How to safely rip 2x12 lumber without a table saw?

[Jared Walters]

I need to accurately rip some 2x12 boards into multiple 2x3.5 boards. They are about 5 foot long. Because this is home center lumber (douglas fir) I also need to knock the rounded corners off.

Like the title says, I don't have a table saw and I don't know anyone who does. I do have a circular saw with a small detachable rip fence that came with it. I also have some saw horses. I can buy some sacrificial MDF to use a temporary work surface if I need to.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Accuracy is important, but so is safety so I want some advice from people more experienced with this sort of thing.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Jared, you can do this with the circular saw. Make sure you have a good blade, a bad one will steer your saw wrong. Trouble is, ripping a 2x12 is going to yield you some very crooked boards by the time the internal stresses are relieved. Why not start with a 2x4, which is actually 1 1/2 x 3 1/2?

[Jerry Miner]

I would skip the fence attachment and make a rip guide for your saw, using a piece of 1/4 ply for the base and a straight piece of something---1 x 4, 1/2" plywood, mdf molding,...anything good and straight. Make a guide like the one in this Youtube video:

video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwcOKX7PaRg)

you can then knock the corners off with a router (with a bearing-guided roundover bit). Hope this helps

[Rod Sheridan]

Jerry, I think the OP wants to remove the rounded edges, not add them.

I agree that a plywood guide would be best, however I expect that after all this work the OP will wind up with a bunch of hockey stick shaped pieces of firewood instead of anything usable.......Regards, Rod.

[glenn bradley]

Hi Jared, I think you have gotten the idea that the BORG material will most likely move about quite a bit when ripped due to moisture content, stress relief and just poor material in general (not your fault, the market the BORGs sell to accept/expect this level of material). Assuming it is OK for the end product to be bowed and otherwise non-square a circular saw and a guide will get you there. The concern and cause for some of the responses you have gotten is that you stress accuracy and that will be hard to obtain with discount Doug-Fir.

As an example, I stickered BORG "kiln dried" Douglas Fir in my shop for 3 months before milling. The result was still so poor that I spent way more money in waste than I would have spent buying some properly prepared lumber. The material became quite lively when ripped and once I had some material milled to the sizes I needed, they continued to move even after assembly. The resulting failure has sworn me off trying to do anything that requires any predictability or accuracy with BORG lumber. But, let's look at a way you might accomplish your goal if you decide to proceed.

You say you want to end up with "multiple 2x3.5 boards" without the rounded edges that come on 2-by lumber. I will assume that your "2" dimension is actually whatever approximately 1-1/2" thickness the material is in, yes? So, we are dealing with the 3.5" dimension. Do you have a bandsaw? Whenever I need to rip wonky wood, the bandsaw is the preferred method as it tolerates the undulating feed that occurs when crooked material is run across a flat tool table. If you have a bandsaw I would rip the rounded edge off first. This will give you a little idea of what is to come. You will then need to cobble a straight edge together out of multiple pieces that should end up a bit over the length of the piece you require. Run a router and a top-bearing flush bit along the straight edge to smooth and finish off the rough bandsaw cut.

You now have a flat, straight edge (probably not but, let's assume the best). I would run this edge against the bandsaw fence cutting a bit over your 3.5" width. Clamp on your straight edge assembly and route the edge clean as before and repeat for your remaining stock. I assume that the resulting pieces will not be what you expect or the degree of accuracy you require is less than one might want for say, a door frame. If this is for something rough like part of an outside deck or garden shed . . .

I think I just realized that if you could tell us what you want the material for and what you are trying to do with it (pictures always help) you may get much better responses to your question. I'm afraid that there is too much experience here where Home Center two-by material and accuracy are mutually exclusive :(

[James White]

Jared,

For the best advice. It would be best to state what the end use will be. There may be other options you may not have thought of. What you call accurate may be downright inaccurate to some and vise versa.

James

[Peter Quinn]

If you split 2X12 into 3 strips and it comes out straight, it's strictly by chance. Framing lumber is #2 common, it's quickly half dried, even KD lumber may be above 15% when it hits your store, then it randomly air dries
In the racks. You cutting it disturbs whatever equilibrium it may have achieved. You would be well advised to start with 2X6 to get one straight 2X4 square edge. Splitting framing lumber is always a gamble and rarely a value by the end.

As far as how, a skill saw on a plywood straight edge would be my choice. The metal saw rip guides will just follow a crooked boards edge. You might get 2 rips per 2x12 if you split in half then rip again to straighten 1/2" over final dimension, then rip again. Take them down in stages and leave room for the inevitable movement and stresses to be released.

[Richard Coers]

Contact a local cabinet shop. A minimum half hour of labor will get you good stock. By the time you make a fixture, buy another piece of MDF for a table, and wrestle with a hobby circular saw, you would have the wood cut.

[Jared Walters]

Oops I meant to tell you what I was making but totally forgot. I'm laminating them together for a bench top.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Jared, for a bench top, you could use a laminated beam cutoff. It's just what you were going to do, preassembled. I put two 2' wide ones together to make a 4'x7' bench.

[Richard Coers]

Oops I meant to tell you what I was making but totally forgot. I'm laminating them together for a bench top.

Getting a glue quality line from a hand held circular saw would be nearly impossible, but maybe you are not going to glue them together. Based on your tools, I would use sheet goods for the bench top. Another option would be to go to IKEA for a slab.

[Greg Hines, MD]

I made my benchtop out of 4 layers of 3/4" plywood, laminated together into a beam. It is still flat, solid, and sound, after about 10 years.

If you are wanting to laminate a 2x4 on edge, I would use a jointer to remove the rounded edges. Or, if you don't have a jointer, use a straight edge and a router to do the same job. Might need to make a jig to hold it, but could do it with a standard straight edge.

Doc

[John TenEyck]

By the time you are done nearly any alternative is going to look easier. Construction lumber is a poor choice for a bench top, and doubly so if you don't have the tools to get it straight and flat, if that's even possible. Why not just buy a laminated maple top? If that's too expensive, or you just have to make it yourself, I'd go with two or three layers of particle board skinned with hardwood flooring or Masonite and edged with hardwood. Flat, stable, and heavy; perfect for a bench top. Put it on a base that adequately supports it and it'll last a long, long time, and never warp or split.

John

[Pat Barry]

Sounds like he is planning to face glue the cut pieces to get the bench top and then I assume plane it down to get it flat. This was suggested by others in varous bench building threads. The bigg difference is that Jared wants to use his circular saw. I think this can be easily done using a shop built auxilary fence for the saw, the longer (maybe around 2 ft) the better. Just support it well between two saw horses and put a wedge into the kerf to keep it from closing up on the saw. I have done this many times.

[Jason White]

Set each 2x12 on sawhorses, snap a chalk line, rip with a worm drive saw, then joint & plane them straight.



I need to accurately rip some 2x12 boards into multiple 2x3.5 boards. They are about 5 foot long. Because this is home center lumber (douglas fir) I also need to knock the rounded corners off.

Like the title says, I don't have a table saw and I don't know anyone who does. I do have a circular saw with a small detachable rip fence that came with it. I also have some saw horses. I can buy some sacrificial MDF to use a temporary work surface if I need to.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Accuracy is important, but so is safety so I want some advice from people more experienced with this sort of thing.

[Matt Radtke]

Jared,

If you don't have a table saw, I'd suggest you pass on ripping 2x12s and up-scaling a bit. Get 2x6s. All you have to do now is worry about getting the corners down. If you're crazy enough, you could even glue them up as is and hand plane them flat when your'e done.

That said, I made my top out of 2x12s and had no problems. My approach was to buy the longest and best stuff. Did exactly what you're planing and it works fine. 4 years (or 5?) later, it's perfectly adequate. It was, however, a Imperial crap-ton of work.

I do have ambitions to make a new bench to make improvements in design (different tail vise, different joinery from top to legs, probably skipping the tool well, blah blah blah) and will not laminate the new top. I'm getting the biggest stuff I can and am shooting for no more than 3 glue joints in the top.

[Rob Feldner]

I made my benchtop out of 4 layers of 3/4" plywood, laminated together into a beam. It is still flat, solid, and sound, after about 10 years.

If you are wanting to laminate a 2x4 on edge, I would use a jointer to remove the rounded edges. Or, if you don't have a jointer, use a straight edge and a router to do the same job. Might need to make a jig to hold it, but could do it with a standard straight edge.

Doc

Since it sounds like you are fairly limited tool-wise, this is probably your best option. If weight is an issue, or if you want to use a bit less material, you could build a torsion box. I could go into a long explanation that might end up clear as mud, but just google "torsion box" and you'll get the idea. Its something that is very doable with a circular saw and very stable.

[Michael Moscicki]

While not what you probably wanted, but given the tools you have this may be the best and least frustrating option for you.

Here are some options from Woodcraft:

24" x 60" Laminated Maple Bench Top, 70 Lbs. - $219.99
http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2005134/4966/24-x-60-laminated-maple-bench-top-70-lbs.aspx (http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2005134/4966/24-x-60-laminated-maple-bench-top-70-lbs.aspx)

Birch Workbench Top 1-1/2" x 27" x 60" Sale! $99.99
http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2005134/42928/birch-workbench-top-112-x-27-x-60.aspx

The maple is more expensive but it also comes in more sizes.

Grizzly has a lot more sizes available than woodcraft and at more competitive prices. It also has some oak workbench tops.
http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2013/Christmas/39