2018-02-11

Resawing Small Irregular Shaped Parts - Can it be done?

Handmade Wooden Toy Car - Bad Bobs Custom Motors Coupe
Handmade Wooden Toy Car - Bad Bobs Custom Motors Coupe

Handmade Wooden Toy Car - Bad Bobs Custom Motors Sedan
Handmade Wooden Toy Car - Bad Bobs Custom Motors Sedan


I started making these before the "official plans were released. I only had drawings and no final dimensions. I made some assumptions and one of them turned out to be wrong. I made the fenders to thick.  Now I had a pile of fenders the wrong size.

I needed to remove 1/2 inch or make new fenders.

I could sand them to size on a belt sander but the weather is miserable and I sure don't want to do that kind of sanding in my garage.

Scrollsaw? No way I could hold it straight enough and they would likely break.

Use the table saw. Forget it. I could have nightmares from thinking about it.

I tried every hand saw I have that I thought had a chance of working. I have a Dozuki saw that would have done it if it had bee just a bit wider. The back kept the saw from cutting all the way through.

I have a Shopsmith bandsaw with a Carter guide and a 1/8 inch blade. It's not really designed for resawing. and I have been putting it through some pretty tight turns so I wasn't sure it would cut straight enough to do this. Plus, I was a bit afraid it would break the fenders. They are quite fragile. It only broke one.

Shopsmith Band Saw with Carter Guide and 1/8 inch blade set up to resaw fenders.
Shopsmith Band Saw with Carter Guide and 1/8 inch blade set up to resaw fenders.

Shopsmith Band Saw with Carter Guide and 1/8 inch blade set up to resaw fenders.
Shopsmith Band Saw with Carter Guide and 1/8 inch blade set up to resaw fenders.

Shopsmith Band Saw and a pile of pieces of fenders resawn on this saw.
Shopsmith Band Saw and a pile of pieces of fenders resawn on this saw.

A pile of resawnwooden toy fenders next to my favorite hand saw.
A pile of resawn wooden toy fenders next to my favorite hand saw.
I set up everything to hold the fenders snug against the fence and cut slowly letting the blade do the work. It worked like a charm.

You may have noticed that I don't use a fancy resaw fence. I have two band saws and neither of them requires any kind of tracking adjustment. I was concerned about this one because it was so thin and had been twisted a lot. No need to worry it tracked straight and true all the way through. I use Wolf Blades and Cater guides on both Shopsmith band saws. One band saw has a 1/8 inch blade and the other has 1/2 inch.