How to rip saw without a saw bench?

[Brian Sommers]

I have bad knees. How else could I rip saw without taking a knee on a sawbench?

[Jim Koepke]

I have bad knees. How else could I rip saw without taking a knee on a sawbench?

The purpose of taking a knee on a saw bench is to hold down the wood. Using a clamp would help. Another way is to sit on the work. Here is a post of me ripping some ash and when I got tired, I sat down on the job.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...pping-Some-Ash

jtk

[Nicholas Lawrence]

The purpose of taking a knee on a saw bench is to hold down the wood. Using a clamp would help. Another way is to sit on the work. Here is a post of me ripping some ash and when I got tired, I sat down on the job.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...pping-Some-Ash

jtk

+1

I prefer to use the "knee on the board" approach, but the sitting approach works quite well.

[James Waldron]

I've got bad knees. I drilled a couple of strategically placed holes in my saw bench for holdfasts. And sometimes I use the French style of sitting to rip. Both work; the holdfasts and standing cut is faster than sitting. Sitting is a good relief when standing starts to hurt my back, so anything over about 18 inches will see me use both styles.

[David Eisenhauer]

Are you ripping something of a size such that it can be held vertically in a vise an then be cut at waist-chest height or somewhere thereabouts?

[Stew Denton]

Brian,

I am in agreement with Jim, the knee is to hold the lumber that you are sawing steady. Like Jim has recommended, I often use clamps to hold lumber in place if I can't hold it with a knee, as when working on a small item, or in other situations where I can't put a knee on the lumber.

I don't have a saw bench, but mostly work on saw horses. To rip I often use two planks on the horses, and use "C" clamps or quick clamps to clamp the planks to the horses and the lumber to the planks, or I put a knee on the lumber to keep it in place if I don't clamp it to the planks. I leave a gap lengthwise between the two planks, the location to be ripped goes right over the gap between the planks, and thus the saw goes down the center of the gap between the two planks.

I have done the same sort of thing, if I recall, using 4X4s that in their former lives were posts for our fence. You can use 3 of them for a large piece that needs to be ripped. Put two lengthwise between two horses to support the large half of the lumber to be ripped and then have a gap between the 3rd 4X4 and the other two. You can then clamp 4X4s to the horses and the lumber to be ripped to the 4X4s and run the saw lengthwise down the lumber, the ripping again being done on the board in the gap between the sets of 4 X 4s. If the piece to be ripped is small, then you only need 2 of the 4X4s.

The posts are cedar or redwood or some other light weight wood, and the light weight makes them nice to move around and set up.

Using the 4 X 4s makes the sawing closer to you than would be the case by using planks because the 4X4s are fairly narrow , so you don't have to lean over very far or put your weight on a knee.

Done using the 4X4s and clamping down everything, you can stand next to the work on the 4 X 4 to do the ripping, instead of using a knee to hold things in place.

Stew

[Reinis Kanders]

I use tail vise for some ripping. Works well but it does depend on your bench height.

[Phil Mueller]

If the board is wide enough, I clamp it to the work bench and then stand on a riser I built for something long ago. I figured if I can't lower the board, I'll raise myself.

A saw bench is definitely one of my next projects.

[Chris Hachet]

If the board is wide enough, I clamp it to the work bench and then stand on a riser I built for something long ago. I figured if I can't lower the board, I'll raise myself.

A saw bench is definitely one of my next projects.

Pretty much this. Although I have gotten quite good at ripping with the wood held flat on my bench with hold fasts and the waste overhanging the edge. There is a you tube video of Chris Schwartz ripping this way. I work a physical job and find I can work more easily in the evening if I do not have to kneel or bend over.

[Niels Cosman]

For narrower stock I will rip at the bench with the work held in the dogs or with holdfasts/clamps. You can use the saw normally (teeth facing backwards) or overhanded (teeth facing forwards). I use an overhand grip for thicker rips or crosscuts.
I find cutting overhand can be easier to stay plumb because you can sight the blade more easily.

tablesaw.jpgoverhand_crosscut.jpg

[Brian Sommers]

Very helpful. I have a small shop and keep thinking of getting rid of my TS. How nice it would be to have all that working room. I do a lot of ripping on my TS. So I need to think long and hard on this one.

[Adam Cruea]

Like others have said, the knee is just to hold stuff down.

Usually when I rip, if it's something smaller or not any of the stupid-hard hardwoods I like to play with (hickory or harder), I'll just clamp it to my bench, which puts it at about 33-ish inches off the ground and go to town.

Generally, though, I use my bandsaw. It's faster, and unless the piece is unwieldy (anything less than about 3 feet and thicker than 4/4), less of a hassle.

[Jim Koepke]

Very helpful. I have a small shop and keep thinking of getting rid of my TS. How nice it would be to have all that working room. I do a lot of ripping on my TS. So I need to think long and hard on this one.

You do not need to get rid of the TS to try hand ripping. See if it works for you. If it does... bye, bye table saw.

jtk

[Phil Mueller]

Niels, never thought to use the saw "overhand"...I'll have to give that a try. Thanks.

[Brian Holcombe]

Most of the time I clamp a piece upright in my tail vise to rip it, especially small or medium sized pieces.

Handsawing has become quite practical for me as I have increased the number of handsaws I have to tackle anything from little tiny stuff for box making to large pieces for tables and such and resawing.

Whats frustrating is when the saw is just choking on dust, so if you have a saw that allows you to use your energy effectively in every circumstance then you can enjoy hand sawing.