# Cutting wood strips: band saw resawing vs. table saw?



## huyz (Jan 16, 2016)

Hey lumberjocks!

I'm trying to cut wood strips about 1.75" x 0.4" x 48" long and wondering what method would be better. Mainly I'm unsure about how much sanding (?) is required off the bandsaw, and how much warp would typically be caused by both methods.

Method 1: buy 8/4 or 10/4 lumber (if available), plane to 1.75" then cutting 0.4" strips along the 48" length (on a table saw?). I believe cuts on the table saw would be smoother than the band saw.

Method 2: buy 5/4 lumber, resaw into halves on the band saw for about 0.5" pieces, plane to 0.4" and cut to 1.75" on table saw.

Is method 1 safer? Would one method tend to cause more tension release due to board thickness, requiring more planing to fix and wasting time/material? How long should one wait after resawing or cutting strips to see if any warping will occur?

Lots of questions, but thanks in advance for the help!


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## HokieKen (Apr 14, 2015)

I think that method 1 would likely give you more stable strips. However, I imagine they'll be flexible enough it won't really be a big issue anyway depending on the wood you're using and what you're using it for.

I would definitely use the tablesaw. It'll give you a better finish off the blade and be much faster IMHO. Method 2 would be the safer because it will give you more space between the blade and fence for push stick but either is fine as long as you're smart/safe about it.


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## EugdOT (Nov 17, 2016)

Method 1Table saw is the way to go for safety and accuracy , but make sure you have a rip blade lower tooth blade especially on 8/4. To get better results and decrease bogging down the saw.


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

I would go with the TS, too. You can rejoint one face between cuts if desired, but if you have a good quality rip blade and use feather boards, you should get a pretty clean cut.

The only issue might be a board wanting to bow due to stress, but even so, with good featherboards holding it should still be ok.

Be sure you have a good zero clearance insert that will help.


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## bbasiaga (Dec 8, 2012)

Make sure your bandsaw is set up well, with a good resaw blade and cut them a bit thick. Way less waste. Plane them to exact thickness to eliminate saw marks. So that would be option 2 for me.

Brian


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

Be SURE that you have a good glue line rip blade on the table saw.
Bill


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

I do this often, and use my table saw with a 24 teeth "Planer" blade. I have a good band saw that I use to re-saw with but not for narrow stuff like you are considering. The cut of my table saw requires very little sanding, if any, sanding Band saw cuts do require sanding.


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## huyz (Jan 16, 2016)

Thanks everyone!

None of you seem to be concerned about warping, so maybe it's not a big a deal as I thought. I will be using walnut.

It seems like a toss up in terms of which method, and maybe more a decision about which lumber is cheaper to buy and creates less waste from off cuts (not counting blade kerfs).


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

A BS blade is generally thinner in it's thickness, but can be as wide or wider in it's overall kerf in the wood due to much higher deviation and rougher cut. By the time you plane it down, I'm not convinced that a BS will waste any less material, and I definitely think it will take more time. It's likely the safer method.

A TS cut is without question smoother, more accurate, and involves fewer steps.


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## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

I make thin strips using both the band saw and table saw. The ones cut on the band saw generally need a little cleaning up before using, but it depends on what it's going to be used for. For thin strips to be used for inlays, edge banding and other similar uses, the table saw produces a much cleaner cut and in most cases can be used as-is, with maybe just a light pass with 220 grit before glue-up. For consistent size across pieces, a thin-rip jig is really handy… here is my homemade one:









(works on both the band saw and table saw)

By no means the only method, and if you do a search for thin-rip on the site, you will find lots of other alternatives - both home made and store bought.

Cheers,
Brad


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## unclearthur (Jul 4, 2013)

> Method 1Table saw is the way to go for safety and accuracy , but make sure you have a rip blade lower tooth blade especially on 8/4. To get better results and decrease bogging down the saw.
> 
> - EugdOT


Curious as to why method 2 (cut 0.4" strips from 8/4 wood on TS) is safer / more accurate than method 1 (resaw/plane to 0.4", then cut 1.75" strips on TS) .... Not disagreeing, just curious why.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

Almost all the thin strip jigs I have seen (including the ones here) require the fence to be moved for every cut. Mine doesn't. And you can safely cut thin strips down to less than 1/16" (depends on how much runout on your blade, and how straight your wood is).

Google "Thin strip cutting jig for TS" by runswithscissors (that's me). It is somewhat limited in length, but it would be easy to make it long enough to handle 48".


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