One thing that will take your woodworking capabilities to the next level is being able to machine your wood to the exact thickness you choose. It frees you from having to design your projects around the board thickness available in the local store and it allows you to make your own book-matched glue-ups and veneers.
The simple way to slim down a board is to plane it. But that can be wasteful and expensive. Suppose the wood you have available is ¾” thick and what you really need is ¼”? It’s a shame to turn all that beautiful wood into sawdust. The alternative is to re-saw the board into two pieces that are close to ¼” and then sand or plane the rough sides to get to the final dimension.
It’s hard to beat a bandsaw for re-sawing. Its smooth cutting action and thin blade kerf make re-sawing easy and efficient. A table saw will allow you to re-saw boards up to 4”-5” inches in width. You make a cut on one edge and then flip the board end-for-end to complete the process. You can even use a handsaw but as a practical matter it will be too slow and tedious to do often.
The bandsaw is definitely the weapon of choice. Here are a few tips:
- Choose the right blade:
- Wider blades tend to track straighter and are less likely to be deflected by the grain in the wood.
- Fewer teeth are better. You’re going to be cutting through a lot of wood and you need deep gullets between the teeth to carry away the sawdust.
- Make sure it’s sharp.
- Check your setup:
- Adjust the bearings, guide blocks and blade tension.
- Insure the blade and fence are square to the table.
- Correct for drift. Your fence will seldom align perfectly with the blade so you need to adjust it to be perfectly parallel.
- Select a scrap board with a good, straight edge.
- Draw a line parallel to the edge and about one inch in.
- Begin cutting freehand down the center of the line for 5-6 inches. Stop and hold the board in position.
- You will have automatically adjusted the cutting direction to parallel the blade. Mark the drift in pencil on the table by tracing along the straight edge of the board.
- Align the fence to your pencil mark. Now try cutting with a board against the fence. If it doesn’t track straight and true repeat the above steps.
- Alternatively, you can use a re-saw post. It supports the board vertically but allows you to pivot to cut straight along a line you draw on the board.
- Check your speed. Cutting too slowly overheats and dulls the blade. Cutting too fast causes rough edges.
Above all be careful. Use push sticks and watch your hand positions. You want to slice the wood, not your hands.
Re-sawing will open a world of new possibilities. Try a slice!
