How would you make these cuts?

[Brian Dormer]

I'm building a workbench based on the Vertas (center tray) design.

Because of the limitations of my shop - the 1 3/4" slabs will be about 9" wide x 62" long with 1/2" tenons on the ends (so the top will be 61 inches showing). The end tenons will fit into the end aprons. The side aprons will be glued on, probably with biscuits, just to keep the top of everything lined up while the glue dries.

I've got the slabs ripped to 9" width. It was tough getting the big slab over the TS - but once I ripped the slab in half (and half the weight) - things went pretty easy.

Now I need to cut the 72" slabs down to length and rabbet the end. I'm not opposed to using a spline if I have to - but I'd prefer no metal fasteners (otherwise I could just lag screw the aprons on).

Are the slabs too big to crosscut and rabbet on the TS? Even my longest miter fence (48") is too short to use an end stop - so how do I ensure they are EXACTLY the same length?

I'm open to suggestions - anybody got a bright idea or some experience in this kind of thing?

TIA-

[Anthony Whitesell]

Unfortunately I'm not familiar with the Vertas design, so the only suggestion I can make is to glue them together and put them all at one as a panel with the circular saw.

[David DeCristoforo]

"Even my longest miter fence (48") is too short to use an end stop..."

Is there no way to temporarily attach an "outrigger" to your crosscutting sled (or gauge) with an end stop? To assist in a smooth cutting action, wax the table well so that things will slide smoothly. And a helper to support the "outboard" end of the planks would ease your pain. You can do the same to form the rabbets using a dado blade and the saw fence to control the cut.

YM

[Mark Mazzo]

Brian,

My bench is loosely modeled on the Veritas design. You can see a picture of it in the Gallery on my blog (see signature below for web address).

In my opinion, these panels are definitely too big to safely do on the table saw. The way that I did this was to strike a square line across the ends of the panels. I then used a handheld jig saw to saw with an 1/8" to a 1/16" of the line.

After that I clamped a straightedge parallel to the lines offset for my router base. I used a top bearing straight bit in the router and trimmed the ends flush to the line. Because of the the thickness of the top, the first pass was about halfway through. I did all of those passes first. Then I used a bottom bearing straight bit in the router from the other sides of the panels to trim the other half flush with the first pass of the router.

This sounds more complicated than it was. Once set up for each step, the machining only took a couple of minutes. Most importantly, it was completely safe.

[J. Z. Guest]

This is where the humble circular saw shines, Brian. When the stock is small/light enough, move the stock over the tool. When the stock is large enough, move the tool over the stock. Carpenters learned this long ago.

Get a piece of 1/4" plywood about 8-10" wide and and about 6" longer than you need to crosscut. Use a square to line it up with the cut. Clamp it down with the smallest C-clamps that will reach around the stock, and use it as an edge guide for your circ saw.

A jigsaw may work too, but the only time I tried it with mine, the blade wandered. Maybe I was pushing it too hard. The circ saw also leaves a smoother finish on the cut. When you're done, you can clean up the edge either by sanding, planing (this will be tough!) or with a pattern/template cutting bit on your router.

If that doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll go take a couple pix of how it is done.

Edit: I suggested 1/4" ply because it will allow the circ saw to cut maximum thickness. Any thickness of straightedge will work, as long as you can lower the saw motor deep enough to make your cut. You'll probably need at least a 12-13 A circ saw to make this cut. If you find it bogging, switch to a rip blade, since you'll be cleaning up the cut later anyhow.

[Doug Shepard]

This is where the humble circular saw shines, Brian. ...

That's what I used to cut a 4" thick top using a clamping straight edge guide. I cut through from the bottom about 1/8" longer than the cut I did on the top, then used a pattern router bit with bearing to flush the longer cut up to the first. I should mention that I had to buy a new CS to do it though. My CMan could not be adjusted to cut perfectly pependicular to the plate and quite a few other brands had the same problem. Found 3-4 that were accurate and ended up with a Makita.

[Brian Dormer]

After reading these posts (THANK YOU ALL!) - I think I'll use a Circular saw to cut down to the length of the tenons (if the tenon is off square a little - it won't matter). Then use a router to come up to the final size. If the tenon is a little short, no worries. If the tenon is a little long, I can either cut the dado in the apron deeper or bring back the circular saw to trim the tenon down. Come to think of it - I'll cut the dado in the apron 1/8" deeper than I need to start with. The apron is 1 1/2 thick - so there's still plenty of "meat" left in the board.

I was worried about the accuracy of a circular saw in this application.

I'm not thrilled about the mess the router is going to create - but that is probably the best way to cut that rabbet.

Once again - my thanks!

[Peter Quinn]

I'd clamp the slabs together, set up outboard support to the left of the blade, cut them on a sled at the table saw. 62" lenght is rather arbitrary, all that matters is that thes two slabs are the same and very close to 62". I'd use a dado/sacrificial fence and the same outboard support you already set up to make the tennons.

[Brian Dormer]

Peter -

I agree 100% - IN THEORY. But actually trying to man-handle two 30+ pound slabs (so, clamped together - figure 70lbs, give or take) in a small shop, single handed is much easier said than done. And I'm also concerned about doing this safely. I don't have the luxury of 4 foot extension tables on my TS or I'd do it that way. My entire shop is only 14" x 16" - and I have a "feature" of a lally column about 5 feet out from one wall (I'd sell my firstborn to get rid of that #$%@ing column).

The only change I'm making to the gameplan is the size of the tenon on the end of the slab. Initially, I was thinking 1/2 - 3/4, something in that range. Now, I've got a "better" idea...

Since the (4" or so) skirts are way deeper than the (1 3/4) slabs - I'm just going to run a rabbet about 3/4 deep (from the top side) on the slabs - that will leave me a 1" tenon. The dado in the apron will wrap over the top and then the bottom of the slab just sits in the dado. It's overkill for the size of the tenon - but it means less wood has to come off the slabs (whenever the router comes out - I ALWAYS make a mess). I'm thinking 2-3 roughing passes about 3/8 inch deep to hog out most of the waste, then reset the guide fence for the final 1/8" pass, which will set the length of the slabs. I'll cut the rabbets first as dados in the top - that way the router will be supported on both sides, then come back with the circular saw and lop off the waste.

Cutting a 1" dado in the aprons (which are about 27" long) will be a snap on the TS. I can do that in 2 passes. The critical dimension will be the bottom side of the dado, which has to be exactly the same as the depth of the slab. AND the width of the dado needs to match the tenon on the end of the slab. But I only have to deal with one variable at a time doing the setup - so it should be a piece of cake.