Almost two years ago I wrote about my setup for resawing boards into thinner boards. That one blog entry generated much interest, and I enjoyed writing about it over a period of a few weeks; I have included a search of the blog archives, and post the entries on the blog at this link.
Well, some things changed, but others didn’t. I still use the Carter guides on the band saw; and I still use a Timberwolf blade narrower than 1 inch; and my resaw fence is still going strong, even though it is made of MDF, a full 11 inches wide, to provide ample support to wide boards – I use my right hand to support the board tightly against the fence, while pushing with the left hand until several inches from the end; at that point I use a suitable board to do the pushing (click on the images to enlarge them):
And I still have a good feeling when I get nice results on maple:
Now for a something that has changed. This is my vantage point as I resaw – notice the yellow featherboard from Sommerfeld Tools in the following photo?
The feather board fits in the miter slot of the band saw; it provides adjustable pressure, to maintain the bottom of the board tightly against the tall fence. It also fits nicely in the miter slot, courtesy of the “T” adapters that came with it:
The screw clamps still do the bulk of fence-holding, and are more convenient to use than any other type of clamp for this operation:
It is amazing how convenient the resawing operation is now, without the fuss of setting up very tall featherboards, like I did in the “olden days”. That is real progress; using the featherboard saved me a bundle – no need (yet) for a power feeder on the band saw!
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—— Al Navas
About Al Navas
I have found the magnetic feather board to work well for me. I don’t even need a tall fence on the left side. With the bottom of the board captured between my normal BS fence and the mag feather board, I just guide the top of the board/blade along my scribed cutting line and the boards come out great. I also echo the Timberwolf blade, either 5/8″ or 3/4″.
Mike,
Great! I will try it without the tall fence. But I do like the tall fence, as it allows me to correct for drift; the results are outstanding by being able to do so. On the blades: I tried the wider blades, but settled for the narrower ones due mainly to the ease of handling. And the results have been outstanding.