[harry strasil]

Bob, first you will need to make you a special sawing stool similar to the one I am setting on in I think its post #15 in this thread except you will need an open center wide enough to set your long board in and with the ability to clamp the board to one end for stability, and 2 small auxiliary stands to support the board ends.

Next, you will need to make a real frame rip saw similar to what I am using in the aformentioned post, not a bowsaw with the blade set crosswise. Go find an old 4.5 or 5 tooth rip hand saw and remove the handle and take it to a machine or blacksmith shop and have them use a plasma cutter to cut it down to 2.5 to 3 inches wide. Smooth the cut up so there are no burrs. Sharpen the teeth so they are 90° to the blade on the front side and use a 3 to 5° angle on the front cutting edge, then set the teeth and after setting find a machinists type vise with smooth jaws and folding a piece of copy paper in half, clamp it in the jaws with about an inch sticking up out of the jaws and fold each side over onto the jaw tops and tape in place. Then carefully making sure you get all the teeth slip the blade down into the jaws and firmly clamp the blade to even out the set, the teeth point will cut into the paper and insure an even narrow set, which will make for less sawing (less material removed) and very little flop in the kerf.

Scribe a line all the way around the boardusing a knife or one of those wheel marking gauges, remembering to offset the line so you can follow the line with one side of the blade. If you get it started right its awfully hard to get off the line.

Start sawing and you might want to find a thin cushion to use on the saw table as you are going to be spending a lot of time setting on it. Don't worry about turning the board around of over unless you want to check the progress on the bottom side and you can use a mirror to do that. When you get to the other end, end for end the board with the saw still in the kerf and let the end stick out the end of the saw table, have someone else set on the saw table and using small wedges to keep the kerf open to avoid pinching, set on another stool and continue the cut toward you.

I have a 4 PPI frame saw that will break down, that I will loan you to use if you PM me with your address. With this particular frame saw in 3/4 soft pine I can cut about 6 inches per stroke if I force it some, but you will not be able to do that the way you want to rip your wide board.