safe diagonal ripping

[Barry Sholder]

I want to rip some cherry wood 2"x2" short pieces (6-12"). I tried it on a table saw with scary results. What's the safest way... I do have bandsaw.

[Mark Bolton]

I want to rip some cherry wood 2"x2" short pieces (6-12"). I tried it on a table saw with scary results. What's the safest way... I do have bandsaw.

Probably build a small sled or tapering jig?

Mark

[glenn bradley]

I'm going to guess these are alreay cut to length(?). I would cut to width from a larger board and then cross cut to length if possible. If you are already dealing with short pieces, the Grr-Ripper deals with things like this easily. A shop made jig to securely hold the pieces and provide a larger carrier that would be safer to operate could also work but, I don't get the "diagonal" reference.

[johnny means]

What do you mean by diagonal? Are you tapering? What were you doing before?

[Greg Wease]

I would cut to a line on your bandsaw and then use a hand plane to flatten the rough surfaces. I prefer this method to tapering jigs on the table saw.

[Philip Rodriquez]

A sled on the TS or use the BS and clean up with a hand plane.

[Prashun Patel]

If the pieces are short, I'd rig a taper jig on a sled and run it through the table saw.
If the pieces are long, I prefer to use a bandsaw and jointer or plane.

[Matt Day]

I think we need to clarify what we're talking about here by saying "diagonal". Do you mean like cutting on an angle for a mitered picture frame? Or cutting a bevel for an edge treatment?

[Terry Beadle]

I think Greg Wease is right. The band saw is the safest way to go. Much better control and the planes give the down grain smoothness so well, no sanding required.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

As suggested, I'd make a sled for my tablesaw.

[Matthew Hills]

I'm guessing he has 2x2 stock that he then tilted his table saw blade to 45 degrees and tried to rip, ending up with two sticks with triangular cross-sections.

This gets hairy on a table saw as there isn't much support for the wood after the cut. This is *much* easier if you have something like a 2x4 or 2x6, and you can make the beveled cut first on the wide board, then cut your second piece free.

Is there going to be any hidden surface on your final pieces, or do you have any extra length that you can use to make a temporary attachment to a sled?

Matt