I Made the Octagon!

Thanks to everyone for your ideas on how to make the octagon cross-section from a 4" x 4" square.

I made it and it came out just great!

I finally did it on my jointer. I set the fence at 45 degrees, and it only took about 20 passes per corner to form the octagonal cross-section.

And, the best part was how SAFE it was!

One small problem I had was making sure I held the piece down on the outfeed side. A few passes I kept too much downward pressure on the infeed side and the material didn't come off equally. I just have to remember to push on the infeed side and apply downward pressure on the outfeed side.

Again, thanks to everyone.

Reply to
GrayFox
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Missed the original thread, but here's a trick woodturners use that requires no measuring, once you have your blank dimensioned correctly. Tip your table saw blade to 45 degrees. Lean your 4x4 blank against the blade so essentially you're balancing it on its long edge Bring your fence over so that it bears against the long edge which is on the right side (left side for your saw) of the balancing blank Now, when you lay the blank on it's face and knock off all four corners, you will have a *perfect* octagon.

*And* this will work on your table saw since you don't need to have a big blade since you're not knocking off the top corner at each pass (which is an invitation to kickback) but rather the bottom corner.

Glad you got it done, hope this method helps in the future or for other wreckers.

Joe C.

Reply to
Joe

Took me a few minutes thinking and a quick sketch to see this. What a great tip!!!

Thanks, Bill Leonhardt

Reply to
Bill Leonhardt

You're welcome.

Glad you liked it.

Joe

Reply to
Joe

I am having a problem visualizing the procedure. Would you please say the following in a different way. (for example what is the long edge of a 4 X 4 piece?) Thanks, JG

" Lean your 4x4 blank against the blade so essentially you're balancing it on its long edge Bring your fence over so that it bears against the long edge which is on the right side (left side for your saw) of the balancing blank"

Reply to
JGS

That ascii is accurate. Your stand it on its long edge to determine where to set the fence, then lay it down flat to knock off the corners.

When the blank is laid flat on each of its four faces, the blade just barely knocks off each corner.

The OP stated that his blank was 4"x4"x15". In that example, the long edge would be the 15" edge.

You're quite welcome.

Joe

Reply to
Joe

ASCII attempt:

| /\|\ //

Reply to
CGroth

Thanks C& J . I see it now. I had not seen the OP. JG

Reply to
JGS

So, with a blade that leans to the right, the fence must be on the left?

Reply to
GrayFox

Exactly. Otherwise you could get a severe kickback.

Joe C.

Reply to
Joe

I'm glad the jointer suggestion worked. Of course, I later realized that if you have a band saw, you could have tilted the table to 45 degrees and done this job in 4 quick passes.

Lee

Reply to
Lee Gordon

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