Best blade for resawing

[Les]

I'm getting ready to salvage the cedar siding on my fixer-upper. The siding is ~11.5" wide by 7/8" thick boards with similar thickness (but narrower) battens. My plan is to rip the boards into thirds first. Then, I'm hoping to resaw these pieces in half in order to create a nice smooth finish.

I currently have a Freud Thin Kerf Combination 50-tooth blade (LU83R010) on my BT3000 and have been happy with its performance so far. My question is whether I should invest in a dedicated rip blade for ripping and resawing the cedar siding? If so, any brands you would recommend? Also, will a rip blade - with fewer teeth than my combo blade - produce an equally smooth cut? (I don't have a jointer, so I'm counting on my TS to get the job done.)

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[garymuto]

My freud P410 combo blade leaves a better finish than the glue line rip blade. It will be slow going without a rip blade though.

[Knottscott]

A 24T TK like the Freud LU87 is typically what fits the bill for resawing with a saw like the BT, but even the best of them won't leave a finish as smooth as the 50T Freud. It will however spare your motor from some strain and will rip more efficiently.

The Forrest 30T WWII TK would leave a cut that rivals your 50T, and is still a very efficient ripper. Unfortunately, it's ~ $90.

Lighter passes with the 50T blade might do the trick too.

[LCHIEN]

personally I'm betting that a 24T ripping blade will leave a adequate finish and cut a whole lot faster with less strain on your saw.

They're not really too expensive.

[pelligrini]

If you have the funds, the 30T WWII is a nice one. I prefer to use my Olshun 24T when doing a lot of ripping. It's a bit quicker, and saves a lot of wear and tear on my nice WWII.

[Les]

Single pass resawing?

Thanks for the blade recommendations! Will the Forrest blade be able to handle resawing a ~3" wide board in a single pass? That would sure speed up the process and reduce variations in the finish that might occur with feeding the wood more than once.

I had read that it is advisable to resaw in multiple passes, but wasn't sure if that was based on limitations of the blade or the TS motor. Suggestions from those who have already been there and done that?

[jking]

I have ripped 2x4's (3-1/2" rip) in one pass with the stock blade without major problems. I would think you'd able to do one pass.

[LCHIEN]

Thanks for the blade recommendations! Will the Forrest blade be able to handle resawing a ~3" wide board in a single pass? That would sure speed up the process and reduce variations in the finish that might occur with feeding the wood more than once.

I had read that it is advisable to resaw in multiple passes, but wasn't sure if that was based on limitations of the blade or the TS motor. Suggestions from those who have already been there and done that?

I reread your initial post, you said you had 11-something x 7/8" cedar boards.
So when you resaw it you will make 2 cuts to arrive at 3 boards from one, which will be about ~3" x 7/8".

So the resaw thickness will be 7/8", not ~3". So 7/8" cedar should be very easily resawable. The width has little to do with the ease of resawing as long as the resaw fence will move wide enough to accommodate it.

I'm also assuming you have quite a number of these boards to do... way more than say 10, lets say. So I think it would be advantageous to get a blade designed for ripping in this case for the speed and reduced load on the saw.

Also a thin kerf will save more power (maybe 20%) and conserve some board width (a little). If you can swing the price for the 30T Woodworker from Forrest, that's a great blade.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong but you also want if possible to have the top tips of the blade a little higher than normal above the cut piece... normally for crosscuts a blade exposure of 1/2" might be good, but for ripping a blade exposure of 1" is good.

And finally, you will get the most consistent width rips using a featherboard to hold the work tight against the rip fence. In order to keep from readjusting the featherboard each time, you'll want to make the first cut on all the boards, then move the featherboard, and then make the second cut (leaving the rip fence at the same setting). I would actually consider setting up my rip width to make a third cut, trimming just a hair (like a half blades width) off the last piece to make all the boards exactly the same width.

Use a push stick or push shoe and likely an outfeed table (if the boards are longer than 4-6 ft.) will help... Maybe an infeed table too depending upon the length. (I'd use an infeed table if the boards are floppy, longer than about 6 ft., or heavy or otherwise awkward to feed when using the featherboard). These tables will help you keep the board moving steadily to prevent any burning.

When doing a lot of boards it definately worth the time for setting up the in/outfeed tables and featherboards.
Also you'll want hearing protection and safety glasses for an extended sawing session. Dust abatement so you won't be breathing too much is also a good idea - even just a shopvac to the saws dust port can help a lot.

Be safe and Good luck.

[pelligrini]

I reread your initial post, you said you had 11-something x 7/8" cedar boards.
So when you resaw it you will make 2 cuts to arrive at 3 boards from one, which will be about ~3" x 7/8".

So the resaw thickness will be 7/8", not ~3". So 7/8" cedar should be very easily resawable. The width has little to do with the ease of resawing as long as the resaw fence will move wide enough to accommodate it.

I believe he is ripping the boards into thirds then resawing the ~3 3/4"x7/8" boards in half into ~3/8" thick boards.

I think it would be better to do two passes for the resawing, less strain and probably a bit safer too. Even though it's cedar, I wouldn't want to have 3+" of blade in a board that thin myself. No matter what blade you use you're probably going to have saw marks. I would think that having less blade up in the board would leave a smoother cut too..

+1 on the featherboards. A thickness planer would be the easiest way to finish them all up.

It could be done with a jointer plane too.

[Les]

Thanks for all the excellent additional recommendations! Erik, you are right about my wanting to resaw the boards vertically. Sounds like my best bet is to take it easy and go with two passes even if it doubles the work. I have several hundred square feet to process, so I will set up all the safety and support items I can muster. My primary goals are to get a nice smooth finish and not wreck my digits or the BT3000 motor.

[John Hunter]

I have done some resawing on my BT3100 but most of the time I prefer to do it on the bandsaw. When I do use the BT I always make two cuts.

[Les]

Thanks for sharing your experience John. Unfortunately I don't have a bandsaw so hopefully the Ryobi will be up to the task. I have been using it to fix up my fixer-upper and so far it has worked like a champ.