WWA Info Exchange

In the back of my truck I have five big blocks of rather highly figured big leaf maple. It's only been recently felled so it's about as wet as you can imagine for maple this time of year.


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Some of this might end up as turning blanks but the original intent was to resaw most of it for some cabinet door veneer.

I'm rather reluctant to wait the 4-6 years for this stuff to become air dried; I could have it kiln dried at a little local mill or I can attempt to resaw it green. I took one big block and tried running it through my MM16 equipped with a Lennox 1" 3TPI blade. Several issues there.

It doesn't seem like the gullets are clearing the waste very well. Cutting dry wood it seems to cut a good deal faster given the same depth of cut. Whether that's a condition of the blade geometry and tooth count I don't know. Would a lower tooth count be better?

I get horrible black stains on the wet wood from the saw table, fence, and most of all from the blade itself. I've scrupulously cleaned all but the blade with little improvement. The black appears to be superficial and is easily planed or scraped away. Is this something one should expect when cutting green, wet wood?

Lastly, does anyone have a design for a resaw sled? I'm having a devil of a time getting consistent thickness for the slices. The saw and blade are tuned for drift so that's not an issue. What is is my trying to handle these heavy chunks of wood through the saw.

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Nullum Gratuitum Prandium

Cheers - Dennis

I can sure relate to your situation! Wet wood does need a different blade geometry - Timberwolf has an alternate set blade for the purpose, and you might even be better off with a narrower ( 3/4 or even 1/2" ). If your MM has the ability, you might also try changing blade speed. Check if it gets hot. The black is likely cooked sap/dust mix from blade heat.

From TW: THE AS (Alternate Set): These blades are only available in 3/8" x 3tpi, 1/2"x 3tpi and 1/2" x 2tpi. These blades are unique in their body thickness, set, and rake angle. They are .032 thick, have a full alternate set, a unique rake angle of 8.5° and also incorporate the unique geometry of our PC tooth design. These blades are primarily used by wood-turners and wood-carvers when roughing out blanks from burls and logs. Their performance is excellent if the thickness of your material exceeds 6 to 8 inches These blades are not meant to be used on three wheel band saws or any saw with less than a 90" blade length or a wheel diameter of less than 14".

PS: About resaw sleds: If you have squared up one edge and one face you can use roller stands to support the piece on infeed and outfeed. I prefer this to trying to muscle a sled, unless it's "in the round", in which case I'll just screw a piece of ply to it and wedge it to keep it from rolling on me until I get it squared up.

_________________
I bring to life, I bring to death:
The spirit does but mean the breath:
I know no more. (Tennyson, In Memoriam)

Thanks for the reply, Gene.

No dice on speed control for the saw but a narrower blade would make sense. This Lennox Trimaster just leaves such a better finished surface it's a shame to not use it. Won't get back to this project 'til after the weekend and Mom's Day, though.

Thanks again.

_________________
Nullum Gratuitum Prandium

Cheers - Dennis

I don't have a clue what Lenox offers, but you might call them and see if they have something to fit your need.

_________________
I bring to life, I bring to death:
The spirit does but mean the breath:
I know no more. (Tennyson, In Memoriam)

Suffolk has a one inch which might do you well. It is here, along with the number to call to get their best recommendation for your saw and circumstance. http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/silicon ... ection.asp

As to the pieces, run them at ~1.75 inches or so thick after appropriate witness marks. You'll lose less and dry best around that thickness. If the grain is straighter, you can go back to 1.5 and get about the same. Sticker, stack, coat or cover the ends, then resaw after a year or so. Since the inner veneers will always be different than the outers, you take one thin outer from each side, relax up to a week, reflatten, then do it again until things are used up.

Thanks for the advice, NB! I was concerned about ripping thicker boards for drying then doing the veneer thing worrying about book matching flitches. After experimenting with a portion of one of the blanks I realize that a 1 3/4" wide plank will yield quite a lot of real estate with respect to veneer. Another down side to slicing the veneer green is the amount of distortion that results! It would be very difficult to manage a veneering operation using potato chips.

_________________
Nullum Gratuitum Prandium

Cheers - Dennis

Book-matching is done with one from the rear of one triangle matched to one from the lead edge of two triangles. If you need the pair that very day.