Am I insane....

[David Weaver]

Just keep your eye out for a good straight rip saw, doesn't matter what brand it is.

The D-8 thumbhole saws are nice, but some people who sell them seem to think they're rare or something. I've gotten two for $25 (total). Full sawplate, all the teeth and straight with no kinks. Surface rust or that kind of stuff and no etch is to your benefit as a buyer because it doesn't make a difference in how the saw works once cleaned and it keeps the collectors away.

It's nice to have two separate rip saws, one for 8/4 stock and one for 4/4 or 5/4 stock. 4 or so tpi is nice on 8/4 stock.

It should take several minutes to rip a board that long if your saw is sharp and you know what you're doing, maybe a reasonable uumph rate is between a foot and two feet per minute, never timed it, but it doesn't seem to take long, and I think a foot a minute is even slow.

[Chris Griggs]

No your not insane. I recently resawed a 4 foot long 10 inch wide cherry board with a beautiful old, but unfortunately too dull, Disston rip saw. It lituraly took about 4+ hours.

Bad Axe Tool Works (Google them) sells old saws that have been rehabbed. They'll cost you more than $100, but they will be less than a new premium rip.

Although my recommendation, if you have the money, a little outdoor space, and not overly sensitive neighbors, is to get a decent quality portable table saw (Dewalt or Bosch; I use the Dewalt DW745). A portable tablesaw won't perform like a large one, but for straight rips they work very well and if you lack space you can store it inside and use it outside. I also lack indoor space, and while I do most my work by hand these days, it's hard to beat a table saw for long rip cuts.

(P.S. My fellow Neanders, please do grant me your forgiveness for recommending the use of a power tools on this forum)

[Jonathan McCullough]

Thanks Jonathan.

I think if I could do each rip in 10-15 minutes I'd be more than satisfied to do it that way. It's a hobby, and I need the workout. Is that a reasonable expectation?

Would you get an old Disston, or a frame saw?

Hmm. As to time, I was replacing some window-sill extender thingees in douglas fir, and three feet took about fifteen minutes. I'd suppose DF is a lot like SYP in that respect. But it's good to have one around (or in my case, at least a few . . . .). And not every cut is going to be eight feet in difficult wood. I'd contend that 3/4 inch soft No. 2 pine is quicker to rip than to crosscut. You really zip through that stuff.

If I were in the market for a rip saw I'd probably get a Disston No. 7 or D-7. A thumbhole grip D-8 would be suitable but I think people want a lot of money for them because they somehow seem exotic to people who want to sell them, and the market perception creates a market reality, though they're actually not uncommon. An old No. 7 filed rip is usually going to be a big old thing, up to 28 inches long. Technically, every rip saw ought to be 28 inches, whereas a hand saw is 26, and anything less is going to be a panel saw.

If you see a saw that's filed with six or fewer teeth per inch, it's going to be a rip saw. If you see one out in the wild, don't get one that's been so used up that it's shaped like a triangle. I'd recommend that you don't get hung up about whether it's a Disston or not. As long as it's straight, has 4 - 6 tpi, and isn't so rusty that it's pitted--though it can be hard to tell on ebay. Sawing with a rusty saw is unnecessarily difficult. Clean it up with some mineral spirits and a scraper and some sandpaper. Wax it up with paraffin wax and give it a whirl. You may have to sharpen it, but rip saws are good to learn on and there are several places that'll show you how.

[Trey Palmer]

Thanks for the help guys!

I'm not religious enough about hand work to spend $250 on a new Lie Nielsen et al. saw when that would get me to half of a Festool TS55 and probably further than that towards a decent used bandsaw.

Bad Axe Tool Works is something worth considering.

I live 2 miles from Highland Hardware and suspect they can hook me up with someone to sharpen a used saw....

[george wilson]

You can generally keep putting out only about 1/10 H.P.,with about 1/2 H.P. bursts. Either figure is very,very low compared to what even a cheap power tool can do.

Therefore,you need to make sure you have the correct and most advantageous tool for jobs like sawing and planing.

They need to be very sharp,too,and lubricated if necessary,as well. Just think about 1/10 H.P.. What would you think of a Skil saw with that power rating?

[Trey Palmer]

Chris,

I could store and use a jobsite TS, possibly even indoors. The limiting factor for indoor power tool use is dust control. I did a couple of projects with chopsaw, skilsaw and sander, and the dust was too unmanageable.

Simplifying somewhat, our house is a small single-family urban loft with two open multi-use rooms. One of them is more 'industrial' and has a stained concrete floor. It's suitable for woodworking if the bench area can be made tidy, but also contains an office/library and our guest room.

[Jonathan McCullough]

Table saws are for sissies. Everyone has a table saw. What are they good for? Cutting off your fingers. When you have guests over you should pull out your shiny 30-inch Spear & Jackson that's so wide it looks like a patch for the side of an ironclad and tell them, "now thet's a sawawww." Besides, if space is an issue, the ripper would look better on a wall than a Black and Decker space mizer tabletop table saw, coffee maker & toaster oven combo.

[Brian Ward]

I just ripped the first benchtop strip off a 2x10x8' SYP board by hand. [...] As expected, it's not easy. It took me 45 minutes including considerable rest time, using a 14" 14TPI crosscut Sharksaw. I'd guess you could do it a lot faster with practice and the right saw, sawbench, etc.

To add a little more "detail" to what others have said, basically, ripping a board like that with the saw you describe is kind of like nailing jelly to a tree. For anything that big, you should be using a rip saw, and if you want to do it quickly, you want to use something that's long and has a low TPI number (4, 5, etc.). It will need a moderate amount of set for green(ish) softwoods, and you'll want to have wedges ready for jamming into the kerf at the end after you get the kerf started.

It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to rip that by hand. You could make a saw that works decently by finding either an old saw or a trashy new one without induction-hardened teeth and refiling/setting it.

[Sean Hughto]

When I first started trying to make furniture as opposed to just carpentry sorts of home improvement things, I had only a small dark corner of a basement near the waterheater and furnace. No stationary power tools would have fit, and their mess would have been uncontainable/unacceptable too. So I started learning handtools. I got a nobex champion miter saw (great tool) instead of a SCMS, Stanley planes, and old diston saws. Like you, I still needed some reasonable rip alternatives. I waited for reasonable (or at least tolerable) weather, and set up out on my Deck, or on saw horses in the yard. There I could bring to bear my jig saw, my circular saw, and later, my Makita portable table saw. I might have had to sweep or rake a bit after the deed, but the inside stayed dust free. Worked fine.

[Frank Drew]

Trey,

Just in case the terminology is unfamiliar, the teeth on a saw intended for ripping wood (cutting with the grain) are shaped differently than the teeth on a crosscut saw, which is for cutting across the grain. The former are more chisel shaped vs. the more knife-like profile of a crosscut tooth.

Handsaws, circular saws, chain saws all offer rip or crosscut options.

[Steve Branam]

That's a pretty hefty rip! The saw you used is like butchering a side of beef with an Xacto knife. Sure, it'll work eventually...

For big rips, I have an old 4 1/2 TPI Disston 27 1/2" (toe to heel on blade) ripsaw. Works great after I cleaned it up and filed it. You could probably get through a foot per minute with it without getting out of breath.

I've also used a 6 TPI Disston 26" rip. Worked very well on 5/4 SYP and 8/4 oak.

A good ripsaw is a power tool, and it won't burn out under load!

[george wilson]

My first big ripping job was when I was starting to make guitars at 13. I had had a bad time getting a nice piece of quartered spruce for my first guitar top. A church member had a boat repair business,and gave me a 24" square X 3/4" thick piece of spruce. I was determined to not waste it,and managed to resaw that piece of spruce into 2 thinner sheets by hand-none of the wood shop's machines could handle it. I was very stubborn!!

[Andrew Gibson]

I agree with others. I have to admit that I would probably reach for the circular saw. I would most likely pop a line with a chalk line and rip it with the circular saw.
If I was committed to doing it by hand I would reach for a 26" or so rip saw... My great great grandfather bought this one, and after a little filing and a new handle it does its job very well. I like having the thumb hole as useing both hands does help add some power. I think mine has 6 tpi.

[David Martino]

My first big ripping job was when I was starting to make guitars at 13. I had had a bad time getting a nice piece of quartered spruce for my first guitar top. A church member had a boat repair business,and gave me a 24" square X 3/4" thick piece of spruce. I was determined to not waste it,and managed to resaw that piece of spruce into 2 thinner sheets by hand-none of the wood shop's machines could handle it. I was very stubborn!!

Not to hijack an interesting thread, but do you remember how you did it? Doesn't sound easy...

[george wilson]

I clamped it on edge in a standard wood working bench,stood on the bench and sawed downwards. It took a few shop periods!!!