Q & A

A) To compensate for blade drift, I will use an oak piece to identify the drift angle. Then I set my fence to the angle. Do I have to set the drift angle for each species of wood that I use?

B) In various wood magazines, yours included, I see that one person sets the piece that is resawn furthest away from the fence. In other articles, I see that the resawn piece is next to the fence. Which is the correct and proper method, or is there really a correct and proper method? - Gus Gonos

Chris Marshall: Blade drift has more to do with the manufacturing idiosyncrasies of the blade you are using and your band saw than it does the species of wood you are trying to cut. You may have to reset the fence for blade drift as the blade wears and dulls or to compensate for where it happens to be positioned on the machine's flywheels, but once it's dialed in, the blade should cut oak, cherry and hard maple equally well.

When I resaw, I use a "point fence" and set it so the fall-off piece is on the outside of the blade, furthest from the fence. That's just habit, and if I'm resawing lumber to simply split it in two, the fall-off piece is no different than the piece adjacent to the fence. If I were going to cut lots of veneer to the same thickness, I'd opt to have the veneer situated between the blade and fence; one blade/fence setup would keep every piece of veneer consistently thick. But, the thinner the veneer, the closer the blade gets to the fence. I wouldn't want any blade deflection to accidentally cut my fence. Use your best judgement. If you've got a resawing setup that works well for you, keep using it! If it's safe and works effectively, that's "right" enough.

Rob Johnstone: Like Chris, I am a big fan of the point fence technique for resawing. It allows on-the-fly adjustment to blade drift. The point fence is particularly good for smaller and lower powered band saws — like the 14” saws that most of us have in our shops. A couple other tips may be helpful. Use the widest blade that your band saw can handle: in resawing, the wider the blade, the straighter it wants to cut. Sharper is always better, too. Also, make sure you have proper tension on the blade (maybe even just a bit more tension than recommended).

Chris Marshall: Since that tabletop is veneer, and you're set on switching to a harder finish, I'd probably use a chemical stripper to remove the old finish instead of sanding it off. It would be a shame to accidentally sand through the top veneer if it is thin and still in good shape. If the ventilation in your shop isn't great, try a citrus-based wood stripper so you can avoid other products with strong and dangerous solvents. The formulation may take longer to do the job, but it'd be the safer way to proceed in a basement shop space. As far as the new topcoat is concerned, if you like water-based finishes, you could certainly use a water-based polyurethane. That should give you a durable finish and good results on most hardwoods. Rust-Oleum® makes a new Ultimate Polyurethane varnish that's water-based, and the company claims it is 33 percent more durable than the competition with "maximum" scratch resistance. You might consider giving it a try on your project.

Rob Johnstone: Chris is right on target for the best procedure for a full-out refinish. But if your main concern is that the finish is “wearing off, ” there might be another slightly easier option. This is especially true if the finish is not worn completely through. You might be able to apply a finish on top of the existing finish with pretty good results if you take a couple of steps. First, clean the surface with soap and water, drying it off completely. Then follow up with a good wipe-down with mineral spirits or TSP (trisodium phosphate). Then sand the surface with ultra-fine sandpaper and wipe off any swarf that results. If the surface looks good and uniform in color, you can apply a coat of dewaxed shellac as a base coat. After that you can apply almost any type of finish, polyurethane, lacquer or varnish. However, if the finish is completely worn through on the top, I think it would be best to get down to bare wood and apply a whole new film coat.

I have a problem with birch plywood that has a Minwax® stain and Minwax Helmsman® Spar Urethane finish. The problem I am encountering is the bubbling of the veneer and the splitting of the veneer after the wood was exposed to the rain. I would think that this problem would have happened after something would have contacted the plywood and scraped across the area, leaving scratches in the topcoat allowing moisture to get under the finish and causing it to bubble. To the best of my knowledge, nothing hit the wood to allow what my guess caused the problem. Here's what the bubbled veneer looks like (see photo). I hope that it shows the problem to which I am referring.

Last year I asked a question about some water damage to the finish. I didn't have the roof properly sealed and it allowed water to get to areas that were not covered by the urethane and water seeped under the finish. I removed the finish, re-stained and then refinished the affected areas and then sealed the roof and trim with clear silicone sealer. The fiberglass roofing material and aluminum trim overlapped the urethane so not to allow water to get above the finish and seep underneath. The sealer does not touch the urethane to damage the finish. It seals the trim to the roof and the screws holding the trim in place. After using the trailer several weeks ago, it was out in the rain again. All areas that were near the sealed area of the roof remained OK, but the afflicted area is just a little above the fender. I know I will have to completely strip the side of the trailer with the bubbled spot. What advice I need is how do I deal with the bubbled area? First, do I have to cut a veneer patch or is there a way to repair the veneer on this vertical surface? My next question, after re-reading eZine issue 272, where my water damage question was answered by Chris Marshall and Tim Inman: If the Minwax Helmsman wasn't the best choice for finishing the trailer, what finish would have been the best to use on the trailer, for longevity and protection from the sun's UV rays? - Jim Sholtis

Chris Marshall: Since the spar urethane didn't keep water from penetrating the plywood veneer, you could turn to a boat-building finish such as epoxy and give that a try. Honestly though, Jim, I would be reluctant to use (what I'm going to assume is interior-grade) birch plywood on what is essentially an outdoor project. Interior-grade plywoods aren't manufactured with the same types of water-resistant adhesives as exterior-grade sheet goods. And, even more, a project that will have water driven against the finish every time you pull the trailer when it rains just exacerbates the chances that the adhesive or wood finish might fail. Marine-grade plywood or even a exterior-friendly lumber (such as redwood, cypress, cedar, teak, mahogany, etc.) would probably have been a better material choice here. Going forward, I would probably avoid rainy days when pulling that good-looking trailer around.