Ideas for cutting a raised point apex.

[Kevin Villas]

I would like to cut top of a piece I am working on so the center rises to a point.. The piece is 1 1/2 inches thick, 12 inches long, and 6 inches wide.

Basically want to just make 4 cuts to make a point at the top, but not having a bandsaw I am having trouble coming up with an idea on how to make the cuts. Table saw will get me back half way on the longer cuts and that's it.

I am no good with hand tools, do that isn't an option at this point in time.

You think I could just cut them short at the tablesaw and just my jointer until I reached my designed lines?

I am kind of stuck, any ideas would be great.

[Todd Burch]

Were you wanting A or B?

If A, you can bevel the long (12") side on the tablesaw (tilt the blade), then cut the 6" sides down with a hand plane.

If B, you can use your miter guage to rip it lengthwise, and then hand plane the edges.

You could use your jointer on B fairly easy, but for A, it would take a little more hand control. And, at only 6" for a length of cut (1/2 of the 12" length), thats a little short for handling.

A sharp bench or jack plane could take either one down fairly fast. The grain will most likely be in your favor too.

[Kevin Villas]

I need picture: A


I wish I was good enough to had the hand planes to do it by hand, but I am not close.. :)

I can't really think of another way outside of using my jointer though, and 6inches does kind of scare me.

[Jamie Buxton]

I need picture: A


I wish I was good enough to had the hand planes to do it by hand, but I am not close.. :)

I can't really think of another way outside of using my jointer though, and 6inches does kind of scare me.

To keep your fingers away from the blades, fasten the blank to some longer piece of wood. Double-sided carpet tape works. You still might ruin the workpiece because 6" is a small footprint on the jointer table, but you won't ruin your fingers.

[Jamie Buxton]

Here's a way to cut this with a router. Double-sided carpet tape is a good way to stick the wedges or the workpiece to the bench.

[James Giordano]

Cool

That's a wierd lookin' router though ;)

[David Rose]

At least it's "yeller". :D


Cool

That's a wierd lookin' router though ;)

[Todd Burch]

Jamie - good drawing. 2 points.

First, when the workpiece is new, and it has a big square edge that is higher than the outside wedges, would the router-board ride on the workpiece? If so, then the wedges need to be taller than the workpiece, not coplanar, since the bit would have to stick down through the router-board to work.

Second, in Sketchup, I've found that compression takes too much away from text annotations, and have started doing my annotations in my photo editor for crisper text.

Good idea on the wedged ramp method. It's a good method for someone that has a router but no handplane.

To the finished board however, versus the router, I'd race anyone with a handplane - and win!!

[Jack Hogoboom]

I seem to remember David Marks doing this kind of pointed top on a clock project. My recollection is that he used a bandsaw and titled the table as necessary to produce the desired angle. Seems a lot simpler/safer than building a jig or handplaning. Might be worth a trip to the diynet site to see if the description is there.

Jack

[Mark Duksta]

Kevin,

Why don' t you build a fence with the angles you need attached the to a sled that slides along the TS fence. Clamp the stock to the fence then run it through the saw. The size of the piece doesn't give you much room for the clamps, but there may be just enough.




Mark D.

[Mark Duksta]

Kevin,

Here are a couple of jigs I used to make the kind of cuts you want to do.

Mark D.

[Matt Allan]

2 of the cuts need to be 6 inches to create the point on a 12 inch long piece, the table saw blade would only get about halfway to the top of the cut. Unless I am totally not understanding some other method of using the table saw.

[Mark Duksta]

Oh man. You're right. I did'nt think of that. You could modify the jig to work like a tapering jig. That might work.

Mark D.