I also had a few screws for extra reinforcement.
A little sanding on the fence face and our fence is done.
We are just about ready to make our first test cut but first I would like to discuss blade selection. If there is a number of opinions out there, about which blade is best for cutting veneer and the variety of blades on the market is just overwhelming.
For our purposes just about any blade will get the job done. Some blades will cut smoother, some will cut faster but they will all cut. And to prove that, I am just using a blade that came with my saw. It is a three quarter inch, three tooth for each blade, really nothing special.
If I get a decent cut with this blade, imagine what I can do with the premium blade. A premium blade can produce a surface that is so smooth that it is ready for glue and requires absolutely no sanding.
Here is a few general blade recommendations. For boards that are four to five inches wide, use a half inch or three quarter inch blade with four to six teeth per inch with a least amount of set possible.
Set being how much the teeth flare out on both sides which ultimately affect the width of the cut. For wider boards, you want to use something that is a little faster cutting so I recommend the half inch or three quarter inch blade with three teeth per inch.
Now it is time to set our fence in place. I set the fence about an 8th of an inch away from the blade and then use my stock fence which should be already set for the drift as a guide for the re sawed fence.
If the re sawed fence is tied against the stock fence then I know I am in perfect alignment. Then secure the fence at one end with a clamp. I recheck the measurement and then I clamp the other side.
Now is a good time to take the final measurements at the bottom of the fence and the top of the fence just to ensure that they are exactly the same, if they are not make the appropriate adjustments to the bandsaw table.
If the jig was brought properly, the fence should be exactly 90 degrees to the table. The blade should also be 90 degrees to the table. If your resawed fence is not perfectly perpendicular with the top, it is no the end of the world. Just make sure the fence is perfectly parallel with the blade.
In order to ensure even pressure against the fence, I am going to use a home made feather bollard stack. Now I just took four regular home made feather boards, screw them all together and now I have a tall feather board that applies pressure over the entire face of the board. Here is our test board which I just surfaced on three sides.
I jointed one phase and then one edge. Then I took it in the table saw and reap the other edge so that I have a nice parallel board.
I marked one of the edges with a triangle and that is going to help me keep all the sheets of veneer in order. I feed the board through with a jointed face up against the fence. So let us get this party started and make our first test cut.
Using my work piece as a spacer, I clamp the feather board stack into place. I do not want to apply too much pressure, just enough to keep board securely against the fence. I usually center my feather board right in the middle of the blade.
With the jointed face against the fence, it is time to make our first cut. With a set-up like this, there is not a whole lot that you can do wrong.
Push with a moderate amount of speed and pressure. Keep your eye on the blade itself and make sure everything is tracking properly. Toward the end of the cut, I would like to use my right hand to pull the piece through the cut while carefully pushing with the left side using a long push stick.
Let us take a look at our cut. That is not too savvy for a stack blade. It is a good idea at this point to look at the slice from all different angles and make sure everything looks okay, looks consistent.
If we have got a wedge shape then we know that the angle of the table is a little bit off. If the sheet gets a little bit thinner at one end than the other, then we know that the fence actually is not properly set of for the drift and we would need to repeat that part of the tune up. In most cases, you should end up with a reasonably nice piece of home sawn veneer.
Let us take a look at the original stack piece. Again, if we got a rough surface here, of course we are going to have a rough surface on the stack piece so typically what I do is run this maybe one or two passes at the most over the joiner just to clean up that face and get ready for our second cut.
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