Resawing 6/4 boards vs thickness planing 4/4 to produce 1/2″ thick drawer parts
Lyptus
| Posted in General Discussion on
Is it more common or standard practice for woodworkers to resaw 6/4 boards in half to produce 1/2″ thick boards or use a thickness planer on 4/4 boards to remove material from both sides to reduce them to 1/2″ thickness. I don’t like wasting wood or money so I’m partial to the resaw approach. However, I’ve resawed several 4/4 boards in half and have been challenged to produce 1/4″ panels from the parts because of the internal stresses that are released after resawing cause the parts to twist and cup (I’m working with kiln dried hard maple). That’s why I’m considering resawing 6/4 so I’ll have enough extra thickness left in the parts to flatten them to 1/2″ after they stabilize.
– Lyptus
Replies
You have already discovered how boards react to resawing. You never know how many will bannana when they are sawn. Typically, it's a fairly high percentage on anything with size, 4" x 10 " drawer sides are different than 8'" x 24" and sucess rates will go down on the larger sizes. 6/4 maple stock is as rare as hen's teeth around here and would not be priced at a discount rate, if you could find some.
I plane down 4/4. I ask my suppliers what they have on hand that is resonable in price and suitable for quality drawer sides. Last bunch I got a great deal on some ash, other times I've found bargains on white oak shorts, #2 red oak, etc. It all depends on what they got in and what they are willing to deal on. I'm normally buying several hundred BF. If I was doing one or two drawers, it would be a different story. Labor is also an important consideration for me, any extra steps can put you out of the competition. I wouldn't think about resawing except in special circumstances. There is no law that says drawer sides have to be 1/2". If I'm getting the milling completed at 5/8", there isn't any reason to go thinner in most cases.
Lucky
Luck is sometimes involved. A local sawyer had a new man cutting up some red oak and he rough sawed it to 13/16. Too bad for me I don't care for read oak. But an Amish shop planes it down for door panels and drawer sides. It was being sold for. I think, .95 bf. Two full bunks Wainscote material.
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