Cutting beam ends

[Michael Wildt]

A interesting videos for different type of saws. Lists some interesting features that may be useful to think about even if you're not getting this particular $$ model.

http://www.timberwolftools.com/tools/kind/beamsaws.html
http://www.timberwolftools.com/tools...-MKS185Ec.html
http://www.timberwolftools.com/tools...SXEc400HM.html

[Neil Bosdet]

I'm cutting 8" x 16" beams for my house and we're using a 8.5" circular saw laid out carefully and finishing with a recip saw. Works pretty good. I've got about 100 or so cuts to make but hardly worth spending a fortune on a tool that won't get used again. I'm using a grinder with an abrasive disk on all parts of the beams for a hand-hewn look but you could simply hit the end with a sander to clean up the cut.

[Larry Edgerton]

I was thinking back today to a job I did that the beams were too big for the 16" Makita, and what I did was keep rolling them 90 degrees and using the old cut as a guide. With a blade that large and a kerf that tight , once you get a Big Mike started in the cut you can't turn it if you want to. So you could cut 12" with out issue by rolling 90 and cutting, rolling 90 and finishing the cut.

[phil harold]

A two man crosscut saw does an excellent job and gives you that ol time feeling when you use it!!

+1 for this handsaw method

[Prashun Patel]

Call me crazy, but are all these machines necessary? I'm thinking a kerf with a skill saw carefully laid out and finishing the cut with a sharp hand saw.

I'm with Peter. In fact, you don't even have to lay out the kerf with a circular saw.

Mark the cut line and clamp a square guide to the line. this will guide your handsaw straight.

Then use a sharp Japanese pull saw. It'll cut quickly and provide the necessary control and smoothness. Once the kerf is deep enough, it'll guide itself thru the rest of the cut. Smooth it with 120gt and yr done. If you're not joining these beams end for end, there's no reason to make it any more precise than this.

I resawed a 14" thick, 24" LOG this way. It was surprisingly quick and accurate. While I'll never cut a log this way again, I think it'll work FINE on a dry, smaller beams

[Kevin Hartnett]

The Japanese do this all the time with hand tools. I can't give you an exact tool name, but if you google Japanese hand saws you might find something useful. Good luck.

[Peter Quinn]

I spent half the day at a timber framer's shop having some work done for the shop I'm at that he was more equipped to handle. We are making parts for a pergola type thing with rafter tails that have a large swooping ogee that terminates in a birds mouth, the whole thing starts with 15 degree angle cut. Typical pergola look but supersized.

We are pushing the 7'-10' 4X6 material through the band saw, but the 24' 6X8 beams were going to be a problem. Not for this guy. Timberframe portable band saw, several large circular saws, the biggest I think was 24"? Pretty clean cuts. We talked a bit about precision and timbers, he seemed to feel less inclined toward applying cabinet maker standards to timber construction than he did when he was younger. Ends check, gaps appear, nobody notices minor details on the scale at which he typically builds.

Anyway fun outing for me getting out of the cabinet shop and working in a timber framer's barn work shop. He made pretty square very clean cuts with that big Makita I'll tell you, which is good, cause we were trying to figure out how to get a 24' beam on a 10' panel saw for days!

[Bruce Wrenn]

In the summer of 1967, I worked in a laminated bean production facility. We had a band saw on wheels that we used to square the ends of beams. Took less than five minutes to do a 60" wide beam, that was about 8" thick, southern yellow pine.

[Cody Colston]

A one-man crosscut saw. They cut fast, don't require any electricity and are cheap compared to a power saw.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Years ago IIRC there was a contractor here involved in a similar thing. He put rollers on his bandsaw and moved the bandsaw and kept the material properly supported.

[Jonah Decker]

Without shelling the money out for the Prazi or Bigfoot (won't cut 8 in in one pass). Cut 4 sides on a line with standard circular saw finish cut with sawzall then smooth and square up with a sander pad on a 4 in grinder. If you are butting one timber to another you can even hollow out the middle slightly then draw it tight with and oly (timber screw) so that the outside edge crushes for a nice tight joint.

[Mark Norman]

Without shelling the money out for the Prazi or Bigfoot (won't cut 8 in in one pass). Cut 4 sides on a line with standard circular saw finish cut with sawzall then smooth and square up with a sander pad on a 4 in grinder. If you are butting one timber to another you can even hollow out the middle slightly then draw it tight with and oly (timber screw) so that the outside edge crushes for a nice tight joint.

Yep!!!

That's been my method for many medium to large beams (6 X 10 to 8 X 16) building decks and Arbors.

[jefferson Davis, jr.]

I am fortunate to have a job building some large, heavy tables for a local restaurant and I am using some reclaimed hewed oak beams (approximately 10" x 12") to build the column of the base. Thus far, I have used a chain saw to rough cut the beams into 40" high columns - my final height on these pieces will be 37". I now need to figure out how to make the ends flat and square to attach to the circular top and base. This thread seems to be close to what I am dealing with but before I try some of the suggestions, I wondered if anyone had specific ideas for this project. Thanks.

[Neil Bosdet]

I am fortunate to have a job building some large, heavy tables for a local restaurant and I am using some reclaimed hewed oak beams (approximately 10" x 12") to build the column of the base. Thus far, I have used a chain saw to rough cut the beams into 40" high columns - my final height on these pieces will be 37". I now need to figure out how to make the ends flat and square to attach to the circular top and base. This thread seems to be close to what I am dealing with but before I try some of the suggestions, I wondered if anyone had specific ideas for this project. Thanks.

How is your budget on this job? If your client is willing, I'd consider having some wrought iron mounting brackets made. Make them to fit the post and then have a circular rim to mount the table top from below. Any imperfections in the post cut could be shimmed and supported without seeing it.

[Scott T Smith]

It sure would be nice if some kind of saw could be found that would make a smooth cut (up to eight inches) in one single pass.....and of course without costing an arm and a leg. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

Richard, I have one of the 16-1/2" Makita circular saws, and it works extremely well.

Another tool that I've used is my Ellis metal cutting band saw. It's good for up to 9" square (and you can go beyond that by fudging a little), and with the right blade it leaves a very nice finish. Not quite as nice of a finish as the Makita, but a heck of a lot smoother than the Prazi (I also have one of those).

Scott