Beam chainsaws

[andrew whicker]

When I looked that Festool one isn't sold in the states... too many safety regulations over here.

[andrew whicker]

That thing looks underpowered anyway. Here's the real deal: https://www.timberwolftools.com/mafe...chain-beam-saw

[Bill McNiel]

I don’t do as much timber framing as I used to, but I have used all the tools you mentioned in your post.

For crosscutting a 12x12, the easiest method that will yield the best results in the least amount of time is the Mafell portable bandsaw, but it is likely the most expensive and there’s no way that I could justify the purchase of that tool unless I was timber framing all the time, which I no longer do. It’s an amazing and precise tool that I used extensively to cut joinery, crosscuts, notches, birdsmouths, etc just as much of more than the decorative scrolling type work that is typically marketed with that tool.

I would use a Makita (or similar) circular beam saw (16 5/16” blade with 6 1/4” depth of cut) and cut from both sides and clean up with a plane and/or sander as needed. Crosscutting posts (even 12x12) is a pretty normal occurrence in timber framing and people have done it successfully with beam saws forever. Unless the timber is perfectly square at the point of reference with you square / layout then you will not get a perfectly square cut, but it can happen and if it’s not square then there are so many simple ways to make it square. Being strategic about how you choose your reference faces in regards to the twist/bow/etc that the timber had can be worth the extra time as you will potentially have no clean up to do, or at least can mitigate the clean up compared to just throwing a square on there without evaluating each stick of wood. I may be saying things that you already know, so forgive me, but I have seen folks do so many things over the years without thinking and then complain about the poor results, that I find it to be worth at least mentioning in passing.

A chainsaw beam saw is going to leave a pretty rough surface on the end grain of the cut. This may not matter, but just be aware that it will be the roughest of all the cuts and you will need to take some precautions (tape, scoring, maybe more) in order to prevent tear out 2 sides of the cut because of the way the chain rotates.

How long are the posts and how many cuts do you need to make? What species is the timber?

I have made many a cut in big timber before with a smaller circular saws (7 1/4 - 10 1/4”) and finished the middle by hand with a large (300mm) and fairly aggressive toothed Ryoba with great success. Believe it or not, this is a very viable option if you have less than say 20 or so cuts to make. More than that and you obviously will see efficiencies in a dedicated tool, but you obviously would need to be able to offset your purchase price of the tool in labor saved if you don’t plan to have much of a valuable use for this tool in the future.

I fully agree with everything Phillip has said other than the Mafell which I know nothing about. I have, and have used, the Makita 16" for approximately 45 years. I have also used my 7 1/4 Skillsaw and 5 TPI handsaw to finish the middle. Choice between the two methods is a matter of how many I'm doing. I actually prefer the Skillsaw method for accuracy and ease (the 16" is getting bigger and more unwieldy with every passing year).

[andrew whicker]

Thanks Bill and Phillip. Good food for thought.

I'm now trending towards using my 10 1/4 + handsaw versus buying a new saw. If anything, I'm now thinking I could even get another 10 1/4 + handsaw if I really thought I needed to get more done in one day.

The accuracy comments are good. I can visualize how annoying it may be to set up a big saw for an accurate cut only for it to get off during the cut because it's hard to handle.

I'm still very much in the 'trying to get the job' phase and this is really getting into the weeds. I'll see what happens and let you know what I do. Thanks again.