Splitting off thin strips of wood

[smitty10101]

Ok--- I'm CHEAP!!!!   

I'm toying with the idea of buying some holly @$16.50 BF.

Don't have an exact project in mind just yet---maybe using as an accent in some pen blanks--

If I resaw it I'll be losing about 1/8in of the wood so I thought that MAYBE there was a way to split off some thin strips.

 

So I'm looking for some advice & learn from your experiences.

 

IIRC the wood will need to be pretty straight grained but what tool to use???  A knife, a chisel, a plane set for a thick slice? something else?

Time for a new tool??

 

thks

smitty

[Gene Howe]

My first choice for saving the wood would be a bandsaw. 

[Wichman3]

You're looking for a "Froe":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Froe

You need to talk to whomever you are buying the wood from to see if the material is appropriate for splitting.

[Gerald]

If you want the wood flat the least loss will be bandsaw as Gene said. Using a froe or any other splitting method will cause more than 1/8 loss when you plane the wood flat

[lew]

1 for the bandsaw. A tablesaw with a thin kerf blade would be next on my list.

[HandyDan]

It's a trade-off.  Using a band saw or froe results in the need for a lot of hand sanding unless you put the money out for a drum sander.  I would do the same as Lew and use the table saw with a good blade.

[Gene Howe]

An informative article about kerf widths. 

Kerf width 

I'd still use a band saw. Fairly clean cuts are possible with a properly tuned and equipped saw. I use a 1/4" 6 TPI and get nice cuts.

@Dadio uses a band saw a lot. Maybe he can be of some help.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Gene Howe

[Dadio]

When I want to conserve on materials I use the band saw.

What is the size if the blank,and which way do you want to re saw? I have a drum sander so I run the thin piece thru to sand the bandsaw marks off.

If I set the fence for 1/32 thicker than the thin piece, I can sand off 1/32 to clean up the kerf marks.

Then I flip the board over sanded side against the fence and make another cut.

Then run one or both  sides of what is left through the drum sander and then back to the band saw to make another cut.

Holly is nice cutting material. It has very little grain and planes/sands very smooth

Herb

[Gerald]

Herb is right . Before I got the drum sander I would cut a strip and then use the plane to true the cut side. Then you can true the cut side of the board with either plane or jointer. Then ready for another cut on bandsaw. Not perfect but can safely get more cuts from a board than I can with the tablesaw. Works best for me with 1/2 inch 3tpi new blade and the saw set up properly. Be sure to mark the edge of the board for the cut to get the proper thickness .

 

Now in defense of the tablesaw it may be more dangerous but it is faster because it eliminates the need to plane the strips.

Edited March 24, 2019 by Gerald

[Gene Howe]

A good, thin kerf 30 tooth ripping blade..no, not a red one!... will give you a smooth surface. Only light sanding needed, if that. 

[Dadio]

3 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

A good, thin kerf 30 tooth ripping blade..no, not a red one!... will give you a smooth surface. Only light sanding needed, if that. 

But I like red ones........................

Herb

[Grandpadave52]

3 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

A good, thin kerf 30 tooth ripping blade..no, not a red one!.

 

10 minutes ago, Dadio said:

But I like red ones........................

Herb

Me too...with the 30T...bought one of these the other day...came with a free flashlight.

[Stick486]

22 minutes ago, Dadio said:

But I like red ones........................

Herb

me too...

[Stick486]

On 3/23/2019 at 10:48 AM, lew said:

1 for the bandsaw. A tablesaw with a thin kerf blade would be next on my list.

 

same here...

[Stick486]

12 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

bought one of these the other day

not that red one...

[Gene Howe]

Freud makes great red cutting tools....for routers.

[Michael Thuman]

14 hours ago, Gerald said:

Herb is right . Before I got the drum sander I would cut a strip and then use the plane to true the cut side. Then you can true the cut side of the board with either plane or jointer. Then ready for another cut on bandsaw. Not perfect but can safely get more cuts from a board than I can with the tablesaw. Works best for me with 1/2 inch 3tpi new blade and the saw set up properly. Be sure to mark the edge of the board for the cut to get the proper thickness .

 

Now in defense of the tablesaw it may be more dangerous but it is faster because it eliminates the need to plane the strips.

Joint only to get a true edge.  Planar clamps the wood to the table as it feeds thru so if the other side is not flat it will just translate thru to the planed side.  Use a jointer.

 

[schnewj]

Sorry, but nobody has addressed the gorilla in the room. The fact is, that, loss of material is a fact of life. You are going to lose material equal to the width of the blade no matter what you use! Get used to it. If you cut material out of a board you are going to get material loss.

 

The real issue is how do you cut the thin strips SAFELY? I can cut down to 1/8" strips safely on the table saw, but if I were to go any thinner, then I agree with the rest...band saw. Either way, again, there is material loss.

 

In the scheme of things, if you are cutting pen blanks, then, realistically you are probably getting more material loss from the turning process then you are from re-sawing the pen blanks.

[Gerald]

3 hours ago, Michael Thuman said:

Joint only to get a true edge.  Planar clamps the wood to the table as it feeds thru so if the other side is not flat it will just translate thru to the planed side.  Use a jointer.

 

Not it you have the flat side down

[Dadio]

When I drum sand or  plane thin pieces I use a sled W/ DB tape on it to hold the material. I found years ago that if a drum sander is used without a sled after the  material leaves the sander, the suction from the DC will suck the feed belt up high enough for the drum to make contact. This will degrade both the conveyor belt and the drum belt. By using the minimum 1/2" thick sled it gives enough space for the drum not to contact the conveyor belt , thats my story and I am sticking to it.

 

Herb