[Woodworkers] Resawing

[Dave Heitstuman]

Chuck,
First I am probably not the person to answer this with any authority, given my bandsaw technique certainly needs work.  But I will pass on something Scott Phillips said on one of his recent shows.
First a disclaimer :)  Scott's show has come and gone on our local PBS station over the years.  It recently reappeared so I watch it on Saturday mornings.  I feel like Scott has become somewhat of a hack but I watch it anyway.
I will say that Scott uses his bandsaw allot and he certainly can move some wood through one with a fair amount of accuracy.  I do not remember his exact reasoning but he over tensions the blades.   Funny thing is I have always wondered if blades should be tensioned tighter.

I think I found it with the help of Google.  It is right around 2:15

https://www.google.com/search?q=american+woodshop+bandsaw+blade+tension+adjustment&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS900US900&ei=MB-MYKPYONHg9APL05vIAw&oq=american+woodshop+bandsaw+blade+ten&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYATIFCCEQoAEyBQghEKABMgUIIRCgATIFCCEQqwIyBQghEKsCOgYIABAWEB46BwghEAoQoAFQrTVYqV1guXBoAXAAeACAAWuIAYoGkgEDOS4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz#kpvalbx=_JCCMYMT7E9Pa9AOKwYbwBg38

2Dave

From: Woodworkers [mailto:woodworkers-bounces at lists.sawdusters.org] On Behalf Of chuck.steger--- via Woodworkers
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2021 7:59 AM
To: woodworkers at sawdusters.org
Cc: chuck.steger at gmail.com
Subject: [Woodworkers] Resawing

I have a couple of band saws where I keep a ¼" blade on one and a ½" blade for resawing on the other (yeah, lazy!). In the past I would use a wider blade for resawing but really liked the ½" 6 TPI blade so I kept it on. Yesterday I was resawing a 11" wide by 14" long piece of Bolivian Rosewood (real dense wood). I used the ½" blade and it was slow going but never drifted and cut beautifully. In fact, that's why I use this blade - no drift. However, when I was finished and looked at the blade, the gullets were full, the blade was caked with saw dust and I honestly was surprised it did so well. So, I changed to a ¾" 3 TPI hook tooth blade. It cut much faster and easier but drifted like a son of a gun. In fact, it drifted so badly, it ruined the piece. The good news is I needed a thinner piece, so that became the thinner piece. But, when I was sanding both pieces on the drum sander it was obvious how badly it drifted. Because the previous blade cut to the line with no drift, I could cut 1/16" over my finished thickness. However, with the ¾" blade, I couldn't. So, I marked a ½" line to get a finished 3/8" thickness. As I monitored the cut, it was drifting so badly, I had to stop or it would have cut into my 3/8" thickness. BTW, it drifted at the bottom and I was monitoring the top which is why I didn't see it the first time.
So, all that to ask why the drift? Is the blade not sharp enough (I had used it before so maybe dull?), not tensioned enough, or ???? I think it was tensioned enough but I still throw it out there as a question. Why would the ½" cut so beautifully and the ¾" cut so badly? I cleaned up the ½" and was tempted to put it back on but I don't want to because it's really not designed to do what I was doing.
One thing I'm going to try today it to cut the 11" width down to a narrower piece (that I would need anyway) and try resawing a narrower piece.
I ordered new blades but, of course, they won't be here for a few days and I want to resaw today.

Chuck

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