I have a laminated solid maple workbench top that is 2 1/2 " thick. It is
28" wide and ~82" long and I need to trim off the uneven ends. Anyone have any good suggestions?? :) My 3 hp Unisaw will cut it ok but I am concerned about keeping something that heavy and long straight and its too thick to use a circular saw. Would be a good time for a new blade in the saw as well I think!Ray
Are you sure it's too thick for your circular saw? Seems to me like most
7.5" saws will cut 2.5" deep. I am not certain about that without checking. Anyway, I would use the circular saw to cut as deep as it will go, must be 2" at least. Then, use a hand saw to cut the last bit, keeping the saw kerf to the waste side of the circ saw kerf. Use a flush trim bit in your router to clean up the handcut portion.
Cut it with a chainsaw, leaving an extra quarter to half inch or so. Clean up the extra as follows:
Put your router on a "sled" (i.e. bolt a long board to the base, with a hole for a straight bit). Put a straight bit in, set it 1/2" or so lower than the board.
Ok, now clamp boards to the top and bottom of your slab, such that the edges are 1/2" beyond where you want the final edge to be.
Put cleats on the bottom of the router's board such that the cutting bit just reaches to these new boards. The cleats will hit the outside faces of the new boards just as the bit hits the inside faces of the opposite board.
You can now freehand the router between the two boards to flatten and smooth the rough ends. You might want to start with the bit only 1/8" exposed, then 1/4, then 3/8, etc.
I like this one, another excuse to whip out the chainsaw, he he he. d
For a nice clean cut line use your router and a two-fluted, 1/2" shaft, straight bit. Place a straight-edge 90 deg to the long edge at the point you want to cut off. Draw this line all around - both sides. Place a straight board (fence) the distance from the outside edge of your router base to the nearest edge of the router bit. Clamp the fence and clamp a board to the end where the router will bit will exit to prevent blow-out.
Set bit for initial pass of only about 1/16" deep. Then only make cuts about 1/4" max (and that may be a tad to much) until you're half way through. Flip the top over, align fence, clamp, repeat routing sequence.
You could try a circular saw to cut within about 1/8" of finished edge then finish with the router to get a nice clean edge. The circular saw will burn the edge and leave it pretty ragged looking.
Bob S.
another method would be to cut to rough size with your circular saw, one pass from each side. Use a 1/2 pattern bit in your router with a guide to clean up as much as possible, flip it over and use a 1/2 flush cut bit with a bottom bearing to ride on the previous cleaned up surface.
I cut mine with the circular saw getting it as even, top cut to bottom cut, as I could, then cleaned it up with a belt sander. I used the sander to flatten out the glueup too.
I just whip out the 16" Makita and cut it in one pass. Ask your local timber framer.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
I used Bob's method below and it worked great. All that is now left to do is mount the Twin-Screw Veritas vice. I have it sitting on a temporary base until I get time to build myself something better.
You can see a picture of it at
Ray
Ray,
Nice job...........what kind of wood did you use for your bench? Is it your own design? Regards. -Guy
Nice Job !
Bob S.
I picked up some 1" maple at the local Windsor Plywood that was finished on
1 side only. It was in a variety of widths and lengths. With the help of my 6" General Jointer and Unisaw I was able to get enough 2 1/2" + pieces to enable me to glue up 2 - 11" wide slabs that I could run them through the planer. I looked at a lot of different designs before doing my workbench. I decided to go with the tool tray at the back and round dog holes. Now only thing is to find some more maple that is wide enough for the jaws of the Veritas Twin-Screw. Then on to replace the base with something more fitting of the top.Ray
I did something similar.
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