After some recommendations from some folks here, I got my old Laguna 16 (Meber) set up with the new ceramic guides. This Meber model saw leaves a lot to be desired but it's working.

My goal was to get this dialed in well enough that I could get 3 back sets (6 pieces) out of 4/4 lumber. One of the problems I've run into in the past was wandering cuts due largely to the ripped piece cupping against the fence and putting sideways strain on the blade. I devised this sled to try to get rid of that problem and so far, so good.

It's basically an X-Y axis table. The axis perpendicular to the blade moves the stock over after each cut while keeping the sled parallel to the blade (adjusted for drift). The sled rides on the parallel axis. The finished version will hold the stock with vacuum, double sided tape for now.

The advantages are that there is no fence for boards to cup against and that the weight seems to reduce vibration while making steady feeding much easier.

My question for those of you who have done a lot of resawwing is, how much waste can you reasonably expect from the kerf AND sanding? I did some cuts in 8" hard maple and the Timberwolf ASS blade I was using took less than .050" and the cut was so clean that I only had to sand about .007" per side to get it totally clean. A total loss a little more than .060". Does it get much better than that? I've only got about 4 hours into this thing so far but tightening it up will be a time sink.

Some photos...

Thanks, glad it's helpful.

Andrew, theoretically, I should be able to get finished thicknesses close to .110". That's 6 x .110" = .660" plus 5 times the .050" kerf/sanding waste (.300") for a total of .960". Throw in another .020" for slop and .020" for flattening the original board. That's optimistic and all in theory though. Haven't tried it on good wood yet!

I'm not sure I can get those results in something like cocobolo though. I'll post again when I do some real wood. But one great benefit was that I got rid of ALL the saw marks in 4 passes per side on my drum sander with worn out 180 grit! The savings in sanding alone could be worth the trouble.

Another thing, the Timberwolf ASS gives a great cut but, as it says in the Griz catalog, use these "where speed is not a concern"! They mean it. Took me about 2.5 minutes to cut a 18" piece of 8" maple. I have a Resaw King blade too but have yet to try it.

Filippo, I'm a resaw amateur compared to some of the folks here but here's what I know...

-The saw needs to have enough power and be well tuned. Google, of course, will get you tons on that.

-Limit vibration by making sure the wheels are true, the tires and belt are in good shape.

-Good guides, well adjusted (these laguna ceramic ones are great!).

-The right blade (lots in the archives here on that).

-Steady feed is huge. Stalling or changing speeds can cause some serious blips. The sled is great for that as would be a power feed.

-Proper blade tension. I've heard one theory that most people over tighten and looser blades gives better results. From my experience, I don't buy it. Blades may last longer but cuts can wander.

-Excellent dust collection. Good for the lungs and quality of the cut.

Barry, my saw had Carter's on top and the European guides below. Those particular Carter's were ridiculously hard to adjust. The European were OK. Either way though, the ceramic guides are better. They reduced blade vibration very noticeably.

I figure they will pay for themselves if they allow me to get a few extra sets of resaw yield, and I think they will in a short time.

I'm a little concerned they they are brittle and could be broken by a mishap like a bad weld or a blade that gets kinked without breaking. Haven't heard any reports of that though.

Bob, is it worth having some extra pieces on hand or can you usually keep working one way or another until replacements arrive?

As for reversing them, how? I haven't looked into it at all yet. Are they glued? Release with heat? Friction fit? (I know I can find out from Laguna but since you've done it....)

Thanks.

Thanks Bob.

Bruce, The sled just sits on the table and clamps from underneath. It doesn't lock into the miter slot or anything. So I just draw a line parallel to the edge of a scrap board, saw on the line for awhile, stop the saw without moving the board, mark the edge of the board on the table, and clamp my sled parallel to that line.

I just got the vacuum hooked up to it and am sawing some mahogany to get the rest of the bugs worked out. If all goes well, I'll post some more pics tomorrow and have a better idea of how accurate it is.

Thought I would follow up on this now that I have done more than a few test pieces.

I was overly optimistic about yield (why is it that test runs never actually work out like the real thing?)

I added the vacuum set-up. By the way, if anyone doubts the holding power of vacuum, I suggest you get one finger pad on each hand stuck between the board and the platen. Nothing to do but loose some skin, say a few choice words, and never doubt again how much vacuum can suck.

I also added the eye bolt adjustable stop which works great.

To make a long story short, given that every other species I tried after my test maple pieces required more sanding to get out the saw marks, the best I was able to do was get (6) .085" sides out of a .900" thick piece of Wenge with a Timberwolf AS-S blade. Kerf was .055" and the pieces needed about .010" sanded off each face to get out the saw marks.

The sled would benefit by adding some linear rails for the horz axis. The long axis is easy to get play-free but the short axis would not stay perfectly parallel on it's own. The point fence took care of it but then you have the issue of a cut that degrades just a bit with each pass as the point fence rides over the saw marks. A short axis that is spot on and lockable would be a good improvement.

The big disappointment was the Laguna Resaw King blades. They literally would not even cut 4-1/2" cocobolo sides. It would lock up like a kick back and made a terrible mess. In Wenge, they wandered terribly. The cut went from .130" to about .250" and back again. Maybe these particular blades were defective. And Laguna did say they will re-sharpen or send me some new ones but it was strange. The Timberwolf (at 1/8 the price) cut fine. I could only cut mahogany with the Resaw King and it even wandered a bit there. Too bad because the kerf is thinner and the finish can be way smother than the timberwolf.

The timberwolf did start to have some problems in coco after cutting several sides though. The oily dust wasn't clearing well and started building up on the blade. Any recommendations for dealing with coco? Forget the thin kerf blades and deal with the waste?

Marc, yes, the thrust bearing was the first thing I checked. The guides were close to the gullet but not into it. I went over everything several times, even tried a second blade. Cranked the tension, loosened the tension. My best guess is that chips weren't clearing but I really can't say.

And speed didn't matter. One cut took me over 3 minutes to get through a Wenge back and it wandered so much that I only got one set out of a 1" board.

Resawing ain't for wimps, it's real work!

Indeed. Not only am I missing some chunks of skin from getting pinched by the vacuum, there are the nicks from blade changing and adjusting and the blisters from pushing against the sled for hours. And that's nothing compared to the bruises from beating my head against the wall!

It's not just about saving money for me though. I just think it's a shame to waste 50% of such a limited and precious resource before we ever even cut it to shape!! Gotta be a better way.