ripping with a handsaw

[David Wadstrup]

Hello,

I'm starting a new project(a Roubo bench from Benchcrafted's plans) and am hoping to dimension all of my boards by hand. It's a big project, I know, but I think it can be done with a little bit of patience. I need some advice on how to rip the boards, sometimes 8'+, though. They will often be pretty narrow, 6" or less, in width. What's the best way to go about this? I'd love to hear your advice.

Thanks for your help,

David Wadstrup

[David Weaver]

Two saw horses or saw benches the same height or possibly clamped to your bench. Mark it and cut it.

[Jim Koepke]

David,

Welcome to the creek. Your profile does not indicate a location. You may live near another member who would be happy to show you how they do this.

I am not sure if the schedule has passed you by in your area, but the Woodrights shop on PBS just showed Chris Schwarz on the program and this was one of the things he demonstrated.

Here is a saw table and how I built it:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=146777&page=1

Since then, I have cut a "birds mouth" at one end to aid in ripping. That is just a V notch as seen in some of the saw bench pictures on this page:

http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/CategoryView,category,Saws.aspx

Mr. Schwarz suggest the bench be built to a height just at the bottom of your knee cap. This makes it easier to use one knee to hold the board with your body weight. I have built mine just a touch taller and have boards I stand on to adjust my height for the different thicknesses of stock being sawn.

For different suggestions on ripping, use the search function listed in the bar near the top of the page. Many people have different styles. None of them can really be called the best until it is the one that works best for you.

jtk

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

This will be a stunningly obvious statement: be sure to use a rip saw. You can rip with a crosscut, but the speed difference between a crosscut ripping and a rip saw ripping is similar to the speed difference between a bicycle and a Porsche.

[Jim Koepke]

This will be a stunningly obvious statement: be sure to use a rip saw. You can rip with a crosscut, but the speed difference between a crosscut and a rip is similar to the speed difference between a bicycle and a Porsche.

Only if you lock up the brakes on the bicycle...

jtk

[Russell Sansom]

Also might be obvious, but the number of teeth in the board can be important. The recommendation I've always heard is between 4 and 8 teeth within the board. If you're ripping 3" maple with an 8-tpi rip, the saw will just float on it's own saw dust.
Other Creekers might have a more refined opinion.

[Jim Koepke]

Also might be obvious, but the number of teeth in the board can be important. The recommendation I've always heard is between 4 and 8 teeth within the board. If you're ripping 3" maple with an 8-tpi rip, the saw will just float on it's own saw dust.
Other Creekers might have a more refined opinion.

I have never heard that before, but it does make sense. I have heard such a rule for band saws.

An interesting side note on sawing. I was having trouble with saw dust piling up in the end of a cut for a stopped dado. So I tried cutting out the stopped end of the dado before sawing. It helped a lot.

Then I watched Woodwright's Shop and he happened to be cutting a stopped dado and demonstrated the same technique.

That is just one of my reasons for reading or watching things that I may already know about. You never know if a new sliver of information might be revealed.

So Russell, thanks for another little sliver to file away and make work easier in the future.

jtk

[Chuck Nickerson]

My Bencrafted Roubo is only waiting for the mortises to be cut in the top. I also hand dimensioned my lumber (Douglas Fir). Since my 2x12s needed to dry for a few weeks, after the first couple weeks I ripped one board a night while they finished drying. I used a 3-1/2 tpi rip saw on the Schwartz-designed saw benches. Spreading it out over the weeks made the basic dimensioning fun, rather than a drag.

[Russell Sansom]

You're welcome, Jim,
The place where this hit me is gang-sawing tenon shoulders. The fine-toothed joinery cross cut goes crazy in the kerf since it's trying to saw the sawdust it can't get rid of.

[Andrae Covington]

Hello,

I'm starting a new project(a Roubo bench from Benchcrafted's plans) and am hoping to dimension all of my boards by hand. It's a big project, I know, but I think it can be done with a little bit of patience. I need some advice on how to rip the boards, sometimes 8'+, though. They will often be pretty narrow, 6" or less, in width. What's the best way to go about this? I'd love to hear your advice.

Thanks for your help,

David Wadstrup

Take a look at Bob Easton's blog. He shows how he resaws long boards (http://www.bob-easton.com/blog/?p=475) for boat-building using modified sawbenches and a frame saw. Even if you prefer to use a handsaw, the basic technique is similar, and he talks about problems along the way like binding or wandering off your line.


...I am not sure if the schedule has passed you by in your area, but the Woodrights shop on PBS just showed Chris Schwarz on the program and this was one of the things he demonstrated...

That was fun to watch yesterday, even though I think things kinda broke down when they started "sawing" brooms.:rolleyes: Unfortunately they don't have this season's episode videos up on the PBS website yet.