Replies

1. 
   Jamie_Buxton | Aug 03, 2004 08:16am | #1

   Unless the caps are huge, yes it can be done on your tablesaw.  One way takes a little bit of jigging up.  Start with a rectangular blank which is going to become your cap.  Let's say it is 3x3x1.  Make something solid or hollow which is 3x3 by 8 or 10 inches long, and have some way to fasten the blank to the end of this 3x3.  (It might well be whatever fastening scheme you're going to use to fasten the cap to the bed post.)  Tilt the saw blade over your 4 degrees.   On your rip fence, clamp on a stop board which does not go all the way to the blade.  Put the 3x3 in the miter gauge and shove it all the way to the board, so what's going to be the top of the cap is against the board.  Push the miter gauge past the blade to cut the first facet on the cap.   Rotate the 3x3 90 degrees to cut the next facet, and repeat until done.  

   The stop board on the rip fence does two things.  First, it means that the fence isn't getting cut by the saw blade.  Second, it means there is a gap between the blade and the fence, so that the offcut isn't trapped.

   Depending on how you set the fence+stopboard, you can make the facets on your cap meet at a point in the middle of the cap, or you can leave a horizontal land in the middle, with the four facets around it.

   
   

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   Edited 8/3/2004 1:21 am ET by JAMIE_BUXTON

1. 
   joinerswork | Aug 03, 2004 02:30pm | #2

   Jamie,

   Good suggestion.   Alternatively, you could screw all 4 caps to a 3/4" thick x 4-6" wide x 24"long  piece of scrap, plywood, whatever, so that the caps are flush with one edge.  Screw from the back of the scrap, into the center back of the caps.  Lean saw blade over 4*, and run the whole deal past the blade, using the rip fence. Loosen the screws, rotate the caps 90*, repeat 3 more times.

   Cheers,

   Ray