As most of you know, one terrific way of saving money is to buy kiln dried rough lumber. this is assuming however that you have a thickness planer, jointer and a bandsaw. The first is the least important as the rough surface can in fact be sanded smooth. Granted it will involve a little more work on your part, but we are talking about saving money, not effort. For those unfamiliar with the term "re-sawing", it is quite simple. If you have a board that is one and a quarter inch thick by six inches wide, a bandsaw will allow you to make two boards that are nominally a half inch thick by six inches wide. Perhaps the term "slicing" would best describe it.

     Let's use oak as an example and let's assume that you require 3/4 inch stock to build your project. It will be far more economical to purchase 8/4 (2") thick oak boards, rough cut, and then re-saw them to the nominal 3/4" thickness yourself. Generally, wood is sold by the board foot which is 1" thick x 12" wide x 12" long. A board that is 2" thick x 12" x 12" would equal two board feet. However, if you are looking for finished (or 'dressed' which is the common term), pricing can and does vary immensely.

     Eight inch wide by three quarters of an inch thick dressed oak boards may be priced by the linear foot and could be as much as four times the cost of rough cut. When selecting the boards that you plan to re-saw, it is imperative that the boards be free of bows, cups and twists as the boards have to go straight through the saw. With a stationary (floor model) bandsaw you can generally re-saw boards that are 6" wide. Most bandsaw manufacturers have relatively inexpensive extension kits that will allow you to re-saw a board up to 12 inches wide. This will of course mean that you will have to buy longer blades for your saw. The Delta 14" bandsaw for example, requires a 93" blade as do most 14" saws. With the height extender you will need a blade that is 105" long.

     There is a basic rule in the selection of bandsaw blades: the thinner the wood to be cut, the more teeth per inch of blade. Needless to say as with any rule there are exceptions and those will be dealt with in a future column. The reason for this rule though is primarily heat build-up. As the bandsaw blade cuts into a piece of wood the gullet (the space between the teeth) fills with sawdust. As this sawdust packs tightly into the gullets, friction is created and friction means heat. The more teeth per inch of blade, the more heat that is generated. The thicker the wood, the further that gullet has to travel and by the time it hits the bottom, the blade (and the wood) would be red hot. That heat will quickly dull the sharp teeth and the dulled ones will of course generate even more heat.

" Granted it will involve a little more work on your part, but we are talking about saving money, not effort."

     Very soon you will find that it is only the friction that is cutting the wood and that it is doing so every so slowly. So, there are a few choices here if you want clean, cool and straight re-sawing. First, you have to realize that when you push a 12" (or narrower) board through a bandsaw blade, it is only the thrust bearings on the saw that prevent the blade from deflecting in a forward position. It stands to reason therefore that the wider the blade the less defection there will be. Do not use a narrow blade for re-sawing. A half inch wide blade with three teeth per inch is the most efficient blade to use for re-sawing. The wider blade offers less beam (front to back) deflection and the three teeth per inch has large enough gullets to prevent excessive heat build-up. Two other choices to consider: a skip tooth blade and a carbide tipped blade. The carbide, although more expensive, will last about 10 times as long and give extremely smooth cuts for a bandsaw.

     There will be friction and that means heat. Heat will cause the sawdust and tar to bond to the bandsaw blade. As these materials accumulate it reduces the efficiency of the cutting teeth on the blade. There are lubricants available that will help prevent the adherence of these tars and there are cleaners to remove them. After each cut, it is recommended that you inspect your blade and remove any build-up. To do re-sawing you need a rip fence on your saw. Normally, the rip fences for bandsaws are only a couple of inches high.

        If you are re-sawing wide boards, a fence equal to that width should be fabricated. This is a relatively simple task. A piece of 3/4" plywood screwed to your existing fence will suffice. Rough sawn lumber is just that, rough. Not just the surfaces, but the edges as well. Before attempting to re-saw, one edge of the board should be run through the jointer. Care should be taken in the selection of the boards that you plan to re-saw. They should be flat and, to repeat, free of twists, warps and cups. To get a clean, even slice, lateral pressure must be applied to the piece at the leading edge of the saw blade and the pressure should be equal through the entire width of the board. Try to keep equal feed pressure on the board as well. Any pauses or stops in the flow of the board will show up as either burn marks or streaks on the cut surface.

     You have successfully completed your first re-saw job. Assuming that both pieces are of equal thickness, a sanding of the rough sides should produce a smooth surface. The key words here are 'assuming' and 'should'. As we all know, this will probably not happen in real life. If you do not have a thickness planer, line up the two boards side by side and use a belt sander to equalize them. An orbital sander will polish them up nicely.