# Resawing on a Bench Top Band saw



## teenagewoodworker (Jan 31, 2008)

my uncle has an old 9" bench top bandsaw that he doesn't use often and i was wondering if that would be adequate for resawing veneer. before any one says no all i want to resaw is some one inch thick pieces of Walnut for a bent lamination. not too long either with about a 20" long max length. i also have a couple of questions and if anyone could answer them it would be a great help

- Bench top Bandsaw (i think 3/4 hp), adequate for cutting 1" tall pieces of walnut

- what thickness do you recommend for a bent lamination

- what king of glue works best


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## Dano (May 12, 2007)

I had a Delta bench top bandsaw that when set up right would do what you asked but the table would have been a bit small. Mine was only 1/3 hp so if yours is 3/4 it should be really good. Tune it up, build a fence for resawing and give it a go!

You are on your own with the lamination questions, at least from me.

Good Luck.


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

I would say only if you were cutting blasa wood. I have a 9" (it sits in the attic) and tried it. That's
why I bought a 14".

There's not enought strength in the blade.


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## grumpycarp (Feb 23, 2008)

Got a bow saw?


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## Al_Killian (Feb 15, 2008)

I have a old Rockwell 10" bs w/ 1/2 hp motor and it will slice soft maple with out a problem. I have sliced peices up to 4" thick. You just need to go slower and get a good blade.


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## motthunter (Dec 31, 2007)

you may be able to do it, but it sure wont be easy. a 9" band saw is more of a hobby toy in my book. Maybe you can find another guy nearby that has a big saw that will let you come by. If you lived near me, I would give you a hand.


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## TampaTom (Feb 15, 2008)

As far as glues go, don't use PVA (Yellow) glues - they don't dry as hard as you think they might, and are subject to creep.

You can use a couple of different glues - hide glue is safe, affordable and a traditional one. Plastic resin glues (DAP's Weldwood) is another good choice. Expoxies can be expensive, but they work well, too.


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## MarkE (Feb 26, 2008)

If you can find the right blade, you may be able to get it to work. Make sure you have enough tension on the blade and WORK SLOWLY.

If it was me, I'd try to find someone with a full size band saw to do it. Maybe a local lumber yard.


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## cutman26 (Jun 19, 2007)

just buy a good blade and try it!...As far as the glue I have used tite bond III and it worked fine. The thickness varies depending on the type of wood and tightness of the curve. Usually an 1/8" will work. Thats what I did for a table that I built. Check out my projects…


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## Gofor (Jan 12, 2008)

You should be able to do it. I would recommend the widest blade you can properly tension (for the 9" it will probably be a 3/8" max but you may have to go to 1/4" to get the right tension). You want a wood blade, not a metal blade. 6 TPI (teeth per inch) will probably be the minimum you can find for a 9" saw. More teeth will mean slower cut but less smoothing, but too many will heat up the blade, won't clear the sawdust, let it warp, burn the wood, etc. You will want to smooth the sawn face before gluing, which can be done with a flat sanding block.

Figure out your drift by taking a scrap board with a straight edge and draw a straight line along it about 1" in from the straight edge. Slowly hand cut it along the line until the board is fully across the table. Measure from the board's straight edge to the miter slot (or edge of the table) at both the front and back end of the table. This will give you the "drift" (the direction the blade is really cutting). When you clamp your resaw fence to the table, you want the same angle to get the blade to cut as true as possible. Do not try to hurry the cut as the blade will start to bow, which will mess up the flat cut on the veneer. Do some practice cuts on scrap wood (squared and flattened on two adjoining faces like your veneer stock should be before you start). When you get that working, go for it with the walnut. You will not be the first to use a 9" for resawing.

Thickness depends on the radius of the bend, tightness of the grain, moisture in the wood, etc. How tight is the bend? If it is not real tight (i.e. Shepard's crook for a cane or walking stick), try 1/8" first and see if it bends without stressing the grains to where they separate. adjust as you see fit. 
Dittos on the plastic resin glue. Titebond/Elmers PVA will creep (allow the wood to slide after it cures, altho this will work for mild curves not under a lot of stress if you can do it all in a short work time). Do not use Gorilla glue (polyurethane) as it has little lateral strength (worse creep).

Do a practice glue-up (dry fit with no glue) first to make sure you can handle the number of laminations within the work time of the glue. This is critical if you use the PVA glues. If using them, try a practice with scrap (pine or other cheap wood) to make sure you can do it. Cut the pieces long or, as you bend them, the outer pieces will end up too short.

MTCW and good luck. You won't know what you can do unless you try it.
Go


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## Woodshopfreak (Feb 26, 2008)

Your great for doing that. My benchtop can slice 4 inch plus peices with no problem at all. I just haven't used that for a real project because I need to get a 3/4 inch blade. If your bandsaw has 3/4 horsepower, than that is alot. Do you know what kind it is? Mine only has 1/3 horsepower, and doen't even strain in most cases. For 1" thick walnut that should be more than enough to cut the peices you need. I belive that tightbond 2 or 3 would do just fine, I also think that 1/8 inch is fine for most bent wood laminations, if that is to hard to bend switch to 1/16 or so to get it to bend easily. Is this for another project? If it is, what is the project going to be?

Tyler


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## teenagewoodworker (Jan 31, 2008)

well about a month of two from now i'm making a small trophy case out of Walnut and the doors on the front are going to have a small bend to them just to get it out of the whole boxy look.


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

You might get by using a small bench top bandsaw with a woodslicer blade in 3/8" . I doubt you could get near enough tension with a 1/2" blade. I have two 14" rockwells and a 24" minimax. I only resaw on the 24" with a 1" Lennox Trimaster carbid toothed blade. Cuts like butter. The main reason a smaller saw does not resaw well is because the frame is not strong enough. I bring my blades up to 28,000 psi which is the recommended tension. I also use a bandsaw blade tension gage to ensure proper tension. Even the 14" saws normally cannot reach these higher tensions. Especially with the 6" extensions added. The springs are too weak. You will want to get a maximum 2 to 3 tooth per inch blade with deep gullets in order to clear the sawdust quick enough.
Good Luck and safe woodworking.

I normally use Unibond 800 for laminating. PVA glues will not work. They will move and are not designed for laminating curves. They also are not recommended for doing bookmatching veneers. The joint will eventually open and ruin the piece. Unibond 800 or Urea and epoxy glues are the proper glues to use.


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## darryl (Jul 22, 2006)

As cutman mentioned, try it. if it works, that's great. if it doesn't work, well I'm sure you can think of other uses to have a bandsaw in your shop. I would think that you should be able to resaw 1" though, doesn't seem like it would be much different than ripping a 1" think board.

I would also think that 1/8" should be a good starting point. And David Marks (from the Woodworks show) uses resin glue in his lamintations. That's probably what I would use.


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## DRdeveloper (Nov 29, 2008)

One of the problems with those benchtop saws is that they don't weigh much and tend to move around. Make sure you bolt it down to a heavy table.


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## teenagewoodworker (Jan 31, 2008)

wow i forgot i even posted this. since then i now have a 12" craftsman floor model and a 14" delta with a nice resaw fence. boy how things change


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