumber for a few years came from that.. but there was a lot of trees and I wasn't cutting the chunks up fast enough so a lot of it went to fire wood too.. If I could have had away to get full logs to my brothers mill I'd have done that.. But couldn't find any reasonable way to do that at the time.. I would probably do more resawing but I also use it to make bandsaw boxes.. and the last couple years it's been set up for that with 1/8" blade.. plus use it to rip 2" strips for clock bases. If I had another bandsaw set up to do resawing.. I'd probably do more of it.. But as I said also.. it does take a lot of time to run enough lumber through and also keep up with orders.. and I also do not use all that much "thin" stock like I used to.. I now make most all the ornaments out of 1/8 BB ply. and most clocks and puzzles that I make are 5/8 - 3/4"  

Nice setup Kevin. Do you know off hand if any of the accessories that you got with yours will fit a Delta 14"? I would like to add the riser block and the fence assy. The prices aren't bad.

 

[kmmcrafts]

12 minutes ago, octoolguy said:

Nice setup Kevin. Do you know off hand if any of the accessories that you got with yours will fit a Delta 14"? I would like to add the riser block and the fence assy. The prices aren't bad.

 

I do not know if it'd fit or not..  

[OCtoolguy]

2 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

I do not know if it'd fit or not..  

I just sent them an email asking about compatibility. I'll let you know what I here back from them. Thanks Kevin.

 

 

[kmmcrafts]

8 minutes ago, octoolguy said:

I just sent them an email asking about compatibility. I'll let you know what I here back from them. Thanks Kevin.

 

 

I just did a quick search as I was sure I read someone before that it'd work.. I just quick skim read this but it might tell you what you need to know if you look through it.. When I put mine on I thought it'd probably fit most any saw.. 

https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.php?tid=7329719

[heppnerguy]

On 5/10/2020 at 7:15 AM, DME72 said:

how many of you resaw thicker boards to get thin wood for your scroll saw projects? most of what i cut is thin stock, but most of the lumber i get is from a family member who likes to build furniture and bigger stuff. i get the cut offs he does not want.oak, cherry, walnut and some maple or even ash.what size saw are most of you using for this? i dont think i could cut as much stuff out as i do if i had to buy all the thin stock i use.i am still looking to get a bigger saw than my old delta 14 inch, but if i buy a new saw i want this to be the last bandsaw i buy! you hear so many different stories on youtube and other places about how great or horrible one brand is over another.so if you resaw what size saw do you have and would you do anything different if you had to buy the saw again? never thought looking to buy a new saw would be so difficult or time consuming.

doug

this youtube link should help anyone that is having any questions about re-sawing wood. It is really informative and I used it on my HF 14 in band saw and it worked perfectly for me

 

[Jim Finn]

On 5/11/2020 at 11:20 AM, trackman said:

Jim I see there are different prices for the GO555. Which model do you have?

I bought my GO555 new in 2008.  That model is no longer offered at Grizzly.  The ones offered have letters after the "GO555"  When I bought mine it was called "The ultimate band saw",  I think.  1 HP.

[kmmcrafts]

I'm probably wrong but I was in the understanding that the letters came out to be just additions to the base model.. ie G0555 is the very first one and the base model.. The GO555LA35 is the same saw but a special anniversary edition.. (custom black paint), and the GO555XH is also same saw but larger 1-3/4 horse motor.. I believe all the GO555 saws are the same basic saw frame.. the letters indicate different editions to that.. I believe there is a 3/4 horse model too.. or there was.. it was slightly cheaper. I went with the 1 hp anniversary model because it wasn't but $10 or so more and had the 1hp and fancy black paint & stickers

[OCtoolguy]

All this talking about bandsaws got me to cleaning mine up and giving it a tune up. It works great now. In fact I used it yesterday and again today. Not resawing as it is under powered. I think it has a 1/2 hp motor but it might be more. I will try to use it more now. Thanks guys for pushing me forward.

 

[Roberta Moreton]

That was fantastic!

[Rolf]

I have an older Delta 14 Inch with a 6" riser, I added Carter roller guides and a Kreg fence.  I tuned it the same way as suggested in the video posted by Hepnerguy. I make sure to have a sharp blade and get no drift. I have cut up to 12" stock. 

Most of the wood I use is thin so re-sawing has saved me a fortune.  I used to plane all of my wood to thickness, wasteful and risky when you get into the 1/8 range.  So I now have the Super max 19-38 drum sander for cleaning up the band saw marks and final dimensioning on the thin stuff. 

I recently did a short article on this for SSWWC. Not so easy to put into writing things that you do on a routine basis.

[rjweb]

Rolf, 

i must have missed that article what issue was it, Thx RJ 

[DME72]

7 hours ago, Rolf said:

I have an older Delta 14 Inch with a 6" riser, I added Carter roller guides and a Kreg fence.  I tuned it the same way as suggested in the video posted by Hepnerguy. I make sure to have a sharp blade and get no drift. I have cut up to 12" stock. 

Most of the wood I use is thin so re-sawing has saved me a fortune.  I used to plane all of my wood to thickness, wasteful and risky when you get into the 1/8 range.  So I now have the Super max 19-38 drum sander for cleaning up the band saw marks and final dimensioning on the thin stuff. 

I recently did a short article on this for SSWWC. Not so easy to put into writing things that you do on a routine basis.

rolf, what horsepower motor is on your old delta 14 inch saw? mine only has a 3/4 hp motor. i thought about a riser block but i did not care for the one a friend of mine had. i did not feel like the blade could get properly tensioned. maybe i should revisit a riser and try to tune to snodgrass video, which btw i have. also have the carter guides on my saw.

doug

[Rolf]

16 hours ago, DME72 said:

rolf, what horsepower motor is on your old delta 14 inch saw? mine only has a 3/4 hp motor. i thought about a riser block but i did not care for the one a friend of mine had. i did not feel like the blade could get properly tensioned. maybe i should revisit a riser and try to tune to snodgrass video, which btw i have. also have the carter guides on my saw.

doug

It is a Delta 28-475X, I bought it when a local Woodworkers Warehouse store went out of business. It has 1.5 HP motor. I am not sure you can get the risers anymore. But mine was a very beefy Cast iron piece. I have run a 3/4 inch blade with no issues. Typically  I run a 5/8 Infinity resaw blade. 

RJWEB, it is on page 65 of the summer 2020 issue. The issue with the frog on the cover.