Waterfall detail on thick butcher block

[Ray Frederick]

I have to do mitered waterfall leg details on some 2 1/4" thick butcher block tops. The short pieces (less than 48' long) I can do on a sled on my table saw I suppose (old Powermatic 66) though not ideal with the blade's tilt direction

One of the pieces is 14' long , they are 14" deep. My bench my radial arm saw is mounted to only has 12' to the wall, I'd rather not dismantle the entire fence and table setup to move it. Not sure that 14' hanging off the sled on the tablesaw would go well. I could make an extra sled and large temporary side support and outfeed.

My skil saw will get me 1 7/8" deep or so on a 45 degree bevel cut, I could clamp a straight edge and cut that way and then finish with a hand saw and sand , I've done them this way before several times and while tedious they come out well. I'm not sure a 12" double bevel miter saw will have the enough cut capacity at 2 1/4" to complete the cut, I don't have one on hand at the shop to try with.

There are some inventive folks here so before I get started I thought I'd see everyone's thoughts. A smaller format sliding saw is in the shop's future...

[keith micinski]

Why would you use anything other then a table saw for that operation?

[Bill Orbine]

Seems like you thought of all of your possible options and using the skilsaw seems to be the best one. Considering how many of those 14' slabs you need to miter for waterfall? If it is just one, no sweat. Rather than sanding flush the kerf, I'd use sharp low angle hand plane.

[Earl McLain]

Makita specs their 5008 MG to cut right at 2 1/4" at 45 degrees. 8 1/4" blade. Don't know if it would really do the full 2 1/4", but that's the spec.
earl

[Jeff Davies]

HI Ray,
This is what I did . Made a box from 16 " wide ply that wrapped around the bar top . Left one end loose about 6" , so I could apply clamp force to hold it to the top . Built an accurate 45 degree surface on the other end of the box for a router to ride on and cut a window thought that surface .
Once rough cut by whatever means available, I applied the contraption, and took 1/2" cuts at a time with a flat bit , releasing and advancing the clamped on 'box' as needed.
If I did it again, I would make a fence on the low side of the 'box' for the router base edge to ride on . I would have a group of sticks, each wider than the other by the amount of router cut, that I could rest on the fence to advance the cut of the router.
You might wanna relieve the infield of the joint faces by a 32nd , those big joints go together easy only on paper. I guess you will spline or biscuit.
Make sure to add extra handling time on these projects, as they can really jam up a shop. and give a thought to what it does to you - timber builds and cabs stuffed with rollouts are the reason I don't walk very well now .
Kind regards, J J Davies

[Bill Space]

What is the wall made out of? Is it above ground?

If so, you could consider making an opening in the wall for long work pieces to extend through. Close it up, with a small door or panel as required, when not needed.

Just a thought. I set my radial arm saw up so I can cut 16' if needed, but the end of a piece that long has to extend into the basement stairs...

Been a while since I needed to cut something that long, but the capability is there if I need to again.

Bill

[Pat Barry]

If your RAS is accurate enough to do rhe job, then do the work necessary to use it for this project.

[Ray Frederick]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I found an almost new DeWalt 8 1/4" saw on Craig's List today for $50 and rushed to purchase it. Advertised as 2 1/4" bevel capacity cut so should just make it. Between that and my sanders and planes it should be relatively straightforward task. Planning on biscuiting the joints.

Plans are in the works to remove a cinder block on the left and right walls of my radial arm saw to deal with this issue going forward. Have been unable to cut a few things on my radial saw in the past due to length limitations.