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[Canuck]

The tool of choice for resawing is definitely the band saw.  A 20'' with a 1'' blade and your good to go!

[Eric Fuller]

Bandsaw is def. better for resawing, but since my jointer only goes 6" wide I only end up resawing that wide anyway.  Works fine on the tablesaw.  Robert, check out the 40 tooth thin kerf freud rip blade - works well for resawing.

EDIT: Just saw that it takes you 20 minutes to saw one board.  Why?  Just lift the blade a little over 1/2 the thickness of the board, cut it, flip it and cut the other side.  I use a featherboard just before the blade to keep the bottom of the board against the fence.  Use a push stick for the last bit to keep your fingers clear.  As long as your board is joined/planed flat, you can get a great cut.  Pretty simple really.  Here's a link:

http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/2005/02/18/wb/

[Scott Peterson]

I use a bandsaw for re-sawing, all the time.  I even rip down exotics for the square sticks with the bandsaw, because it saves maybe a whole stick over about every 6.5" of board width - compared to ripping the sticks on the TS.  This is because of the kerf width difference between the BS and the TS. 

I used to re-saw with the tablesaw - and that can be a little scary.  I would raise the blade about half of the width of the board, then make one pass, flip the board and make the second (keeping the same side of the board against the fence for both passes).  But, it's a bit dangerous, and I wasted a lot of wood that way.  If you make a high fence and a push block that straddles the high fence, you can do OK - you really only need to hold the piece that is between the blade and the fence.

Actually, resawing with a bandsaw is very common.  You can buy riser kits for your bandsaw which will increase the max board size that you can re-saw.  I just have an old Shopsmith bandsaw that will resaw up to about 6" wide boards.  This does most of what I need.  I use a 3/8" wide blade, 4 teeth per inch.  I was surprised how cheap good bandsaw blades are after going through all the research for a good TS blade...  They're between $20 and $30 from what I have seen.

Robert, we're going to be buying you woodworking books and get you updated on tools!  When is your birthday, anyway?

Another side note (a follow-on to a comment I made earlier today) - if you guys ever have the opportunity to visit an Amish woodworking shop - definately do it!  They buy modern tools, strip off the electric motors and run a belt to a shaft system that runs through the shop.  Off on the side is usually a little generator type motor (internal combustion) which powers the shaft system.  Kind of ingenious, but still the long way around.  You may also see a horse pulling a farm implement which does bailing, cutting, raking, etc.  For some reason, they can use the implement to do it's main function, but they will not allow it to propel itself.  Really ridiculous! 

[Robert Yarger]

I have been using the table saw method to cut a board in half, and it does work fairly well.  It takes me so long to split a thick board because I only raise the blade by 1/2" with every successive pass and take it fairly slow (14 passes for a 7" wide board - flipping it over each time). 

I have found that making a cut deeper than that causes problems.  Deep cuts (especially if done fast) tend to vibrate the blade, and you don't have to plain off as much wood if the blade does not vibrate in this manner (say if you want planks thicker than 1/4" after plaining) .  Also, once you get over 3" into some wood types, the two sides you are cutting can start pinching in.  I guess this has to do with removing the middle support grain between the two sides, but this happens a lot less when I take shallower cut passes.  (Have you ever noticed that after you cut the board in half, the two pieces frequently bow inwards concave to the cutsides.  Lay them back on top of eachother, and you can see  definate bow - which is fixed by the first pass through the plainer.)

As far as the band saw, the problem I have had is with the blade waving back and forth, especially with thicker pieces.  There is so much waive that after I am through plaining it smooth, I am lucky to get two 1/4" pieces.  Of course, I can go real slow and this is not as much of a problem, but I find myself going so slow that the tablesaw method is faster.  Perhaps the trick there is using the 1" blade that one of you mentioned.  The blade on my bandsaw is more closer to 3/4".

[Eric Fuller]

I don't have a bandsaw, but I'm fairly sure there are blades designed specificly for resawing.

[Robert Yarger]

An additional thought about John's problem of burl breaking up in a plainer.  What do you all think about applying a layer of laquer to the strong burl areas and letting it absorb in and dry before plaining.  I had to use a similar method on the burl dominoes that John sent me to keep them from shattering apart when I was machining them.  Perhaps this would do some good in holding the burl fibers together enough to go through a plainer.  And of course, it dries clear and would not be detectable on the finished product. 

[Eric Fuller]

Ive never worked burl, but it seems to me you would definitely want to impregnate it with something heavy duty before machining it.  Poly would seem to work well, but might be hell on your blades.