Modifying a Bandmill for Resawing

Thoughts on how to set up a bandsaw mill for efficient resawing operations. June 30, 2007

Question
Does anyone make a resaw attachment for a B-20 TimberKing? I have 2" material that I would like to cut into 1" material, but I really don't do a whole lot per year, so buying a separate machine won't work financially.

Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From contributor T:
Why can't you just lay the board down on the mill and cut it in half? I have a Timberking 1220 and I believe the deck is similar. I have resawn a lot of thicker stock, and had no problems. If the boards are warped you can use wedges to keep the board positioned and then skim the top and flip it 180 degrees. Then continue to cut your desired dimensions.
I don't see the advantage of having a resaw attachment when it is already possible with a bandmill. Can someone explain this?

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From contributor R:
To explain the resaw attatchment... speed! Probably 10 times faster than splitting boards on the mill one at a time. You continuously feed material through the saw. When splitting on the mill, it's sometimes difficult to hold lumber one board at a time, especially when splitting thinner (6/4 or 8/4) stock. Not much of an edge left to clamp on to.

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From contributor S:
I have a B20 and had a similar problem, so I made one from a 2 x 12 with 1 x 2's attached to the sides for something to wedge against. The 1 x 2's were only about 1/2 inch proud of the 2 x 12 so they didn't interfere with the cut. I anchored the table to the bed rails with eye bolts screwed into the bottom of the 2 x 12 then used ratcheting nylon strap tie-downs to secure. I set up the blade in the middle of the 12 foot 2 x 12 table and fed the material through from one end (the tooth side of the blade). Be sure to put the material against the fence because when it contacts the fence, it'll throw it against it. This table cost less than $20. I was milling less than 1/16 inch from some of the lumber and it worked fine.

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From the original questioner:
The reason I am looking to resaw is because I mainly do reclaimed lumber. Many of the 2" and 3" boards I get can be increased in value by cutting into 4/4, but if it is warped at all, I lose money. I have seen some resaws that exert pressure down on the board, flattening it just before the cut to get a good 4/4 board.

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From contributor H:
Contributor S, do you have a picture of your attachment on your B20?

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From contributor S:
Sorry, but it's not set up right now. The next time I use it I'll take a picture and post it. It's really pretty simple. There's one eyebolt on each side of a bed rail (I used two of the rails, one near each end of the table) then the strap goes through one eyebolt, under the rail then through the other eyebolt, then cinch it down tight. The comment from the first posting about wedges is misleading. The fence is to keep the lumber from flying off the table. I had originally tried to secure the lumber and feed the blade, but quickly figured out that didn't work. Any slight bow, twist, etc. and it's almost impossible to hold it down against the table with wedges or anything else that won't interfere with the blade. The material I was resawing was too close to final thickness to flatten and flip over.

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From contributor H:
Are you assuming that the boards you push through are flat? How does it handle slightly twisted boards?

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From contributor S:
That's right - the boards were pretty flat and all 1" or less in thickness, but even the ones that had minor twist or bow could be pushed down by hand during the feed.

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From contributor I:
Why don't you check the link below? Someone posted a nice picture of a very simple attachment using a feather board.

Resawing on a Bandsaw Mill