Recently I decided to make an end-grain butcher block. This will only be my second project with hardwood (the last was some purpleheart edging on ply).
The tricky bit is that I've only got an old Rockwell 9" 3/4HP table saw with the old crappy fence, no planer, no jointer. (I do have an LV LA-jack though, with the higher-angle iron.)
Bought some maple and cherry to make a nice pattern. Maple was 2x8x21, cherry was about 2x7x21. Had to pay the stupid retail prices around here. The maple was supposed to be S4S, but it had some slightly bits where the planer hadn't quite gotten to the rough stuff.
Milled the boards square and flat using a jack plane, straight edge, and table saw. Bit of a workout, but very satisfying.
Last night I ripped the maple into 2x2 strips. I put a ripping blade on it to stress the saw as little as possible. Considering that the saw has no splitter and no way to add one, I was a bit nervous. I also wasn't sure if it would have enough power to get through the wood.
It actually turned out pretty well. Power wasn't too much of an issue (though I'm sure it helped that the blade had *just* been sharpened). Pinched the blade and stalled the saw twice, but got the job done and the cut lines don't look too bad, though they'll certainly need some planing. I had nightmares of things warping, but so far so good.
Anyways, tonight I hope to get the cherry ripped, then some planing to get the edges smooth and lined up nicely.
Making sawdust and curlies in Saskatoon,
Chris