Establishing first straight rip with bark

[Bram de Jong]

Hi all,

I have about 10 boards of 4cm European beech (approx 200cm x 40cm), with the rough/bark side still on them. How do I establish the first straight rip on a table saw in this case?

I want to rip most of them into 10cm wide strips that will become the top surface of my future workbench.

Any hints very welcome!!

Bram

[Doug Garson]

Try this type of jig


https://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-plans/tablesaw/straight-edge-cutting-jig

[Jamie Buxton]

Use a circular saw guided by a straightedge. Or use the upscale cousin, a track saw.

[Phil Mueller]

I use a jig similar to what Doug posted. A piece of plywood with a couple of hold downs. If just one piece, a straight drawn line and a handsaw followed up with a jointer plane.

[glenn bradley]

Doug's got the easy fix. You can make that out of almost anything on hand and a tablesaw to rip the jig body.

[Bram de Jong]

Now that I see the picture that seemed so obvious...! Thank you!

As I have bark on both sides I might even go for the even easier solution of just ply & nails "on the other side"...

[Brian Holcombe]

I have a large bandsaw, so I draw a straight line then rip it by eye.

[John K Jordan]

Hi all,
I have about 10 boards of 4cm European beech (approx 200cm x 40cm), with the rough/bark side still on them. How do I establish the first straight rip on a table saw in this case?
I want to rip most of them into 10cm wide strips that will become the top surface of my future workbench.
Any hints very welcome!!
Bram

Do you know anyone with a bandsaw mill like a WoodMizer? Making a straight cut on one side of a a slab is a common operation. I typically stand and clamp a number of rough-edged boards/slabs on edge with the widest on the outside, make a pass with the blade set to make a straight edge down the outside board, then remove that board and repeat until all boards are edged.

That first straight edge is not as smooth as a tablesaw cut but is straight and smooth enough to put against the fence on the table saw.

JKJ

[Mike Kees]

As a carpenter no one told me that my chalk line was not a commonly used tool in fine woodworking. As such it has been employed to snap lines on boards to take to one of my bandsaws and cut the first straight edge. For me this is followed by a jointer to clean up the edge.

[Jim Becker]

Given the size of these boards, a TrackSaw or equivalent is probably going to be the safest and easiest way to straight line rip an edge on them unless you have a sliding table saw with a minimum of about 2100mm/80" of cut stroke.

[scott vroom]

I too use a jig similar to the one posted by Doug.

[Bram de Jong]

I don't... I'm actually taking the boards to a co-working space somewhere that has a bunch of tools. I don't think they listed a bandsaw as one of their tools...

[Bram de Jong]

Given the size of these boards, a TrackSaw or equivalent is probably going to be the safest and easiest way to straight line rip an edge on them unless you have a sliding table saw with a minimum of about 2100mm/80" of cut stroke.

I'm really not up to speed on any of the lingo surrounding powertools, ... could you explain this?

Bram

[Jim Becker]

I'm really not up to speed on any of the lingo surrounding powertools, ... could you explain this?

Bram
A track saw is a hand-held circular saw that runs along a guide track for a perfectly straight cut. The track can theoretically be as long as needed. There are good examples from Festool and other makers. One can also make their own guide track and use a common circular saw.

Sliding table saws, which are typical in your geography, have a "wagon" that the material that is being cut sits on (typically clamped) while being guided through the cut. Since there's no need to run the board along a fence, the existing edge doesn't need to be straight. As long as the wagon on the saw you use has a cutting capacity of at least the length of your board(s), you can rip a straight edge easily and safely. Felder and SCM/Minimax are good examples of companies that have sliding table saws.

[Bram de Jong]

:-) you explained the bit I understood... The part I didn't get was "unless you have a sliding table saw with a minimum of about 2100mm/80" of cut stroke."

[Brian Holcombe]

He’s saying that if you have a sliding table saw, you can clamp the board on the trolley and cut a square edge. If you don’t own one or have no plans to buy one than it’s probably neither here nor there.

[Jim Becker]

:-) you explained the bit I understood... The part I didn't get was "unless you have a sliding table saw with a minimum of about 2100mm/80" of cut stroke."

"As long as the wagon on the saw you use has a cutting capacity of at least the length of your board(s), you can rip a straight edge easily and safely"...ie, the saw has to be large enough/long enough to do the cut on the entire board.

[Allan Speers]

Try this type of jig


https://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-plans/tablesaw/straight-edge-cutting-jig


Or a miter sled, plus clamps, which is basically the same idea.
I no longer have my Unisaw, but I used to use this Incra model & loved it:

https://www.incra.com/miter_gauges-miter5000.html


A tracksaw is also a good idea, but you'd want to make the top & bottom surfaces as flat as possible, first. otherwise (obviously) you won't get an even 90º cut.

[Dave Cav]

Try this type of jig


https://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-plans/tablesaw/straight-edge-cutting-jig

If you just have a few boards you can take this idea and simplify it by just nailing a long, straight board or piece of plywood to your stock and put the board against the fence. Don't overthink it. The chalk line idea works fine, too.

[Tom Bender]

Yes, nail (or tape) a straight board on top and run it thru the saw. This also helps with the unflatness issue and doesn't commit you to storing a dedicated jig.

[Rod Sheridan]

"As long as the wagon on the saw you use has a cutting capacity of at least the length of your board(s), you can rip a straight edge easily and safely"...ie, the saw has to be large enough/long enough to do the cut on the entire board.

Sort of😀

I have an 8 foot piece of ply with the “T” moulding underneath to fit the sliding table on my saw.

It increases the straight line rip capacity from 50 inches to over 8 feet......Rod.

[Pete Staehling]

It depends on the length of the piece and my mood at the time. I often use a jig like Doug mentions for shortish pieces. I have used a chalkline and bandsaw or circular saw, sometimes run over the jointer afterwards or touched up with a hand jointer plane.

I also have a nice aluminum two piece saw guide/straightedge that is 8' long that I inherited from my dad. It works great for jobs like that when used with a circular saw if i remember to use it. Most often I forget it is there.

[Jim Becker]

Sort of

I have an 8 foot piece of ply with the “T” moulding underneath to fit the sliding table on my saw.

It increases the straight line rip capacity from 50 inches to over 8 feet......Rod.

Yes, that's an option for shorter stroke sliders.