Rough Cut Cedar

[Rob-bee]

I have about 10 rough cut cedar boards, 2 inches thick, about 12 inches wide and about 14 feet long. Very few knots. I want to re-saw them into 1 inch thick. They have been in a garage for about 7 years. So they are dry. Is this possible? I checked with some local cabinet shops and even with a guy with a portable sawmill. He said he wouldn't re-saw that thin his machine wouldn't go that small. It would be a big waste to plane them down. Any advice?

 

[clowman]

I can't help you, but let me bring this back to the top if the stack and see if anyone missed it..

 

[DaveO]

There is no reason why you couldn't re-saw those boards. If they are rough at 2", you would need to joint then flat and square and then subtract the BS blade kerf width, you might not get a full 1" stock after sawing, but you should get something that can be planed down to at least 3/4". Obviously you would need something to support the weight off the BS table and a BS with at least a 12" capacity, but it is very do-able. There are several members here that have those requirements, maybe one will chime in and offer to help you out. I would, but you would have to rip those beautiful wide boards in half to fit my BS. Good luck and show us what they look like after sawing. Dave

 

[Rob-bee]

That's the only way I have to do it, is to rip them in small enough widths to split them. I don't want to do that either. I was told with them being a few years old they would be to dry and the band saw wouldn't stay on center. I don't know if that is true or not.

 

[Ozzie-x]

Dave is right on the money. There's no reason these can't be resawn, just finding someone with a big bandsaw to do it will be the catch. One of the portable bandmills that uses the smaller blades (like a Wood Mizer) should be able to do it easily. A shop bandsaw like the old 20" Delta Rockwell industrial or a Laguna could also do it with the correct blade. For a shop bandsaw, note that cedar is a softwood and you'll want to use a blade with a rip tooth design for softwoods, especially to cut that much wood it will be worth it to buy a blade, and may avoid problems.

 

[DaveO]

I don't know about wood being too dry to cut well. Unless the garage has been climate controlled at a very low humidity, those boards are probably around 12-15% mc, and should behave normally. The biggest problem besides finding someone with a large enough bandsaw is managing the length if you want to keep the 14' continious. A bandsaw fence with a pivot point will help to maintain a straight cut if the blade does begin to wander. Dave

 

[McRabbet]

Rob-bee: You might want to talk to cpowell (lives in Nash County) who just ordered an 18" Rikon saw to replace his lemon Delta 12" that never worked correctly when he set it up brand new. Check out this Thread to read about his saga... In my opinion, your cedar is more valuable in wider boards as long as it is good and straight and not cupped.

 

[cpowell]

Robert,

I have ordered an 18" Rikon BS, due sometime mid-late January (I hope). I don't have much experience (ok, I have NONE) in the resawing area. I am not sure experimenting on your stock would be ideal...well, maybe not ideal for you anyway. I might learn a little something there, huh? ;-)

14 ft length sounds like a handful.

What type of cedar do you have? Is the stock flat?