Replies

1. 
   RickL | Feb 02, 2007 10:51pm | #1

   My first choice would be to cross cut to length on a sliding panel saw. The classic textbook way is to  rough cut to length oversize by 1/8" after glue up and use a router and guide board to finish size it. There's no shortage of good books out there with basic techniques.

2. 
   Samson | Feb 03, 2007 01:11am | #2

   Assuming your boards are slightly longer than the final length of top, you have several options:

   - use a circular saw guided by a straight board or other form of guide

   - use a router with a straight bit and a straight edge of some sort clamped to the board as guide

   - use a handsaw and clean up the edge with a plane or sander

   - combinations of all three of the foregoing (e.g., cleanup the saw cuts with a router bit etc)

   All would work fine and are realtively simple.

   
   

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   Edited 2/2/2007 5:15 pm ET by Samson

1. 
   wiskytango | Feb 03, 2007 01:16am | #3

   Samson
   Yeah i was leaning towards the Router with a strait edge system. Just wondering if there was a better way with the limited tool selection that is available to me.

1. 
   Samson | Feb 03, 2007 01:21am | #4

   The router will work fine.  A few thoughts:

   - make yourself a jig to ensure the guide board is held square on both sides (not just a T but an I so to speak)

   - consider making the jig have a guide on both sides so that with an 8/4 plank you could work from both sides of the top and meet at the middle

   - of course, take several passes - a little wood at a time (obvious, but just in case) 

1. 
   wiskytango | Feb 03, 2007 01:29am | #5

   I actually already have a jig that I use to cut tennons on the end of boards that are all the same length. Its basically two 4 inch by 4 foot pieces of 3/4 Birch ply that I can tighten in multiple spots with wing nuts and some all thread. Once I get it at a right angle to the edge of the wood I can square the upper and lower pieced so that they are in the same verticle plane allowing me to work from both sides of the boards without reseting the jig.. Hope you can visualize this.

1. 
   Samson | Feb 03, 2007 01:34am | #6

   Sounds perfect.  Good luck.

2. 
   philip | Feb 03, 2007 01:30pm | #7

   Whisky, I am visualising that and it feels painful (;)
   Since that is a smallish and narrow top I would have glued it up an inch or so over-size in length, having aligned the ends by eye, then whacked off the ends square to the front or back edge which I had jointed just before using my radial arm saw to cut the ends.That would leave virtually no clean up to do with a hand plane.
   Another option for a relatively light top would be to cut the ends square using a band saw, then clean up with hand plane or jointer.
   I would prefer to do it by hand saw or portable jig saw and clean up with hand plane over dicking about with jigs and things . Using a router to clean up when the top is big and heavy is a useful option-especially if there are several tops to do-but so is a handplane like a #51/2 or #7.Philip Marcou