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Bookmatching
- Thread starter photoshopgeek
- Start date
Borson makes mistakes, too. He ruined some expensive wood 4years ago and I haven't got satisfaction yet. That's the only time I farmed cutting out thinking "they" could do better than I. It'll cost you minimum $100 for cut and shipping easy with Borson.
The essence of "bookmatching" is to creat as close a mirror image as possible with the two halves. There's only one way to do this and it's remove as little material in a saw kerf as possible and practically none when sanding the faces. The more you have to sand a sawn surface flat the more the mirror images deteriorate. Spalt wood with black lines is delicate and you'll loose the match quick.
My method is sand both sides of a blank parallel, resaw exactly down the center with a thin kerf carbide band then sand both halves face down to size. The halves can then be glued without touching the face or lightly sand the face after sizing if desired. It only takes minimal face sanding if you size the halves on the back side and saw straight and true. Good luck.
The essence of "bookmatching" is to creat as close a mirror image as possible with the two halves. There's only one way to do this and it's remove as little material in a saw kerf as possible and practically none when sanding the faces. The more you have to sand a sawn surface flat the more the mirror images deteriorate. Spalt wood with black lines is delicate and you'll loose the match quick.
My method is sand both sides of a blank parallel, resaw exactly down the center with a thin kerf carbide band then sand both halves face down to size. The halves can then be glued without touching the face or lightly sand the face after sizing if desired. It only takes minimal face sanding if you size the halves on the back side and saw straight and true. Good luck.
SDB Guitars
Commercial User
Not having the luxury of a bandsaw that I would trust with resawing, I have done it on a table saw with a reasonably thin kerf blade.
I don't try to do it in 2 passes (one on each half) though, as my saw doesn't seem to like it. I take small bites on each side... I raise the blade an inch, do both sides again, raise it another inch, do both sides again, and so on until it's done... then I clean it up with my planer (NOT recommended for highly figured woods).
I waste a bit more, and I don't like to do it this way... which is why if I want something fancy and bookmatched, I generally buy from Larry... the increased cost is what is factored in to get better quality wood that is very well bookmatched. All in all, the cost is easy to accept once you've nearly ruined a perfectly good board (should have been a bookmathced top AND back, only got a somewhat poorly bookmatched top out of it) or had a piece of wood kick back/up on you, making you fear for your fingers, face and chest.
I don't try to do it in 2 passes (one on each half) though, as my saw doesn't seem to like it. I take small bites on each side... I raise the blade an inch, do both sides again, raise it another inch, do both sides again, and so on until it's done... then I clean it up with my planer (NOT recommended for highly figured woods).
I waste a bit more, and I don't like to do it this way... which is why if I want something fancy and bookmatched, I generally buy from Larry... the increased cost is what is factored in to get better quality wood that is very well bookmatched. All in all, the cost is easy to accept once you've nearly ruined a perfectly good board (should have been a bookmathced top AND back, only got a somewhat poorly bookmatched top out of it) or had a piece of wood kick back/up on you, making you fear for your fingers, face and chest.
Larry is right on the money vis-a-vis the accurate bookmatch. It gets even worse if your stock is riftsawn.
For my money, Woodslicer blades are the cat's meow when it comes to resawing. With a properly set-up bandsaw and a good high fence, it is not all that difficult. With 1" stock you should easily get 3 slices (so 2 cuts) with the top finishing at 1/4" after blade kerf and finish sanding, and the last slice slightly thicker for headstock veneers, control cover plates, etc.
For my money, Woodslicer blades are the cat's meow when it comes to resawing. With a properly set-up bandsaw and a good high fence, it is not all that difficult. With 1" stock you should easily get 3 slices (so 2 cuts) with the top finishing at 1/4" after blade kerf and finish sanding, and the last slice slightly thicker for headstock veneers, control cover plates, etc.
