Cutting Workbench Slabs

[Ken]

I'm working on my first of two workbenches. The first is for practice and is made of pine using the Veritas design with the tool tray in the center of two slabs. The second will be made of maple and the same design.

I have two slabs of 11" by 70" and 2" thick. The slabs are laminated so I need to trim them and square them up.

The tops have been hand planed and are in very good shape. I just need to get these slabs squared up on the sides before screwing them to the tool tray and battens and attaching the skirts.

What is the best tool a hobbyist can use to cut these slabs? I'm especially interested in getting the 70" rip cuts straight.

The tablesaw is out for me. Mine is too small to make the cuts safely or accurately. I was planning on using a circular saw but thought a jigsaw might be in the running. I don't own a jigsaw but will buy one if it will give the best results. I can certainly make use of it later.

The tool used has to be for a hobbyist, so a two thousand dollar tool is out of the question. I also want to make the cuts myself and don't want to take the slabs to a shop where they will cut them.

Thanks

Ken

[Lee Michaels]

Some sort of saw guide should do the trick. Lot of folks make them. Just buy something. Or make one. I have used the edge of MDF or aluminum angle. There are many variations on a saw guide. Just look at google.

[CW]

A straightedge and circular saw will do a fine job. The jigsaw would never make it (though if you were thinking of getting one, get a good one, it will be a frequently used tool for curves, inside cutouts, ect).

[Lowell Holmes]

Or take them to a professional shop and pay them to cut the slabs for you. It will probably be a nominal charge and worth every penny. :-)

[Jim Weisgram]

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I'd use a circular saw, but clean up the edge with a router. Use a straightedge to guide each of the tools.

[Lew Hodgett]

Head to your local top shop.

Let tham take a pass with the 48" drum sander, then cut it to size.

SFWIW, my guy has at least a 12" table saw with a power feed.

Probably typical of most places.

Will give you a real pro trim.

Lew

[CW]

Taking that to it's logical end, why not just buy a bench and not worry about it? Then you could just hire someone to do the woodworking for you. Why work that hard? No reason to do it yourself if you can pay someone else to, right?

[leonard]

hi ken

you might be able find a community college woodworking classroom that would let you cut the slabs yourself on one of there tablesaws. that way You use the right tool and do the work your self and maybe meet some good people.I live near Baltimore and there are two community colleges that will allow this type of thing.

Len

[todd]

Not necessarily. I've made a few tabletops. I could use my ROS and eventually get the top sanded. However, my local lumber place has a drum sander and sands the top for $8. We all rely on outside people for various facets of our woodworking. For the OP, I don't think it's that hard to do what he wants himself, but I wouldn't take it to the "logical" end you did.

todd

[CW]

So have I.

So could I but I don't. Wrong tool for the job. My ROS has never had anything courser than 180 grit on it. Any need to remove more than that should be met with a cutting tool.

Realy? Tell me then, when was the last time I sent something out?

For the OP, I don't think it's that hard to do

Neither do I. His question was how he should do it himself, not who to send it to. A circular saw and straightedge will do a fine job of it.

[todd]

You're welcome to that opinion.

You'll see that I didn't say you send anything out. I said you rely on outside people. Oh, wait. I get it. You forged the steel for your planes, right? You cut your own saw blades from steel blanks and cement carbides on the teeth. The point is, we all pay people for stuff to help us make other stuff, in varying degrees. I wouldn't question the OP's craftsmanship if he chose to have a shop square up the sides of his benches, although I'd think it was unncessary.

In fact, he specifically said he didn't want to sent it out, IIRC. Personally, I'd add a router and flush trim bit to the end of your list for the final trim.

todd

[CW]

That's my day job. I do wood for a hobby. There's a lot of diference between buying tools and paying someone to use them.

[todd]

So you make any tool that you are capable of making? You've never bought something that given enough time you could have made yourself? If that's true, then bravo. Otherwise, it's just another end of the same stick.

todd

[Lew Hodgett]

If that meets your standards, so be it.

Lew

[lwasserm]

A good quality jigsaw like a Milwaukeed or Bosch, with a good quality blade (IME Bosch are the best) could make this cut; I have used mine to trim doors. But, for 2" thick maple I believe the circular saw would be better suited. get a straightedge somewhat longer than the

70" length of your cut and clamp it to the slab so that it guides the saw in a along your cutline. Since you imply that you have a smaller than standard tablesaw at the moment, you probably would benefit from making a more permanent saw guide. Google for "saw sled" and you should find some good ideas. The classic source for the straight edge is the factory edge of a piece of plywood.

[CW]

[Ken]

Thank you for all the timely responses.

A circular saw using the factory edge of a piece of plywood will be my choice.

As a hobbyist I choose my tools to balance entertainment value with quality. Sending the top out for cutting and sanding is mentioned in most if not all of the workbench books. This would greatly diminish the entertainment value for me so is something I would avoid.

I choose not to own a planer or jointer. These tools are certainly available to a hobbyist but don't fit into my view of entertainment. These two tools are also cheaper than the alternative hand planes that I use (Veritas). If I bought a planer or jointer, I would use them and miss out on the joy (zen) of using the hand planes.

As an example, the design calls for 1/2" stock for the bottom of the tool try. Plywood is suggested for this. I choose to use regular 4/4 stock and hand plane it down to 1/2". I also now buy unsurfaced stock except for one edge and hand plane the finsihed surface onto it. Using hand planes is not a practical alternative because of the time (and cost) involved but it has the most entertainment value for me and the results are acceptable. I really enjoy using my hand planes so they are usually the tool of choice for me. I'm sure other people could certainly have a different view on this.

For me, a workbench is a special kind of project. Speed on this project is never an issue where it might be if I were building my kitchen cabinets. I wouldn't buy unsurfaced stock to do my kitchen cabinets either. If I had the skill to use hand saws to trim the slabs I would use them.

Skirts and end caps will be attached to the slabs so the edge produced by the circular saw should be ready to go.

Thanks again for all the responses.

Ken

[Upscale]

You must have a really high end power saw or a pretty meager tablesaw then. If most power saws were with good blades were capable of cutting as well as a tablesaw, a lot fewer people would own tablesaws.

[Lowell Holmes]

Not at all. I would rather be building furniture than hand planing workbench tops. I recently built a bench exactly how I wanted it. After I finished the base, I was ready to buy the maple and glue up the top. I walked into The Cutting Edge one day and they had a 72" long top for less money than the maple was going to cost me. I bought it, installed it, put a front apron on it, and I had a bench that was ready to go, and it is perfectly flat.

I immediately started a quartersawn white oak rocking chair of my own design on my new bench. OBTW, when I buy my wood, I normally get it smooth two sides and one edge. It saves me a lot of labor in stock preparation, and I don't feel compromised at all when the piece is finished.

I'll post pictures of the chair soon and let you judge if my time is better spent making a chair or hand planing a workbench top. :-)

If I were to cut the top, I would use my Porter Cable circular saw and a straight edge.

[Wayne K]

Leonard, what two Comm. Colleges do you speak of? I would like to give them a call. Thanks, Wayne Columbia MD