This is ridiculous....

[Wes Grass]

Couldn't clamp a guide rail of some sort on the Felder table? Yeah, it'd be a bit tweaky to get set up, but some spacers to the rip fence to get it parallel should make that go pretty easy.

Gerry's solution of running the blade into a sacrificial fence sounds like the best idea to me though.

[Steve Mellott]

I use a right tilt saw for this type of cut all the time. If you are careful, I think it is a safe operation.

Steve

[Kevin Bickford]

Get an EZSmart Guide rail kit. You wont be sorry!

[brian c miller]

How about a lock miter bit on the router table / shaper?

[Scott Stafford]

You are my hero! You make me almost look normal. Almost!

Scott in Montana

[Dino Makropoulos]

Skill saw would do it, but that's a lot of hoping you can get 88 beveled cuts perfect enough to finish off the posts.

Rick Potter

4 1/2 years into the remodel.
Getting older, but not smarter.

Rick,
No tool like your brain.
This is a very simple job for a straight guide ( any guide, even wood)
Trap your CS the same way you saw with dado router jigs.
Using spacers on both ends, lift the jig 3/4" above the wood.
Your cutting line stays the same if you secure the jig with screws.
Slide your work piece under the jig and make few scoring cuts to perfectly align the work piece. Screw 4 stops.
Make the cut. reverse the work piece and make the cut again.
You have a perfect piece every time.

Here is a video that shows the same concept using a Bridge instead of spacers and sliding stops instead of stops made from scraps.
http://www.youtube.com/user/DikHarri.../4/3LgyejS7A5I

By supporting the saw ( trapping ) you have no problems with accuracy.
15 minutes to make a homemade jig that in your case is much better than
any saw guide.
Some times, few pieces of straight 1x4s can do the job better than any tool. Another thought is to use two long aluminum L shaped strips to trap the saw.

Here is a thought: I_(saw)_I
This method is even better than the one in the video for beveling cuts.
good luck.

[Bob Luciano]

Not to derail the tool portion of this but did you consider using PVC material to enclose the 4x4s. Adds your width and doesn't rot in the elements

[Neal Clayton]

but it traps moisture that gets behind it rotting something else.

unless you wanna build the whole house out of pvc...

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I second the buy a left tilt Sawstop contractors saw to do the cuts. A true tool junkie would already have one, and the back up that you didn't remember existed.

BTW where do you keep all the tools? Did you have to build a shed?

[Rick Potter]

A lot of well thought out suggestions here. Thank you to all of them.

Well, the old guy just went with what he is familiar with, and used dad's old sears table saw. I spent a bit of time messing with the original fence to make sure it was set up straight and true, then just ripped those suckers one after another, till the motor got a bit warm. It did the job accurately and quickly.

The pieces are already installed. We used bisquits and PL construction adhesive, shimmed out the 4x4 posts with OSB. and trued up everything. The posts are now exactly 6x6 and we made flat arches between them, routing a rabbet at the bottom of them to use masonite as the bottom of the arch.

Came out looking like we did it on purpose.


Rick Potter
PS: This work was done on my shop porch.
PPS: Dad's saw earned a spot in the shop. I will put one of those Beismeier fences on it, and keep a dado blade in it.