Resawing lumber?

[RJD2]

I need approximately 8 pieces of 1/4" thick by 1 1/2" wide by 4' long in maple for a project. Stock that is available at 1/4" thick from Lowes/Home Depot is limited to oak, and rather expensive in comparison to 3/4" hardwoods that could be purchased at a local sawmill. I don't own a band saw, but have a planer. Do you think resawing the lumber on a table saw equipped with a thin kerf ripping blade in conjunction with a featherboard and holddowns, and then use the planer to take care of the saw marks would ultimately safely yield two 1/4" thick pieces from one 3/4" board? It seems like a waste to plane a 3/4" to 1/4". Thanks.

Ron

[cgallery]

I would be inclined to purchase some flat-sawn 1-1/2" thick stock and 4' long, and strip-off 1/4" wide pieces from that. The advantage to my method is that when you're done, you'll have nearly quarter-sawn stock (or is it rift-sawn?) that will be more stable.

Oh, and another (less desirable, but...) option would be to face glue two 3/4" pieces to get to 1-1/2, then strip off that.

[LarryG]

Sure, you can absolutely do that. You would need to make sure your planer can safely handle material as thin as 1/4" (which it most likely can, although that may be pushing the limit of what the manual recommends).

The main advantage of a band saw for resawing is that even the smallest band saws will generally will handle stock wider than a table saw blade at full elevation. For pieces narrow enough to be resawn on a table saw, there's nothing at all unusual in what you propose.

[cabinetman]

I need approximately 8 pieces of 1/4" thick by 1 1/2" wide by 4' long in maple for a project. Stock that is available at 1/4" thick from Lowes/Home Depot is limited to oak, and rather expensive in comparison to 3/4" hardwoods that could be purchased at a local sawmill. I don't own a band saw, but have a planer. Do you think resawing the lumber on a table saw equipped with a thin kerf ripping blade in conjunction with a featherboard and holddowns, and then use the planer to take care of the saw marks would ultimately safely yield two 1/4" thick pieces from one 3/4" board? It seems like a waste to plane a 3/4" to 1/4". Thanks.

Ron

Lets say you use a full kerf blade (1/8"). If you split 3/4" you will have 2 pieces 5/16". Whether your planer can run stock that thin is one question. Whether it can get it smooth with removing 1/16" is the other.

Many 10" TS's can cut O/A 3" in height, so that's not a problem. Granted, if you use a TK blade you will have a bit more stock to deal with. Will both sides of the 1/4" be seen? You might be able to block sand the sawed edge to a point that is satisfactory.

Using two different pieces of 3/4" to rip off the 1/4" might be a better idea. You may find that in ripping a single piece of 3/4" down the middle may produce results that "walked" out of the blade on an angle.
.

[gsmittle]

I've done this sort of thing several times on my BT. Since maple is pretty hard, consider making multiple passes and raising the blade a little at a time. The other thing I've done that helped was make a pass on each side of the stock, so the cuts meet in the middle.

C'man's right—make sure the stock stays vertical and doesn't tip to one side as it goes through the blade. Otherwise you can get a really interesting wood sculpture. DAMHIKT

g.

[dbhost]

If you can lay your hands on some 7/4 to 8/4 stock, machine it S4S so you are still at least 1-5/8" thick, then simply rip your 1/4" strips off of that... I would think that would be easier / safer to do... Use a good TK blade in your BT and you might end up with very little sanding to do at the end...

[SARGE..g-47]

You certainly can do it, Ron. I just did the same thing about 30 minutes ago to make some splines. Now.. I do have an 18" band-saw but it was quicker to do the 3' lenght on the TS in this case an neither side has to be perfectly smooth.

But... if you use a 3/4" thickness you will come up with two 5/16" as mentioned using a full kerf blade. You must use support left of blade to keep it vertical as mentioned. And it would be best to rip half height on one side and then flip the board over to get the remainder of the rip. When done.. you simply use double sided carpet tape and tape the smooth side on a 1/2" piece of MDF (backer board) and take it to the planer. Take 1/32" passes to get it to 1/4".

BTW.. if you have a 24 T rip blade.. use it as it has more gullet to take the waste away to avoid burning.

Good luck...

[poolhound]

My vote would go with the option to get some 1 1/2" stock and then rip the 1/4" strips off this. Much safer and easier than trying to resaw on the TS.

[JR]

Interesting that the advice falls into two camps! I'm for resawing the 3/4" stock on the TS then planing.

JR

[LarryG]

And it would be best to rip half height on one side and then flip the board over to get the remainder of the rip.

I don't understand this recommendation ...? The material is only 1-1/2" wide. That's less than half what most 10" table saw blades can handle at full elevation.

Given the ready availability of 1-1/2" thick stock, Phil's suggestion to rip 1/4" strips off the edge of a wider piece is probably the ticket if only because the setup is easier and possibly safer. But there's certainly no technical reason a 3/4" thick, 1-1/2" wide board can't be resawn as was originally proposed.

[SARGE..g-47]

I don't understand this recommendation ...? The material is only 1-1/2" wide. That's less than half what most 10" table saw blades can handle at full elevation.

Given the ready availability of 1-1/2" thick stock, Phil's suggestion to rip 1/4" strips off the edge of a wider piece is probably the ticket if only because the setup is easier and possibly safer. But there's certainly no technical reason a 3/4" thick, 1-1/2" wide board can't be resawn as was originally proposed.

I don't know his skill level and I assume he has a BT TS. So.. he may be fine doing it in one cut if the saw is up to ripping 1 1/2". One rip is the way I would do it having a 5 HP TS.

So... I just went down to the shop do exactly what all the fuss is about here.....

3 minutes to grab a piece of maple out of the scrap bin.. put batteries in the digital camera.. set up the support opposite side of fence.. grab a sacarificial push-stick and make the cut.. Hands never closer than 8" to the blade and body standing out of the Lane.

I gotta run as I'm putting final touches on a desk-hutch.. Ya'll have a good day.

Opps.. disregard picture on the bottom. I will add the correct one....

[SARGE..g-47]

Opps.. missed one...

[crokett]

I don't understand this recommendation ...? The material is only 1-1/2" wide. That's less than half what most 10" table saw blades can handle at full elevation.

I've done what the OP is proposing by resawing full-wdith 1 1/2" stock on my BT. It worked much better to resaw with the blade at 3/4" height, then flip and resaw the other side. There was less clean up and for me the confort level was much higher - blade buried in the wood as opposed to being exposed to get fingers. I've also face-glued 2 3/4" pieces together and ripped the thickness I needed and I recommed doing it that way from both a safety standpoint (and at least for me) higher comfort level.

[pelligrini]

For me, it feels a lot better setting up a thin rip stop and ripping of 1/4" wide strips off of large stock.

I have ripped some oak 1x2s in half. I used a pair of grippers to move the wood and a pair of featherboards stacked to keep it up against the fence.