Crosscut thick slab

[Russell Stanton]

My son and I are doing a natural edge slab dining room table. The slab is about 2-3/4" thick and about 40" wide at each end, 100" long. We need to crosscut each end and need advice on how to do this. A normal circular saw with the 7 -1/4 blade won't do it in one pass and cutting from both sides is difficult due to getting a precise line-up.

[Joe Bradshaw]

Russell, if you had a location and were near me, I would loan you my worm drive saw with a 10" blade. Look around your area for some timber framers. They usually have saws that will cut your slab. Failing that, use a sharp handsaw.
Joe

[John TenEyck]

A jigsaw with a long blade will do it. Not as rough as you might first think either.

John

[Roy Harding]

Following on to Joe's suggestion of a sharp hand saw - use your 7 ¼" circular saw and a straight edge to cut as deep a kerf as possible. You can then finish the cut with a handsaw relatively easily. The long jigsaw blade suggestion is also a good solution.

That said, I don't understand why you can't use a circular saw to make two cuts, one from the top, and one from the bottom. Understanding that it's a live edge slab, I might make the first cut with the circular saw, then use a handsaw to cut through just a ¼" or so at both ends - voila, you can now see where your kerf needs to be on the second side.

OR, find a friend with a 12" slider, OR, rig up adequate support and use a bandsaw (this one is probably the least desirable, given the size of you slab - 100" long).

If none of those solutions are acceptable, perhaps a local cabinet shop or mill could make the cuts for you (for a price, of course).

It is an interesting quandary, for sure - but there're lots of ways to skin this particular cat - best of luck to you. I (and I'm sure others) would be interested to learn how you eventually make the cuts.

[Matt Day]

Cut as deep as possible with the circular saw, finish the cut with a handsaw, use a flush cut bit with the router to clean it up.

[Rod Sheridan]

My son and I are doing a natural edge slab dining room table. The slab is about 2-3/4" thick and about 40" wide at each end, 100" long. We need to crosscut each end and need advice on how to do this. A normal circular saw with the 7 -1/4 blade won't do it in one pass and cutting from both sides is difficult due to getting a precise line-up.

I would talk to a local cabinet shop with a sliding table saw.

They will cut it in one pass...............Regards, Rod.

[Ted Calver]

The Festool TS-75 track saw does 2 3/4". Maybe someone near you will volunteer to help.

[Adrian Anguiano]

Get 2 2x4 and 2 clamps. Make sure the one edge on the each 2x4 is straight. Clamp them onto the slab. Make sure that the edges align with a ruler on each end. Also make sure the boards are 90 degrees to the slab so you get a square cut. and then use your circular saw on one side, then flip it over, and cut the other side.

About the cheapest way to do it with limited tool and time.

321329

[Adrian Anguiano]

A jigsaw with a long blade will do it. Not as rough as you might first think either.


I do agree with John that a good long jigsaw blade will do a clean cut, and no tear out if you masking tape both sides. You may get some blade tilting though

[John TenEyck]

Brilliant. Saw that somewhere else recently but forgot. I won't forget again. Thanks for posting that.

John

[Roy Harding]

Get 2 2x4 and 2 clamps. Make sure the one edge on the each 2x4 is straight. Clamp them onto the slab. Make sure that the edges align with a ruler on each end. Also make sure the boards are 90 degrees to the slab so you get a square cut. and then use your circular saw on one side, then flip it over, and cut the other side.

About the cheapest way to do it with limited tool and time.

321329

Ding, Ding, Ding - we have a winner. That's brilliant - and is the technique I will use in the future if this conundrum ever comes up. Thanks Adrian!!

[Adrian Anguiano]

No problem.

If it's something you will use often then put those 2 boards on a flat table and sandwich them together. Clamp them so they don't move. Drill a 1/4 or 3/8" Hole through both boards on each end. Go buy some threaded rod and put them through the holes with some knobs. This way you won't need a ruler to keep them parallel aligned.

I think I saw this on a diy show where they were building a pergula with a huge post. And that's how they cut the top square.

[Andrew Hughes]

Cross cutting wide thick slabs is best done with a handsaw.This allows you to see how much tension is in the wood as you cut the kerf will usually close behind the blade.Sometime wedges are needed to open things back up just to get the blade out.The cut may not be as clean as you like but the circular saw will probably burn your end grain.I don't like cleaning up burnt end grain.
I have a nice old handsaw I bought from Mike Allen that I use to break down slabs.The saw kerf are easly planed away,And a perfect surface is ready.
I confess to not reading all the post so if someone as already mentioned a handsaw I agree.👍

[Clarence Martin]

Three ways to go about it.


1. Cut it with a reciprocating Saw.

2. Rent a makita 16 inch Circular saw.

3. Jig Saw.

[Clarence Martin]

Come to think of it, if you have the room, you could get some roller stands and just slide it across a table saw.

[Russell Stanton]

Thanks for all the quick replies. We will first try to rent a larger circular saw if that cannot be done then we will cut as deep as possible with our saw (I have an E-Z guide so I can get a straight square cut). The use a hand saw to show the kerf on the opposite side, then clamp up the E-Z Guide and cut from that side. It will be awhile before we do this since we are flattening with hand planes.

[lowell holmes]

I agree with Joe and Roy, a handsaw is the way to go. If you don't have a sharp one, several guys that post on the Neanderthal site can help you get one. I might even loan you one of mine.

[Erik Christensen]

use one of these
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GtN35a0Yu7U/maxresdefault.jpg

[Prashun Patel]

I had to do this on a live edge dining table I made this winter. I used a circular saw set to max depth and then finished with a hand saw. I used a block plane to clean up the end grain and blend the cut line flat. It was simple. If you do not own a block plane, I am certain your random orbital sander will make super quick work of it.

I would caution against using a jig saw unless you have an awesome one. Every time I've tried to cut slabs with a jig saw, it's resulted in a tilted cut. IMHO, the blade really needs good support or a lot of power to ride true and vertical. My jigsaw fails on both counts.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Sounds like you have hand planes... so I'll cast a vote for cutting as deep as possible with your circular saw, finishing the cut with a hand saw, and then trueing it up with a hand plane (or a router with a pattern bit as suggested).

But I guess renting a big circular saw would be easiest if you are okay with spending a few bucks.

[Matt Day]

Obviously do as you'd like, but personally I cant see why you wouldn't use the tools you have to get it done rather than rent. Part of what I like about ww'ing is problem solving.

[Brian Holcombe]

I cut these until I run out of depth with a festool 55, then finish the cut by hand. Further finish the end grain with a hand plane (usually a #7 plane and a suuuuuuuper sharp blade).

[Allan Speers]

Thanks for all the quick replies. We will first try to rent a larger circular saw if that cannot be done then we will cut as deep as possible with our saw (I have an E-Z guide so I can get a straight square cut). The use a hand saw to show the kerf on the opposite side, then clamp up the E-Z Guide and cut from that side. It will be awhile before we do this since we are flattening with hand planes.

The only problem with cutting from both sides, if you are trying to get as close to a finished edge as possible, it that you first have to have both faces DEAD-parallel to each other. Otherwise, the two cuts won't end up as one continuous cut, even with the EZ rail. (been there, done that.... :( ) If you can first run that stock through a planer, then no problem, but I'm assuming you don't own a 40" wide planer.

I also think using a hand saw to finish is the way to go, though the kerf will likely be different and so you'll still probably have to do a little hand-planing afterwards. - If you don't own a good low angle block plane, now's the time to get one!

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If you're dead-set on renting a bigger saw, I recommend the Makita 5104. Freehand, it will cut 3 3/4". Compared to all the other 10" saws under $1,000, it is incredibly precise. Saws made for cutting timbers typically don't have tight arbors or stiff frames. The 5104 also has relatively low noise and high torque, due to it's lower speed.

You might consider actually buying one, as it will fit on the medium sized Moduni base with no hassles, and still cut 2 7/8". It will even "almost" cut 2" stock at 45 degrees. (leaving a 1/8" strip for your handsaw.) I use one now on my EZ-ONE bench, and keep my old 7" Hilti for breaking down plywood.