Resawing

[Rounder]

Tonight, I tried my hand at some real resawing on my Rigid BS1400. A couple of buddies and I were trying to resaw some blocks of wood 12" high. I do have the riser kit and was using a 1/2" timber wolf 6 tpi blade. It was not a fun task. I realize that to rewsaw wood that tall I need more than a 3/4 hp motor.

But we also noticed that the blade was now moving back and forth (front to back). I checked the blade on the wheel and it is centered. The wheels are co-planer to each other, and the blocks are aligned. Any idea what is wrong with the blade?

[Ken Massingale]

If the blade was wandering, it sounds like not enough tension. Also, make sure the upper guide assembly is about 1/4" above the stock.
If this doesn't help, give Suffolk a call, they are very helpful.
HTH,
ken

[LCHIEN]

It will also probably help to have 3 tpi skip-tooth blade.
When resawing 12" the gullets will load up and the blade will cease to cut, riding instead on the balls of cuttings in the gullets.
That may lead to a sense of wandering AND lack of power..

[don_hart]

I agree that you probably did not have neough tension. One other trick that will help when you are resawing is to put a little Pam cooking spary on a paper towel and wipe the blade down and let it dry. This will lower the friction on the blade and make it cut better.

[Rounder]

The blade wasn't wavering side to side, but from tooth to back. I did tighten it up and it is still moving. I am going to give Suffolk a call and get some more blades.

[rbfunk]

I've been doing the same thing on my sears 6". I have found that I have to keep the feed rate very, very slow. An inch a minute is pushing it with a 3 TPI skip tooth. But I am going try that PAM trick.
Bob

[Tom Miller]

Is it moving front-to-back while you're not cutting also (or only)? You might want to open the wheel covers and rotate by hand to see how the wheels and tires are doing, and check alignment.

When you installed this blade, did you back off the thrust bearings (top and bottom) and let the blade find its "happy place" first?

Regards,
Tom

[Rounder]

Tom,

Yes, it is doing it when it is just on and not cutting. I checked the wheels and the tires and tehy look fine. I tuned the bandsaw up a month or so ago and adjusted everything, but maybe the botom thrust bearing needs adjusting.

When I change to a 3 tpi blade I will re-adjusted everything. Now for a new question.

Does the resaw fence have to be the same height as the wood being resawn? Or is there an optimal height?

[don_hart]

It does not have to be as high as the wood being resawn but you will benefit from a taller fence. Mine is 4" tall. I find that tthis is talle nough to give me all the support I need when resawing and is not so high that it interferes with resawing narrow stock.

[BrazosJake]

What kind of wood were you sawing?

Looks like everyone else has covered the bases, especially the 3TPI blade, but I'd go with a hook instead of a skip. Can't recall what Suffolk calls theirs, but it's about a 6.5-degree hook angle (vs 10 for most other resaw blades). A soft or green wood needs more set but will cut more easily then kiln-dried hardwood.

I haven't tried 12" stock yet, but I've had very good results on my Ridgid using 1/2" 3TPI hook Starrett-brand blades from BCSAW.

[Rounder]

Actually, I just ordered 4 blades from Suffolk (buy 3, get 1 free) and they suggested going to a 3/4" 3 tpi blade. I am going to try it out and see. They also have a chart on their page about the different blades and maxmium resaw height.

As always their customer service was excellent and I got to speak to one of the techs about the problem.