What are the different ways to rip-cut (joint) the roundover part of a 2x4x8'?

[Minh Tran]

Hi there,

I'm building a workbench top using 2x4x8's that are laid on their sides. The faces and edges need to be squared.
I've tried some of the following:

Hand Planing
Pros: Nice, smooth & glossy finish (on a 2x4), quiet
Cons: Takes too long (1-2hrs/pc)
Comments: I'm new to planing. Squaring two sides just by using is a bit of a hurdle. I've read on the SMC forum about a squaring guide
attachment (what is it called again?) that attaches to the side of a hand plane at 90° to the sole of the plane. But I haven't built/tried it yet.

Table Saw
Pros: Fast, I already have a table Saw
Cons: Occasional burn on the side of the blade, not a clean cut (requires sanding/planing), dangerous.
Comments: I'm trying to look for/come up with a jig design to support a 2x4 length-wise to minimize risk.

Jointer
Pros: Fast (3-5 mins per face)
Cons: High cost (+cost for debris collection system), loud
Comments: I could drop $60-$100 for membership (per month) at a makerspace to use their jointer but this isn't cost effective in the
long run.

Power Hand Planer
Pros: Less effort
Cons: There's still a learning curve to this device
Comments: Haven't actually tried this route.


I'll likely build a jig for my table saw but I wanted to see what others have in mind. I do plan to invest in a jointer in the long run but not
anytime soon (school loans, blah blah).

Best,
MT

Also, unrelated question: What is a hold-down twist clamp (one that lets you fix the base of the clamp to the top of horizontal surface and clamps towards the same surface) called?

[John Donhowe]

Hands down, the table saw is the easiest way to go. It shouldn't be too dangerous if you have infeed and outfeed support for your pieces. If you're getting burns regularly, you're blade might be dull or dirty, or the fence might not be parallel to the blade.

You didn't say how you set up the fence, but if you set it so that the body of the 2x4 was in the gap between the blade and the fence, I see how you could get burn marks and also feel more in danger. I'd set up the fence barely to the right of the blade (~1/8" gap), so that you're trimming off just the round over, and most of the 2x4 is to the left of the blade. You'd have better control, and less likelihood of binding between blade and fence.

Even if you have burn marks on the edges, they won't show anyway, since you'll be gluing them together, right?

[lowell holmes]

I would use my jointer (which you do not have) , otherwise rip it on table saw.

If it were just a board or two, I would probably use a hand plane, but more skill is required.

[Minh Tran]

Hands down, the table saw is the easiest way to go. It shouldn't be too dangerous if you have infeed and outfeed support for your pieces. If you're getting burns regularly, you're blade might be dull or dirty, or the fence might not be parallel to the blade.

You didn't say how you set up the fence, but if you set it so that the body of the 2x4 was in the gap between the blade and the fence, I see how you could get burn marks and also feel more in danger. I'd set up the fence barely to the right of the blade (~1/8" gap), so that you're trimming off just the round over, and most of the 2x4 is to the left of the blade. You'd have better control, and less likelihood of binding between blade and fence.

Even if you have burn marks on the edges, they won't show anyway, since you'll be gluing them together, right?

Spot on! The table saw fence isn't reliable because the end on the outfeed side of the fence is unsupported (it's a cheapo craftsman table saw). This is one of the biggest reasons why I don't use my table saw
often - the fence sucks and I haven't got the equipment nor the knowledge to tune it. I'm currently building a cross-cut sled so I can actually control squareness of the cut. Unless the sled is 8' long, I can't mill larger pieces as easily.

In the past, I've wedged the 2x4 between the fence and the blade so that the body of the blade comes into contact with the cut piece. This is probably what has caused the burn marks (the blade is lightly used).
8' is fairly long and it's hard to keep it against the fence once it's been through the cut. It never occurred to me to ask for help (to keep the cut end against the fence). Doh!

No, burns won't show and they won't matter but I can't live with myself knowing that I've avoided the problem .

Best,
MT

[Prashun Patel]

Be very careful of kickback.

Get your saw into alignment, use a proper ripping blade, make sure you have a guard and splitter installed.

If u glue up the pieces one at a time it isn't so critical that the pieces be perfectly jointed.

[Adam Herman]

I would use my table saw as well, if i had quite a few to square, set up feather boards to hold down the 2x and an outfeed stand. It sounds like a look at Craigslist for a used, more precise table saw may be in order. I found my ridgid ts3650 for 300 a couple years ago, I see a few delta's around my area for 150 to 300 as well. sell your saw for 100 or so. power Hand planers are good if you need to size a door or something that is already square, but the surface is very short, so you can easily get waves in it. I find my table saw gets as much use as my miter saw and having one that i can setup very precisely is essential.

[Raymond Fries]

My vote is for tablesaw as well. I made two benches from the 2 x 4 material. A 24 TPI blade worked great.

Good luck with your project.

[Warren Wilson]

I use a roller stand for an "outfeed table" when ripping long pieces. You can get one for about $15 from harbour freight. Or buy two at that cost and have an infeed table as well! (Are you making the cut on the side of the board away from the fence? Your notion of "jamming a 2x4" between the fence and the material you are cutting prompts this question).

[Eric Schmid]

If you are buying framing lumber and trying to true up an edge and a face for joining I don't think your table saw rip fence is going to be much help as the first step. There are straight line jigs, but that's not going to help with the face. Since you say you are trying to square a face with an edge I assume you are joining these boards into a single glue up (or dry assembly)? And not just trying to remove the round over.

If you are feeding bowed, twisted and/or cupped lumber with the table and rip fence as reference, you are going to get the same out the back side of the blade. It also can be dangerous especially if the safety components are not in place and the safety of the saw is in question to begin with.

I think you are on the right track with the hand plane; true a face then an edge. Obviously a jointer can be faster; if you have one that is already set up correctly. Start by getting one face reasonably flat (or completely flat depending on your requirements). There are a number of ways you can true one edge once you have one face flat; hand plane, circular saw or router with edge guide or combination of these.

A powered hand plane will get you close quickly or make a huge mess quickly depending on the skill of the operator. They are prone to snipe on the infeed and outfeed ends, so starting with longer lumber than the final dimension is a good idea.

[glenn bradley]

Ripping 2x4's on a tablesaw is a recipe for kickback as is ripping any material that does not present a true milled surface to the table/fence junction. The table and fence are straight and true (we hope). Running irregular material past them will force the material in and out from the blade; you really, really don't want to do that. Lower the blade and run your material along the table/fence as if ripping and you will see what I mean. I rip any irregular material with the bandsaw (much more forgiving) and then mill the faces.

Joint a face, plane to thickness, joint and edge and rip to width. Otherwise you are forcing non-true surfaces together. The glue may hold but, the resulting tension will cause things to move about, now and in the future. Of course, once it finally settles down you can resurface the bench top and it should stay flat for some time.

[Bob Cooper]

May not be useful advice but I'd vote for 3/4" sheet goods rather than 2x4 lumber if you don't have a jointer and a planer. If you wanted you could sandwich a layer of 2x4 inside the sheet goods.

[william watts]

Glenn said it, you need a true edge to run against the fence.

I used a craftsmen saw for years. Unlike your fence, it locked on both ends, but would pull out of alignment when locked. A work around for me was to push the fence into alignment and put a clamp on the far end. It's worth the trouble especially on long, repeating rips. Sometimes I need to make do with what I have. Since moved on to a better saw.

[Lee Schierer]

First off, you need to align your table saw. I think you will have surprising results after you do that. It isn't that difficult to align your TS. Spend $20 and get a dial indicator, mount if to block of wood with a wood screw and clamp or mount that block of wood to your miter gauge. It will take about an hour. less than the time it takes you to hand plane one board and get out of square results.

If your saw is well aligned, the chances of a kickback are greatly reduced and the quality of the cut surface will also improve. With a quality 24 tooth rip blade you can clean up your 2 x 4's in less than an hour. Use feather boards to hold the 2 x 4 tight to your fence in front of the blade. Use a push stick to push the board through the final few feet of cut. Don't stand in the line of fire and insure that there isn't any thing that can be damaged behind you if the saw should kick back. Set your saw with the fence to the right of the blade so the straight 2 x 4 is against the fence, trim off just the round over and trim all your pieces with the saw in this set up. Then move your fence to trim the opposite side and again trim all your pieces.

Second point, Don't buy the cheap studs or precuts at your local big box store. Buy the premium grade which will be straighter and will have fewer knots. Better still visit a real lumber yard and buy their better grade 2 x 4's. Your bench will turn out much better.

[Robby Tacheny]

**Better option

Benchtop Planer:
Glue up 7 at a time and run them through a planer. You'll end up with nice square edges. Then glue your 10.5" blocks together. The end result should require very little clean up.

or

Just make a jig and run them through the planer to edge joint them. Get 1x8 and a 2x6. Rip the 2x6 in half and glue/nail/screw to each side of your 1x8. Now you have a sled to position your 2x4 for edge jointing on the planer.

Robby

[Mike Cutler]

As someone that has had to do this on a recurring basis, a Track saw is the quickest way to do it for a single board. Robert's method is a good one also, but that's going to be a somewhat heavy piece of material coming out of the back of the planer, and will require rollers and support.
My house was built in 1921, and all of the studs and joists are true measurement. If I want a "2x4", I have to start with a new 2x6 and rip it to width.

Getting a piece of "square" material out of a 2x4 is going to take some work. the tracks will out an initial straight edge on the material, but then if it need to be square, it will need to go to a jointer, and then a planer.

Follow Lee's advice and buy quality lumber. There is nothing in a big box store that you want.