Band Saw/Wood Drying

[Cain]

I'm pretty new to woodworking and I've got some questions about bandsaws. I've noticed that a lot of people swear by their bandsaws. What exactly are they used for? From what I can gather, at least one application is to resaw trees/rought cut lumber into usable stock.


Would I be naive to think that I could get some hardwood for projects out of firewood?

I know it depends on what type of wood it is, but how long would it take to air dry wood?

[LarryG]

1. Resawing and cutting curves are the two jobs most people think of when someone says "bandsaw." But they can be used for anything, really, subject to the limitations of the throat depth and vertical capacity. A lot of joinery cuts can be done in part (dovetails) or in full (tenons) on a bandsaw. They are particularly useful any time you need to make a cut with a vertical end to its kerf, as opposed to the curving kerf end of a round blade.

2. Wood is wood; you, and not the wood, decide whether a particular piece is going to end up as furniture or ashes. A rick of firewood might well contain some excellent material, although obviously it's not going to be very long.

3. Rule of thumb for air drying wood is one year per inch. Once you get above 2" or so, however, you will probably want to allow more time ... say maybe six years for a piece a full four inches thick, for example. It's an inexact science but the year-per-inch rule works well for the 1" to 2" material typically used for furniture.

[LCHIEN]

I think the uses Larry suggested, resawing and curves, plus
I use it frequently for doing notches, end slots (terminated in a forsner-bit hole), tenons, and cutting little pieces of wood that are kind of scarey on a table saw. Like cutting 3/4" long pieces of dowel - some days they're kind of hard to find the cutoffs when using the TS or MS.

As for firewood, generally those aren't the best trees, and if dried, the ends are usually split because they won't be sealed as you would lumber to prevent uneven drying. And if the ends are bad and they're only 24" long... I think you might be able to make some items like boxes and stuff from firewood but furniture is going to be difficult unless you are going for a certain look to it.

[Wood_workur]

Yeah, I ofetn will cut up firewood for a small project. I slice 3/8" (plus blade kerf) pieces off, and let them dry for a week or so (the firewood I use is dry to begin with) Lust beware of the checking. It can bue longer that 6", but it isually about 6" or less into the board.