Easiest way to resaw a short 1.4" thick plank in half?

OK, for my next woodshop technique advice request… :slight_smile:

Still working on my project that started with a 7.25" x 6/4s raw plank of sapele as mentioned in this other thread: Flattening a ~7.25” raw lumber plank on our 6” jointer

I got it planed well enough, and now I’ve got a small chunk of it that I would like to saw in half, lengthwise. In other words, I’ve got a 7.5x8x1.4" block (planed from the 6/4 plank and chopped off the end) and I’d like to saw down the middle of the 1.4" face to produce 2 blocks approximately 0.7" wide. I don’t need a particularly precise cut, since I’m really only doing this in order to salvage a bit more surface area for laser etching tests. The sapele wood is not particularly cheap, so trying to use as much of this test block as possible.

Anyway, looking for easiest and safest way to do this with the tools at the shop. Do we have a tall enough bandsaw and the appropriate fences for resawing? Or could the sawstop do it with simple jigs (i.e. is the blade big enough to do this in two paths)? Other ideas?

The bandsaw is the right tool for this task. I don’t know how well either of ours is set up for resawing right now, but if you’re not super-picky about flatness (eg sawing 1/16" veneers) then the task is pretty forgiving of setup. Since your piece is already flat-ish, a tall resaw fence isn’t really necessary.

Use whichever saw has a thicker blade, set up the blade guides appropriately, and take a test cut on a scrap of 2x6 to make sure the tracking isn’t going crazy.

The Rikon is good for that. There are resaw fences, the mag one may be the best choice.

It does take some skill to get it set up for the best precision results. It is a Rikon 10-325 with a 12" resaw capacity, but the guides are upgrades to large roller bearings. We keep a 3/4" resaw blade on it, which is also the first choice for most woodworking that does not require a small radius cut.

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Thanks, y’all. I’ll be in tomorrow night and will take a look at the Rikon. I’m comfortable with the basics of bandsaws, but is there anything in particular I should know about this one? (Or the resaw process in general?)

Getting it perpendicular, set the guides correctly, make sure the tension is right, speed must be set to LOW, and technique in guiding/steering it. But, winging it may do ok too

I’m planning on resawing some pecan in the coming weeks. I have done practice runs on the Rikon, using the magnetic fence, and got decent results. That magnetic roller fence does take practice, since you have to pivot on it. You mark your wood first, and follow the line. Lots of video’s on this technique as well.

There is a 3rd bandsaw being repaired, and there is supposed to be a Grizzly re-saw fence added to it. I’m eagerly awaiting that one to get up and running before I put my limited stock of pecan heartwood through.

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The grizzly band saw is repaired. We are waiting on new fence and blade.

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Heh, yep. My requirements aren’t too strict this time around, but of course good to learn best practices. The goal this round is “wing it as easily as possible without cutting off any fleshy bits”.

@cfstaley Are you saying that we have a magnetic roller fence at the shop that should be suitable? I glanced at the Rikon very briefly last night, but I was rather tired so might have missed it. Do you happen to know the brand/model of the fence you used?

Yellow Magswitch resaw fence. This one

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That’s the one. I saw it on the table saw last weekend. It wanders around. Not sure why, but it does.

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That looks pretty much perfect. Between this and a push pad, I think I can do this cut fairly safely and easily. Thanks, y’all.

I use a sacrificial push stick. The blade will cut the push stick.

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@cfstaley. The Grizzly resaw bandsaw is calling you

I ran one of my wide boards through on Saturday, and it turned out great. I have to tune in to the right thickness. I’m shooting for 1/4 thick, and I went to 3/8. That’s too much, for me. I need to get more slices out of most of my stock. Still, it went pretty well. My stock was too wide for the jointer, but the drum sander took care of things. A little more patience is required, but you get there.

The mag resaw fence is still helpful (thanks, Joe!). With your stock set against the Grizzly fence, you put the mag resaw fence on the opposite side, almost even with the blade, but a little in front of it, so you can set your stock thickness. Some resaw rigs have a post for the same purpose, to keep lateral pressure on the stock, right at the blade, keeping it against the fence.

These pieces are from 7 inch stock.

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