I am about to start building Charger ribs (finally!) and am looking at the option of buying spruce locally. No one in the Seattle area is going to offer 1/4"x1/4" capstrip, so I'm going to have to resaw planks if I go this route. This is mostly about having a local option where I don't have to pay vast sums into the coffers of UPS or FedEx (and wait for far too long for delivery) if I discover I'm three boards short of what I need.
I can imagine two different methods of performing this resawing work: with a bandsaw, and with a tablesaw. At the moment, I own neither tool, so this is an occasion on which I get to pick the best option rather than making do with what I already have.
The obvious advantage of a tablesaw is that I've used one recently if not extensively, and I'm familiar with the process of how to do this kind of resawing. A tablesaw is pretty much purpose built for this kind of work. Unfortunately, it also typically has a kerf that's around 50% of the final product, which seems like a lot of waste.
A bandsaw is relatively new territory to me. I've used one before, but it's been a while, and I'm less familiar with them than with tablesaws. I feel like they're generally safer (no kickback), and more versatile for other uses (no cutting tight curves with a tablesaw), but also suffer from more finicky setup and maintenance requirements.
I have a 1-car garage in which I'll be building, so space is at a premium. The more generally-useful a tool is, the more excited I am to buy it and store it. Money is an object, but I'm thinking the budget for the right tool would be up to about $1000, so it doesn't have to be the cheapest option.
My inclination is to get a good medium-sized bandsaw and a selection of blades, since I believe you want a wider blade for resawing, and a skinnier blade for general bandsaw work. I can't afford to get both saws right now unless I go for cheap tools, which I'd rather avoid, and I worry about how I'll store too many tools and still have space to build. I don't currently have a powered metal-cutting saw, so a bandsaw is appealing since you can fit a speed control to the motor and cut metal as well as wood.
What do you think? Am I missing important factors? What have you used successfully for an airplane build?
I can imagine two different methods of performing this resawing work: with a bandsaw, and with a tablesaw. At the moment, I own neither tool, so this is an occasion on which I get to pick the best option rather than making do with what I already have.
The obvious advantage of a tablesaw is that I've used one recently if not extensively, and I'm familiar with the process of how to do this kind of resawing. A tablesaw is pretty much purpose built for this kind of work. Unfortunately, it also typically has a kerf that's around 50% of the final product, which seems like a lot of waste.
A bandsaw is relatively new territory to me. I've used one before, but it's been a while, and I'm less familiar with them than with tablesaws. I feel like they're generally safer (no kickback), and more versatile for other uses (no cutting tight curves with a tablesaw), but also suffer from more finicky setup and maintenance requirements.
I have a 1-car garage in which I'll be building, so space is at a premium. The more generally-useful a tool is, the more excited I am to buy it and store it. Money is an object, but I'm thinking the budget for the right tool would be up to about $1000, so it doesn't have to be the cheapest option.
My inclination is to get a good medium-sized bandsaw and a selection of blades, since I believe you want a wider blade for resawing, and a skinnier blade for general bandsaw work. I can't afford to get both saws right now unless I go for cheap tools, which I'd rather avoid, and I worry about how I'll store too many tools and still have space to build. I don't currently have a powered metal-cutting saw, so a bandsaw is appealing since you can fit a speed control to the motor and cut metal as well as wood.
What do you think? Am I missing important factors? What have you used successfully for an airplane build?
