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/woodwor...ge-cutting-jig

[Allan Speers]

Try this type of jig


https://www.woodmagazine.com/woodwor...ge-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/woodwor...ge-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.

[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]

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