UtahCharley

Hey guys,
I am looking for a band saw. What I'm wanting to do is make small projects from wood that I find laying around. Either whole logs or old boards from demo buildings etc.
I'd need it mainly for re-sawing the wood into workable boards. I'm tight on cash right now and I don't want to buy something that is really not beefy enough for the job.
my question is this. While I save up for a big BS how can I get around not having one. Are there any ways to take say a log that is say 8" across and turn it into a 1" board without the BS?
I have a tablesaw, planner and chainsaw. Any tips?

woodnthings

Are there other resources, friends, sawyers, school shops, Vo Tech classes where you are?
Other than a used 14" from craigs list, there aren't any cheap ways.
There are some spankin' good deals on bandsaws right now from Grizzly and the Rikon at Woodcraft, on sale. I have a 10" Craftsman and a 14" Pro Craftsman, but I don't consider either powerful enough for resawing, You need about 1 1/2 HP for an 8" cut, and that will be a slow go. My resaws are both 3HP, an 18" and a 19", no problems with a 3 TPI blade.
Aw, just go in debt, like the rest of us... bill
BTW there 's a lot of homemade tools on you tube.
Here's a link herehttp://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f26/homemade-wooden-bandsaw-mill-8097/
Here's bandsaw sled I made:
cross-cut sled for band saw?

__________________
Never stand directly in front of a horse or tablesaw that's running!
If you're not making dust, you're gathering it. After I reread my own posts, I agree with myself even more.

clarionflyer

I hear ya UtahCharley,
I'm kicking around getting a bandsaw, too.
My tablesaw cuts about 3 1/2 inches. So I'm able to "resaw" 7 inch boards by flipping. If your saw and jointer are tuned up straight, it works out pretty good. The tablesaw blade wastes a little more wood than a bandsaw.
For more than 7 inches? Woodnthings is right. There are a lot of nice bandsaws on sale right now. I'm not sure about other techniques.
In the mean time, joint and glue 7 incher's together, I guess.

GeorgeC

If you are serious about resawing it does take power. Yesterday I needed to resaw a piece of 11 1/2" wide by 1" think by 22" long Iroko. Took it to the Eglin AFB hobby shop where they have a very big saw. I did not time it, but I am sure it was well over 5 minutes to saw that 22" piece of Iroko. The attedent put in a new 1" blade for me to use.

George

woodnthings

You make a jig to keep it from rolling around. I have used a hand held power plane to create a flat surface on one side to start out when I resaw. But the log had better be held securely on the TS or bad things will happen! bill
Check out this post:
It saves a ton of work to rough out a board with twist, cup or bow in preparation for sawing, planing or jointing. Photos below show how to create a flat surface in less than 1 minute with a spud and a power planer to make the log ready for the bandsaw.. Not every needs one for this operation, but this sure make it safer to saw the log with flats on 4 sides.
BTW part 2: The log is Box Elder and should have Flame inside!!!
Attached Thumbnails

__________________
Never stand directly in front of a horse or tablesaw that's running!
If you're not making dust, you're gathering it. After I reread my own posts, I agree with myself even more.

UtahCharley

Yeah that is what I'm thinking I'll have to do. Use the tablesaw and then plane it down. I gues I'll just have to get some jigs set up to make riping smaller logs without much fuss.

UtahCharley

Yeah I was thinking of chainsawing 2 sides to make them flat but the planer looks pretty nice also. I'll fool around with it this weekend.
Thanks

Ledhead

I've been really looking at the Rikon 14"Deluxe bandsaw at Woodcraft. 1 1/2 HP, large cast iron table, 13" max cutting height. This looks like a lot of saw in a 14".

Does anyone own one of these? Whats the consensus on it?

Bill, maybe I'll just go in debt like you suggest

__________________
Dale
Wentzville, MO