2 equal size wedges from one 2x4

[<ackountman]

I am trying to build a sloped roof for my dog house, and thought it would be a good idea to cut a 2x4 diagonally end to end to use as the base, high sides facing the front wall and short on the back, but I cannot get the two peices to come out the same size. One is always bigger than the other so the roof would look c*ck-eyed if I used them. The trouble is that halfway through my cut I have to go to the other side of my cut line, but I'm not having any luck and I don't want to waste any more lumber until someone can tell me what I am doing wrong. Thanks in advance.

[Doug Miller]

Why do you "have to" go to the other side of your cut line?

Draw a line, then cut right *on* the line, not to either side of it.

[fredfighter]

It might help if you tell us what sort of tool you are using to do the ripping. If you are cutting with a handsaw, then clearly you are not laying out the cut line properly, or not cutting down the line. If you are using a table saw you are not putting the fence at the right distance from the blade.

In the former case, you should check your layout before making the cut. In the latter case, you should be able to move the fence by half of your error to make a good cut after a bad one. If you are using a circular saw freehand then you would do that much the same as with a handsaw, if you are using a fence then much like the table saw.

If you are using a power saw of any sort, make sure the blade is titled

at the angle you want.

However, rather than waste more wood trying to conserve wood why not just bevel two 2x4's the same way then turn one end for end to use it?

You can do that to get this job done and then take some of the scrap left over after the job is done and use it to work on your technique. Why keep your dog waiting?

[Bob]

I could not tell from your description exactly how you are marking or making the cut. But I will say that making bevel rip and trying to get both pieces EXACTLY the same from one cut is difficult. If you can affor a little waste, get it as close as you can, then rip both pieces to the same with/height to make them identical. That's the only way I know to make them identical. You may lose 1/8" to 1/4" of wood but I would think that should not matter on a dog house. You might even be able to salvage the pieces you thought were ruined.

Bob

[RM MS]

nail a long piece of plywood to the 2=D74 at the angle you need and run that side of the assembly against the fence of a table saw.

[<ackountman]

An old habit, by trying to avoid compensating for blade width, I cut along the edge of my line, not on it. So in this case I was cutting on the outside edge of the first wedge, which meant that when I got past the middle, I was cutting inside the line on the other wedge, which meant it would be much narrower and the first would be wider than planned. So I figured I had to go to the other side once I got past the middle. Then I tried drawing two lines