I knew from past experience that resawing on the band saw is demanding; for example, if the band saw is not set up properly to correct for drift, or if the blade tension is not set correctly, or the blade is not the right type, or… (you get the idea), the results of resawing will be less than acceptable. I have published in the past several articles on resawing on the band saw.

This has changed: A few months ago I bought a ¾-inch wide Resaw King blade from Laguna Tools; I reported results here. The second major change involves using the Driftmaster — Laguna Tools sent me a unit for evaluation; I installed it, and I am happy. Why? Because I can get terrific results in resawing, results like never before.

I always did the resawing by cutting the thin slices nearest the fence. With the Driftmaster, the thin slices now fall off on the right hand side, while the bulk of the wood rests against the fence. This is possible due to the micro-adjusting capability of the fence.

What does this mean? For one, the resawn pieces are quite even in thickness, typically within 0.005″ (five thousands of an inch!) across the width and the length of the cut pieces. The new fence allows adjustment for drift very easily; in fact, the built-in cam is designed to do this without the use of any tools. Once installed and adjusted, the Driftmaster is a great accessory on my 17-inch Grizzly band saw.

Disclosure: Laguna Tools is a sponsor of my blog. On occasion, I receive tools and other components for evaluation; I maintain total editorial freedom of the comments and reviews I present on the blog. Plain and simple, I never receive or accept cash for anything I review. You also must know that I don’t receive any income if you click on the links I provide for any of my sponsors or Affiliates; the only source of income I receive is from Google-sponsored ads, and from actual purchases through my Affiliates (a small percentage of the purchase price).

Download this episode in *.avi format
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Duration: 8:36 minutes (Size: 166 MB)

In a future episode I will cover in detail how I use the Driftmaster in the shop. Meanwhile, you can watch the four videos on this fence at the Laguna Tools video web page for the fence system; simply click on the video tab for the page.

All the music in the video is courtesy of my friend, Jason Riley.

— Al Navas

I bought and used the 3/4-inch wide Laguna Tools Resaw King band saw blade on my 17-inch Grizzly band saw. The results were amazing! In the video I show:

1. The steps I took to correct for drift, and show the actual resaw operation.
2. The results of resawing quarter-sawn white oak, a very dense, hard wood.
3. The importance of blade tracking, and the effect of adjustments to the blade position on the wheels.
4. Details of the resaw fence I have used for several years, and
5. A summary of everything I did in the video.

I can summarize the results of my first resawing with the Resaw King blade in one word: Terrific! I have never been able to get such great quality of cut with any of regular blades on my Grizzly 17-inch band saw; the surfaces of the resawn pieces were so smooth, I think I might be able to go directly to sanding. I think now I will be set to start resawing some lumber, for some projects later this year. I am excited! And I hope this video will help you in resawing lumber in your own shop. If you have a chance to try this blade, you will love it.

A special discount from Laguna on the Resaw King, only for my readers:

As part of launching a new program as a sponsor of the blog, Laguna Tools is offering 25% discount on each and every purchase of a new Resaw King blade, until further notice. The code word is sandalwoods; simply enter this code while ordering your blades online, and you will receive the discount (I tried it, and it works!) If you have difficulty with their web site accepting the code, please call Tim Lory on phone . Alternatively, you can send him an e-mail message, at Tim_Lory@lagunatools.com. He will handle your order personally. How cool is that?

I hope this video will help you in resawing lumber in your own shop!

— Al Navas

Laguna Tools Resaw King blade.

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Showing the details of resawing on the band saw.

Toward the end of the presentation, one of our members requested that I show how to fold a band saw blade into a small hoop. After I demonstrated my method, one member volunteered to show us how he does it. I looked with much interest, as I had never seen it done this way (this is a 19-second movie that Cherie captured on her iPhone):

Video courtesy of Cherie,
recent past Guild President.

I always have a good time at our meetings, seeing people I have missed for a while, and renewing friendships. Tonight was special, as I learned something new, and possibly better than my method of folding a blade. I would love to learn how YOU fold the blades:

1. Do YOU fold your blades?
2. Or do you just hang them on the wall until next time?
3. If you fold them, do you use the method shown in the video?

— Al Navas

From the session announcement:

Early American furniture was decorated with bold and lively carvings that are straightforward for the modern woodworker to reproduce. Find out how to prepare the material for this low-relief method and watch the tools being used to produce a simple for a chest. Close-up camera work will show all the details.

— Woodworking in America announcement
October, 2009

I first met Peter Follansbee at Valley Forge just minutes before he started his session. He was attentive and totally focused, although many people were already finding seats in the room; the room would be quite crowded before long. But he was relaxed, ready to get to the job at hand: Showing us how he carves panels in the style of 17th century craftsmen, and to share wonderful information on carvings and details of furniture of the period.

Peter was introduced by Steve Shanesy, Publisher, F&W Media, Inc., who called him a historian, teacher, one of the “wonderful people” who found a craft and has pursued it for well over twenty years. Peter works at Plimoth Plantation’s Living History Museum; he also makes and sells wonderful period pieces. I encourage you to visit his blog, where he documents much of the work he does.

Peter proceeded to give a wonderful slide show of very old furniture pieces and carvings, placing them in historical perspective, and in preparation for the techniques he would later demonstrate. Then he proceeded to demonstrate the carving techniques that result in wonderful panels, to be used in chests, stools, tables, cabinets, etc.

About the video: I hope I have given you a good sense of the terrific work Peter does in carving panels, and the joinery techniques he demonstrated for use in various period pieces. To see a wonderful carved pattern emerging from a flat piece of gorgeous, “true quarter-sawn” (riven) oak, is a wonderful thing. But to experience it in person is something else again.

Now I want to whet your appetite – this is a sample of Peter’s work, which I posted some time ago:

Details on carved box, by Peter Follansbee, Joiner.

Note: I will also be posting video of Peter’s hands-on session, which he conducted the day after I filmed this “formal” session.

Looking forward to October 2010, in Cincinnati: I also hope you will get a sense that the Woodworking in America conferences are a unique experience, where we have an opportunity to see fine craftsmen like Peter demonstrate their skill and knowledge. I hope to see you in Cincinnati!

I would love to hear from you about the following:

1. Please let me know if you liked this video, and the techniques Peter shared with us during this session.
2. Do YOU do any carving on furniture pieces you make? If you do, I would love to highlight it here!

— Al Navas

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As I announced earlier, I have been making changes to the web site. Just today I added a Featured Video section on the main page; this will allow me to share the latest videos and news with you, as soon as you arrive at the web site. A featured video will appear in the same space as you see today.

I continue to fine tune the web site – I don’t think it is ever really “done”, as there is always room for improvement. The latest changes are my effort to make your visit more pleasurable and meaningful.

Please let me know if you like the new look-and-feel. I am always striving to make the web site a more professional site; but I am not a computer guy, and I know my limitations on stuff like the software that drives this blog. Nevertheless, I try my best. But it takes a lot of trial and error.

As a result, I will depend on you to let me know if you discover any glitches I might have missed. If you do find a problem, or something does not work just like you expect it to work, please send me an e-mail message to sandal_woods@bbwi.net.

Thank you for reading my blog, and many thanks for your continued support!

— Al Navas

I had never met Adam Cherubini, until the Woodworking in America conference at Valley Forge (October 2-4, 2009). I regularly read his column, the Arts & Mysteries blog at Popular Woodworking magazine; as a result, I looked forward to his presentation at the conference. I was not disappointed; this was a learning experience for me, an experience I brought back to my own, hybrid, power-tool and (incipient) hand-tool shop.

To start the presentation, Cherubini sat in front of the audience and chatted with attendees for a while. His style is totally disarming, and erudite. When he grabbed the hand planes, he became an authority on period tools, and on the techniques. I don’t believe anyone present knew, or grasped, until he mentioned it, that a craftsman of the era typically dealt with as many as 65 hand planes! By last count, he had introduced approximately 20 at the end of his presentation.

I hope my editing skills do not betray the quality of Cherubini’s presentation. It was truly outstanding. It was fascinating to see a tongue and a groove (T&G) emerge from previously flat edges on boards – quite a difference from using my T&G router bits on the router table, and just as fast. As you watch the video, notice how sharp his vintage tool irons are; he even comments about this, from an experience at a session he attended in which some modern premium hand planes were used.

If you ever have a chance, plan to attend one of the conferences, and watch Adam Cherubini in action. I enjoyed it, and I know you will, too.

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— Al Navas

One of the readers of the blog recently posted the following Comment to the earlier article on More great drawers:

Could you add ‘Cutting Pins by Hand for Half-Blind Dovetails’ to the list of topics to cover? I fully get how to cut pins and tails for through dovetails, but half-blind pins I can’t seem to wrap my mind around. Is it all chisel work? Is there a sawing technique I don’t know of to cut 80% through the thickness of a board?

Torch, this article and video are my response to your request – perfect timing!

Although today it is considered the hallmark of a woodworking craftsman, the dovetail was not always held in such high esteem. In fact, dovetails used to be buried behind trim, as they were strictly a utilitarian joint; but they were used for their holding strength. Today we make dovetails by hand and with dovetail jigs, to get beautiful results; and they are beautiful!

In this episode I show in detail how to cut one half-blind dovetail on a narrow board. Although I managed to damage the fit on the first attempt, I recovered to shoot the chopping of the pins for this episode in its entirety. In the video I show in high speed the details of chopping the waste, from start to finish:

1. Very light chiseling at the baseline, to ensure that it stays nice and clean.
2. Once the baseline is established, more aggressive chopping can take place.
3. But care must be taken at the half-pins, to prevent splitting of the wood; typically, a narrower chisel, and lighter chisel action are required, or the board will split.
4. Slight undercutting at the baseline, about 1° to 2°, will result in better and easier fit of the tails in their sockets.
5. However, too much undercutting will result in a weak joint – as a result, avoid too much undercutting. Practice, practice…
6. Chop the bulk of the waste with the board supported by the workbench; then place the work piece in the vise, to finish with light paring cuts.
7. Cut a very small chamfer on the back of the dovetails, to easy entry into their respective sockets in the pins board.

Gary Rogowski is a great advocate of the 5-minute dovetail, a practice session to get ready for the real job of cutting the joinery on a real project. And although the exercise is typically for through dovetails, I believe it applies just as well to half-blind dovetails. In fact, I always do a similar warm-up when I use the Leigh dovetail jig – I never start cutting dovetails cold, regardless the method. Click on this link to see the Inlaid Dovetails Tutorial videos I posted on the blog in March 2008, using the Leigh D4 dovetail jig.

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Funny. Entertaining. Hilarious. Serious. Supreme raconteur. What else? Oh, yeah – historian of our craft.

If you have never watched Roy Underhill perform, be prepared to be entertained, and to learn important aspects of the history of dovetails. Also, prepare yourself to volunteer to go back to the first half of the 19th Century, to “correct” a craftsman for using dovetail angles that were “too steep”. But wait! Maybe the craftsman allowed his magazine subscription to expire, and totally missed on the “proper” dovetail angles???

In this episode you will see something old, by way of an old chest full of very old tools of a trade. In addition, I invite you to watch, and learn novel ways of cutting your dovetails. No matter what your background, be prepared to be entertained, and to learn along the way. For Roy Underhill has been doing this for close to 30 years!

I would love to learn if YOU cut dovetails in a way similar to the way in which Underhill does. And, if you do, I, too, will have learned something new.

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—— Al Navas

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You can read a short description of the work by Mario Rodriguez at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop web page, and at FineWoodworking.com.

Making drawers, and fitting them well, separates a good piece from a great workpiece. As a result, it behooves the craftsman to learn how make drawers properly. Mario used a case containing two drawers to illustrate differences in fitting options.

Included in this session you will the following: milling the wood, letting it “rest” to acclimate to the shop environment, milling to final dimensions for a perfect drawer front fit, suitable material thickness, layout of the dovetails, fitting the bottoms, hardwood bottoms and grain orientation, drawer slips to beef up the thickness of the sides, drawer web with dust cover, and installation and sizing of drawer stops.

Mario ended the session with a verbal description of the technique he uses to cut and fit the dovetails by hand.

Although I edited the 90-minute session to less than 20 minutes, I hope you will find all the critical information to properly make and fit drawers in your next masterpiece.

If you ever have a chance, make the time to attend one of the Woodworking in America conferences. I know you will likely learn something new, will meet new people, and will enjoy the Marketplace and the terrific tool makers!

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——  Al Navas

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Related posts:
More Woodworking in America posts on this blog.

It had to happen, as the stage was set at the Woodworking in America conference in St Charles: Three women, all chasing the title of “Fastest Borer”. I won’t give away the ending – you will have to watch the video to learn who won.

Christopher Schwarz, Editor of Popular Woodworking and Woodworking magazines, introduced the contestants: Megan Fitzpatrick, Managing Editor of Popular Woodworking magazine; Heather Griffin, with the conference organizing group for FW Media; and Kari Hultman, The Village Carpenter. Each contestant had to bore a 3/4″ hole in a plank using a brace and bit setup.

I screwed up the exposure in part of the video – my bad! But I hope you enjoy the festivities.

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—- Al Navas