Maple Bench Top is Too Big, How to Cut It?

[Frank Martin]

I think the circular saw with a straight edge would be quicker and less painful than taking this to a cabinet shop. You can practice by cutting a smaller section and then move to the final size if needed. Then if needed hand plane or router would give you perfect 90 degree edges. I bet once you try you would say it was easier than you thought.

[Brian Kincaid]

Makita 5104 You are done in one shot!

Track guided circular saw followed by panel saw (hand saw), then router or handplane to taste. Have done this a few times and it's a fine way to go if you don't want to flip the top.

There are very long jigsaw blades if you have a good jigsaw, Festool S 145/FSG is 5"+ long. I have used one of these with pleasing results. Don't get in a hurry and you only need to do it once.

Not sure about the router recommendations, maybe you guys are a lot better with a plunge router than me. I would muck it up.

-Brian

-Brian

[Myk Rian]

Were nails or screws used in the construction of the top?
That would be good to know.

[Matt Meiser]

Check around if anyone rents a 10" circular saw which would certainly be easier than moving that thing around any more than needed.

Or use a circular saw and cut from both sides. On the second, make sure your cut is slightly (part of a kerf) too far to the waste side of the cut Then use a top bearing router bit to follow the first cut and remove the excess from the second cut to get a nice edge.

[Marty Tippin]

I like the 10" circular saw idea -all I can find to rent locally is a 16" (!!) circular saw and that scares me just thinking about it.

For those who've asked, yes, it's really 3" thick, made from laminated 8/4 maple ripped to 3" width and then glued on the 3" side. No nails or screws anywhere - it's really a beautiful piece of work and is why I'm considering all my options. If I wasn't so far along with the rest of the workbench construction, I'd just scale the base up by 25% or so and make it work with the top at it's current size. But I'd pretty much have to start over if I went that route.

[scott vroom]

+1 taking it to a cabinet shop

[eugene thomas]

I made my bench top 36 by 84 and 3" thick. Cut to length with skil saw and then hand saw . Cleaned up the end with my 5" rotex sander . As to ripping think skil saw is best bet then sander or router, whatever will work best.

[Erik Christensen]

Tracksaw is the way to go - that is how I squared the ends of my 2 1/2" maple top

[Rod Sheridan]

Skilsaw from both sides, finish with a plane............Rod.

[Earl Rumans]

Something that beautiful, made by a friend, I would hate to mess up. One thing to consider, when cutting length wise, are the glue lines. You don't want a 1/4 inch section at the edge of the table. I would also try and find a cabinet shop in the area that would make the cuts for you, just to make sure it is done correctly.

[John Piwaron]

Sounds like the perfect excuse to buy a Festool tracksaw. That's what I'd do.

The size you mention - I personally find it hard to believe a benchtop can be too long. Too wide - yes. But that's just me. My next major project will be a new workbench. But I decided that a split top is a good idea for the problem you mention - weight. And easier to move around during the construction process.

[Patrick McCarthy]

If it were me, I would start redesigning the base . . . . or make a pair of legs for one end.

[Dave Richards]

Have you built the case already? It's a pretty simple design and it would be easy enough to modify the length. Or, as Patrick suggested, add some legs to one end.

Here it is with the top made 12 inches long and 8 inches wider. I added the length to the right and the width to the back. If the case is already built, you could essentially duplicate the case side as legs and make that section deeper. Shove your shop vac or something in the hole. Or some of your stack of Festool Systainers.

[Marty Tippin]

Have you built the case already?

I'm probably not so far along that I couldn't re-design it a bit. I suppose I could play with the SketchUp file and see about stretching the width and depth of the cabinet. Might give me that excuse I've been needing to spend more time learning how to use SketchUp... ;-)

While the top is "too big" for the current design, it's not "too big" for me to want to use as-is!

[Dave Richards]

I gather you have the Digital Plan for it, then. The SketchUp model was made to be easily resized for things like this.