Resawing with a Delta 14" bandsaw

[photobug]

I learned from my previous bandsaw an inherited 12" Craftsman.  After investing in upgraded cool blocks and a nice resaw blade, underpowered saws are limited in their capabilities.  I now have a 10 year old 14" Delta bandsaw with low hours.  

I have a project coming up that will need thinner stock 1/2" and less.  I would like to resaw some 5-6" wide 8/4 Maple, Cherry, Walnut stock to get these pieces.  Currently I only have a 6 TPI blade so would have to order a resaw blade.  

Is it reasonable to expect any success resawing with this saw, or should I just order the wood in thinner pieces?

[MichaelMouse]

I learned from my previous bandsaw an inherited 12" Craftsman.  After investing in upgraded cool blocks and a nice resaw blade, underpowered saws are limited in their capabilities.  I now have a 10 year old 14" Delta bandsaw with low hours.  

I have a project coming up that will need thinner stock 1/2" and less.  I would like to resaw some 5-6" wide 8/4 Maple, Cherry, Walnut stock to get these pieces.  Currently I only have a 6 TPI blade so would have to order a resaw blade.  

Is it reasonable to expect any success resawing with this saw, or should I just order the wood in thinner pieces?

Lots of folks do, including me.  Good 1/2" blade @ 3-4 TPI and maintaining a reasonable rate of feed makes it possible.  Mine's a 1 HP motor, but I used to saw with the "came with" 3/4, a bit more slowly.  

I use a pivot fence, because it works fine, and adjust for blade drift, if any, as I discover it.  Only other odd thing I do is put the fence to the right of the blade, so my clumsier left hand maintains the board in contact with the fence, while my dominant hand guides and feeds.

[jteneyck]

Here's a shot of how my 14" Delta with riser block is set up for resawing:



The fence is about 6" high.  The featherboard keeps the bottom of the workpiece tight against the fence.  Also note the roller stand to catch the wood off the back.  

The key to resawing or cutting veneer is to get your blade to cut straight and parallel with the miter slot.  It's not hard, and worth the effort, even if you have to adust the wheels to be coplanar as I did.  This board is just over 6" high, white oak.  Here's how it came off the saw using a 1/2", 3 tpi bimetal blade.



HP is your friend.  I have a 1.5 HP motor on this saw, but got by with a 1 HP before that.  In any case, you really need a vacuum pick up to deal with all the sawdust resawing creates.  I use this homemade thing that works well enough to keep most of the sawdust out of the machine.  



It's a 2" PVC elbow that my shop vac attaches to.  

Good luck.  Plenty of help here if you need it.  

John

[photobug]

Here's a shot of how my 14" Delta with riser block is set up for resawing:



The fence is about 6" high.  The featherboard keeps the bottom of the workpiece tight against the fence.  Also note the roller stand to catch the wood off the back.  

The key to resawing or cutting veneer is to get your blade to cut straight and parallel with the miter slot.  It's not hard, and worth the effort, even if you have to adust the wheels to be coplanar as I did.  This board is just over 6" high, white oak.  Here's how it came off the saw using a 1/2", 3 tpi bimetal blade.



HP is your friend.  I have a 1.5 HP motor on this saw, but got by with a 1 HP before that.  In any case, you really need a vacuum pick up to deal with all the sawdust resawing creates.  I use this homemade thing that works well enough to keep most of the sawdust out of the machine.  



It's a 2" PVC elbow that my shop vac attaches to.  

Good luck.  Plenty of help here if you need it.  

John

Thanks guys,
About 20 years ago I inherited a 12" Craftsman.  I upgraded the blades and blocks and was ready to do all the cool things I saw could be done with bandsaw to find out it had neither the HP or stiffness to do much.  I just needed to know the Delta is capable before I go down that rabbit hole again.  My needs right now are fairly simple.  Cut a few 3/8 x 12" boards to make what I need.  I will invest in a resaw blade and make some spice racks next week.

[tablesawtom]

Highland woodworking has a Wood Slicer Resaw Bandsaw Blade that works beautifully. I have a friend that does it all the time with a 1949 14 inch delta band saw with the original motor. I believe it is a 1/3 HP . It is the only blade on my Grizzly 17 inch saw and I am on my second blade. I love the blade but it is not a true comparison with your saw.

Tom

[photobug]

Highland woodworking has a Wood Slicer Resaw Bandsaw Blade that works beautifully. I have a friend that does it all the time with a 1949 14 inch delta band saw with the original motor. I believe it is a 1/3 HP . It is the only blade on my Grizzly 17 inch saw and I am on my second blade. I love the blade but it is not a true comparison with your saw.

Tom

Thanks Tom,
I had already ordered it, should be here Wednesday.  I am looking forward at putting it to use.

[jteneyck]

Thanks Tom,
I had already ordered it, should be here Wednesday.  I am looking forward at putting it to use.

Good luck with the Woodslicer.  My experience with it was poor cutting thick stock.  It cut beautifully smooth, but bound in the cut if the wood bowed or cupped even just a little bit during the cut.  I switched to a bimetal blade and the problem went away.  

It will likely work very well in thinner, well behaved wood that doesn't dull a blade quickly. 

John

[Alan S]

One of the most important factors in resawing is the sharpness of a blade: it will dull so it does not resaw well before it seems dull for other uses.  This is more noticeable with a lower-powered saw.  The woodslicer will be very sharp as you get it, but to get the best use of it I would restrict its use to resawing or at least straight cuts.  It has very little set so it cuts a narrow kerf, wasting less wood and requiring less power, but that means it cuts curves poorly and should be used with dry stable wood.

Since you want it to cut the wood you have, that means some wider stock may not behave well, as John has pointed out.  If the blade deflects it will neither conserve wood nor require less power than a blade with more set.  But if the wood is dry and stable, it can behave.  Cutting quite slowly I have resawn 11" of maple on an underpowered saw with a sharp woodslicer.  

If you have not resawn before, you may be surprised at how slowly you need to cut to get good results.  This is because the large amount of sawdust formed can fill the gullets between the teeth, preventing cutting unless the blade deflects.  If you have problems, try cutting slower, though this won't fix everything.

[rwe2156]

Sure, as long as your blade is good and your machine is set up correctly.

Practice on some softwood first..

[handi]

I learned from my previous bandsaw an inherited 12" Craftsman.  After investing in upgraded cool blocks and a nice resaw blade, underpowered saws are limited in their capabilities.  I now have a 10 year old 14" Delta bandsaw with low hours.  

I have a project coming up that will need thinner stock 1/2" and less.  I would like to resaw some 5-6" wide 8/4 Maple, Cherry, Walnut stock to get these pieces.  Currently I only have a 6 TPI blade so would have to order a resaw blade.  

Is it reasonable to expect any success resawing with this saw, or should I just order the wood in thinner pieces?

I do it all the time, and I am using the factory guides. 1/2” is easy, I can successfully slice 5-6” wood down to about 1/8” using a 3/4” Timberwolf blade. 6” wide boards do require removing the upper blade guard above the guard or it will grind on the upper wheel.