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I agree with Ed — I think what are referred to above as square decorations is properly termed dentil molding, and go back to greek times. Thus, not through tenons, and not applied in themselves, but part of a molding.
The “diamond elements” are pyramidal ends typical of Arts and Crafts design, and don’t in themselves have structural purpose. It was not uncommon to add pyramidal shape to through tenons to add a touch of style, but more common to simply apply the pyramids, both to hide through dowels, screws, nails and just for ornamentation.
Ed, IIRC, he resaws it fat. As you noted, going directly to the final thickness off a resaw is asking for trouble. My impression was that resawing off opposite sides of a thicker board is a recipe for more manageable results than simply resawing thinner stock in half. He still would take proper care with the resulting boards, bring them down to final dimension in stages, all that good stuff.
And since this is still wood, I’m not sure how quartersawn is going to help you. If the problem here is immediate movement after resawing thinner boards from thicker stock, then moisture and tension can still exist regardless of the grain orientation, so I’d be concerned that you’d be spending money for no real gain. If instead your concern was wood movement due to seasonal changes, then sure, quartersawn boards will move much less than flat-sawn boards. Hopefully I’m not misunderstanding!
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Hey Ed! Sorry to hear about your troubles. IDK if you listen to the Fine Woodworking podcast, but Mike Peckovich recently addressed this exact issue, and his answer sounded to me a lot like your thoughts.
My recollection is that he said re-sawing 4/4 material is a train wreck of cup/twist/bow/etc, and it’s simply a non-starter for him. He acknowledged with some exceptionally well-behaved stock it is absolutely possible, or with less-than-perfectly-behaved stock there are some tricks with moisture and stickering and weights and etc, etc, that can be employed, but on average, he doesn’t look to 4/4 material.
He said to get thin slices that don’t go crazy, start with properly-dried, 8/4 stock (or thicker), and take your slices from opposing sides. Obviously the outsides will be much closer to (or at) equilibrium moisture content, and in his experience, there is much greater stability in the resulting boards.
It was, I think, in one of the most recent 2 episodes. I’d start with episode STL268 (I won’t include the Youtube link because this site often mis-identifies replies as containing spam if you simply link to other woodworking content, but just go to the Fine Woodworking channel on YT and search for STL268) and if it’s not there, try STL269. Get the info straight from the source in case I’m mis-remembering something.
Good luck!
Hi Bert,
I suppose if one could remove certain tails, then one could print two, three or more different layouts, then transfer the various layouts one at a time and thus achieve the desired result of arbitrary tails, but I think that’s harder to use than virtually anything you might build into the app.
I’m sure you’ll think of something, looking forward to it!
The forum software is wrecking my replies, so I’ll try again
please forgive any duplicatesI think the tool is off to a great start, and I’m wondering if it can be used to create tails with arbitrary layouts, or must the tails be spaced uniformly?
I’m envisioning a sort of layout where there are two equal tails to the left and right, and a small central tail — can the tool do that?Great advice from Ed above, both technically and the trick with the denatured alcohol. I used a variant of that – merhylated spirits I think you might call it – to help tame some of the end grain in the base. It can make a gigantic difference on end grain.
Good eye @ed – the sides of the top were done with a number 18 and the front and back with a number 16, then some work with a curved card scraper. Hard to see in the picture, but I also used a kinda/sorta #2 ish scratch stock for a tiny hollow to blend the step where the base meets the carcass
It’s possible to work wood from a tree that was just cut down 5 minutes ago — in fact, the wood will be much easier to work. So if your cherry isn’t fully dried yet, that’s probably not your issue. The cherry not being dried yet will come back to haunt you as you mill it up and the wood moves and twists and warps as it releases the bound moisture you are exposing to the atmosphere.
I see you have one face side already done and marked — if that face comes badly out of flat, then it’s probably the moisture issue. If it stays nice and flat, your wood was likely close enough to equilibrium.What I do see right near your big tear-out is what Paul often terms an “undulation” in the grain. You’ve got a touch of party cherry there. What’s happening is the grain is rising towards the surface of the board, then going back down away from the surface. As you plane in a certain direction, all goes well, but the other direction is a train wreck.
If you look at the area around your tear-out, you can see the shadow or three-dimensional look to the wood which is a dead giveaway. Here’s a more exaggerated example, this is my party cherry on the drawer face, you can easily see the wood grain rising and falling away like ribbons:
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is it quite normal to have to plane one stock face, with reversing fibers, from both ends (opposite planing versus)? I mean that some times I am not able to obtain a good surface, planing all the stock lenght following one direction. I have to reverse planing direction where there was a branch. Or is it more an issue of not enough experience?[/blockquote]Is it quite normal? It depends. It is quite normal if you choose challenging boards, use challenging woods or even if the grain isn’t straight. If you choose straight-grained, non-figured stock, it’s abnormal (but will still happen if you plane in the wrong direction). As you watch more and more of Paul’s videos, and get more experience, you’ll get a better sense of what the grain patterns are telling you.
I just finished a project with some very curly cherry, and getting it planed with no tearout was a big challenge. My wife called the grain pattern “party cherry” because it reminded her of streamers and confetti. If you have also chosen some curly cherry, or just some lower-grade stuff with knots and other defects, you might well have a tough time.
Until your skills have a chance to come up a bit, maybe give yourself a break and avoid crazy jungle woods, highly figured woods, knots and pretty much everything except dead straight-grained, clear stock. It will reduce the number of variables you have to juggle at once, and be a bit more forgiving.
If your cherry board looks like this, run away:
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You must be logged in to view attached files.First, let’s just get it out there, lumber grades are kind of from a bygone era, and don’t have as much relevance as once was the case. Of course there will always be areas such as, e.g., long runs of molding, high-end veneer, period furniture, etc where the market still demands perfection.
These days, there are entire market segments where characteristics that lumber graders are required to call “defects” actually raise the price of wood — knotty pine, knotty alder, reclaimed woods of all stripes, live edge (this has been the flavor of the month for years now), etc.
Certainly there are all kinds of pros serving very different market niches, so every type of response to your question is possible. These days, accentuating the so-called defects is very much in vogue, and it gets called “character wood”. This may have started back with George Nakashima and his classic “Arlyn” table, which was a wild mess of redwood:
[img]http://www.tworedroses.com/newsletters/images/newsletter02122018/nakashima1.jpg[/img]There’s also a huge market for taking even incomplete pieces of “character” wood and setting them in a bath of epoxy, letting the entire thing cure, and then using the epoxy chunk with wood bits trapped inside as if it were a piece of lumber. So-called “epoxy river” tables and the like, I’m sure you’ve seen them.
Also, any sort of defective wood can simply be labeled as “rustic” and used in a different context than has traditionally been seen. One might say this opens up more opportunities for creativity because a broader range of options exists in todays marketplace.
So I don’t know if there is a sweet spot per se, it’s up to the individual and even can vary based on the mood of the individual. You might make a perfect Morris chair in flawless quartersawn oak one day and a rustic country cupboard using knotty pine the next, right?
Hi Sebastien
In Canada, is it OK to import stuff from the USA, or is it crazy expensive? If you can import stuff, then your problems are solved, there are plenty of choices out there.
If you’re limited to Canada, I know Lee Valley sells a Pax 22″ and 26″ rip saw with 4.5 TPI. I’ve never used one, but Lee Valley enjoys a good reputation, so it’s probably a good saw, I think they’re really close to your budget, and it’s brand-new.
Also, since you’re not resawing wider stock, if you’re willing to consider a Japanese saw, you can get a rip-tooth kataba from Lee Valley for 40-50 bucks, or a Suizan 10.5″ kataba from Amazon for 35 bucks. I’ve used a Gyokucho from Amazon for several years as a travel saw — if it gets stolen I won’t cry — and it comes super sharp, and does really good work. In a coupla years, you buy a replacement blade for about 20 bucks, and you’re as good as new.
Otherwise, ebay is still an option, I’m sure with patience and care you can find a good saw.
Hi Sebastien
Disston made millions of fine saws back in their day, but they weren’t the only brand. Here in America, it was not uncommon for many high-end hardware stores to have their own brand of saws, some of which were as good as any Disston….Atkins is an example, but as for other brand recommendations, I’m only familiar with American brands, so I don’t know if you’d have access to these….Hibbard, Shapleigh Hardware, Cuyahoga Saw Co, and Simonds to name a few. Also, there are now modern makers who produce saws far superior to anything Disston ever made, such as Bad Axe.
The point, which Colin touched on above, is that you have options, although if your heart is set on owning a Disston then go right ahead. The Disston Number 12, later called the D-12, is pretty much considered their finest saw, perhaps only with the exception of the Victory model, but as Colin said, much more important is that your saw is sharpened and set properly. And where/what you buy does depend somewhat on where you are. Here in the USA it’s probably very different from the EU or Asia….I’d be very careful on ebay, but I’m sure gems can be found there.
Also — I should add that many brands, even Disston, are not a guarantee of a great quality saw. The quality controls on steel 100 years ago were primitive compared to what we have today — look what happened to the Titanic. Even if you get a saw from 1910, the steel might have defects which make it weak, and unable to hold an edge. And then there were the later years, when power tools were starting to take over, World Wars were using up all good materials, society was changing — even companies like Disston made products that were not nearly as good as their earlier stuff tended to be as they struggled to survive in the changing times.
- This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by Edmund.
Hi Sebastien
If I understand you correctly, you’re looking to rip a board through its thickness, rather than its width, that’s commonly called resawing…..this:
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So a handsaw is the kind of saw in the picture above, and the best kind of handsaw for re-sawing does depend a bit on the wood you’re resawing. Certainly, whatever kind of saw you get, you’ll want it to have its teeth filed to rip, rather than crosscut.
The length of the blade will depend on the size of board you want to process. For example, if you will be regularly resawing big boards…let’s say 4 inches thick and 22 inches across, then you’ll want to build or buy a roubo-style frame saw…here are a couple of examples:
[img]{http://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/wp-content/uploads/resaw-frame-saws.jpg}[/img]
Dieter Schmid sells a kit, I think Bad Axe does, too, or you can google around for DIY solutions, which are plentiful.
If you’re going to be mainly resawing boards that are somewhat smaller in size, say, 10 inches wide or less, then something around the size you mentioned, 24 inches, 22 inches, 26 inches etc will be fine.
The number of teeth: there’s some preference here, but I’d say for a Roubo frame saw, maybe 2-3 tpi, for a “normal” 22–26 inch handsaw, something in the 4-5 tpi range, maybe as many as 6 tpi, would be fine.
Paul has videos teaching proper resawing technique, so check those out asap.
When it comes to electric, I always run to the professionals. I can see how the cost to install a new type of outlet could be off-putting, but I’d at least consult with a local professional electrician and get the scoop.
I think there are no bad choices here:
1) Not sure, but could an electrical pro swap out your 3-pin for a 5-pin? I ask because it seems inexpensive, and I have a memory of seeing 5-pin to 3-pin adapters, so then the same outlet could service both machines. Talk to a pro, a quick phone call should get you quick answers and from there it’s an easy decision.
2) Big picture, if your worst-case scenario is that you end up with an FB-510, then you are in a very good position 🙂
Over 18″ of rip capacity, 4 HP? I know a number of professional woodworkers who have built successful careers without owning a bandsaw of such capacities.Good luck, post pictures once it’s installed!
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