# Resaw or Not? A jointer or bandsaw first question.



## Lsmart (Jan 1, 2012)

Hello woodfolks, I have 14×8/4 7 inch wide 4ft long birch boards that need to be resawn down to 4/4 for an eventual 3/4" thick 6" wide board and I am wondering if I should joint one face before I resaw or just go straight to the bandsaw and joint after?

The grain on the birch is pretty all over the place and I am afraid it is going to spring out of flat if I joint before bandsawing.

Anyways any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

Luke


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## JesseTutt (Aug 15, 2012)

I don't know about the grain issues. Usually, I joint one face and edge prior to resawing.


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## bowedcurly (Aug 31, 2013)

you will have to notify a Bandsawatician, lots of them on here, I always saw mine at 5/4 let it set a week or so then joint, plane, another few days then final thickenss. I myself like 5/4 waste some but it has time to do it's thing, and I usually have good luck, but I'm not a real bandsawatician


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## sdmref (Aug 15, 2009)

Technically you are face planeing not jointing. If you plane first you will get a more consistent result (thickness wise) when you resaw.


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## GregD (Oct 24, 2009)

+1 on what Jesse said. I would also joint one face and edge prior to resawing so that I had a continuous flat surface to ride against the fence and the table.

+1 on what bowedcurly said. There is a good chance the wood will move after resawing and you will likely want to joint it again.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

... depends how crazy the wood is to start. You might want
to "skip plane" a face to take out major bumps and then do your
resawing. Flattening a whole face of a long board before 
resawing seems counterproductive to me since both halves
are going to move after anyway.

You can use draw a line on the top edge and use a curved 
resaw fence to steer your cuts to more or less get an
even division even if the face against the fence is uneven.
This way if the board is shaped like a banana you can just
go with it and deal with the shape after, either by jointing
out the problems or fastening the board down.


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## Lsmart (Jan 1, 2012)

ok thanks folks, I guess I will have to check them all and see how bowed they are, and make my decision… I'm using a friends 8" jointer and he is an hour away so I would rather not lug everything up there twice.


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