Resawing with hand saw?

i tried it with a backsaw and it was a disaster. I was trying to turn 4/4 lacewood into 3/8’s material. I ended up doing it on a table saw. It was a bit unnerving and still involved some cutting of the center, but that seemed the way to go for me.

you are correct a Bowsaw was indeed used for resawing before the time of the bandsaw.

Japanese woodworkers also use ripping handsaws to resaw wood (can’t find a link right now -but if you’ll google it you’ll see both explanations and photos).

you could probably set some sort of jig/fence that you clamp to your lumber at a certain distance from the edge, and use that as a reference for the saw’s blade that can rest on the face of the jig, and ride along it and through your lumber to be able to resaw… I’d google bowsaw, jig, resaw combinations – I’m sure you’ll find good info out there. or even here.

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

You can start it on the tablesaw by cutting from both sides and leaving some in the middle to finish out with the handsaw. The handsaw will follow the kerf cut on both sides of the wood very easily.

You will lose the full width of the tablesaw blade out of the material but it will get you there.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

I’ve done it the way Todd mentioned then did the rest with a frame saw. Also tried regular handsaws on it but the frame saw worked better. Thankfully I’ve got an BS now that can handle wider stuff. The thing that surprised me was how excrutianingly long it took to saw through the rest of it by hand. If this is something you plan to do much of, I’d say it would be worth the expense to make sure you get a good saw and blade and have it professionally sharpended or learn to do it yourself. I dont think you want to assume even a brand new bow saw blade is sharp enough unless you get it from someone that specializes in Neander tools. That’s going to make a TON of difference.

-- Use the fence Luke

if you check out online video of the woodwright’s shop on PBS, http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/schedule/28season_video.html
scroll down and there’s an episode on handcut veneer.

-- "That which has in itself the greatest use, possesses the greatest beauty." - Unknown Shaker

As others have already mentioned, a frame saw is what you are looking for. These two links provide good information on resawing with a frame saw and also how to build one.

http://www.hyperkitten.com/woodworking/resaw.php3

http://www.hyperkitten.com/woodworking/frame_saw.php3