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OT - How do I cut this 'slab' of wood?

GregSY

Diamond
Joined
Jan 1, 2005
Location
Houston
This is a piece of wood (or will be once I glue the two pieces together) that is 20" long, 17" wide, and 1-3/4" thick.

I want to cut it on the diagonal such that when I am done one end will still be 1-3/4" and the other will be about 1-1/4". The entire finished surface needs to be half-ass attractive which mean I can't cut it using a method that will leave marks or unevenness.

I scribed an orange line on the edge that represents the cut but it's hard to see.

I don't mind paying to get this done by a local wood shop but in that case my question becomes 'what type of machine can make this cut'?slab.jpg
 
I just run these through a surface planer with a splint of cut thickness attached to bottom side of edge to be thinned.
Your cut is cross grain so that will give the guy doing it pause...

Carpet tape will do to hold the splint.
The splint must (should...) be on feed axis.

In your case the splint is 1/2” thick.
 
I'd glue first, then surface (on a large sander with belt feed). Then resaw on a band saw with an appropriate jig. Then resand the sawn edge, propping up the thin edge. if it needs to look nice I don't see that you'll be able to do the wedge shape first, and then glue, and get an attractive product.
 
If you don't have a band saw equipped with a good resew blade then find a friend who is an accomplished wood chuck. I have had good luck with Timber wolf blades. You will need to do some surface prep after sawing before finishing.
 
Make a sled that holds the board at the required angle and send it through a planer or thickness sander (your surface quality will depend on the type/condition of the blade or belt in the machine, and how you cut w.r.t. the grain). Perhaps a piece of 1/2" cabinet ply with a couple blocks cut lengthwise on the table saw to hold the board at the right angle and provide a fastening surface. Extra strength double stick tape plus block at one end to act as a lip holding the workpiece against the cutting force would work for holding. Or you could glue the workpiece to the angle blocks and cut/plane/sand them off afterwards. This method is precise enough that if you only have a narrow planer you could glue the two pieces together afterwards and only need a little touch-up.
 
The manual way to do this is a taper jig with a router on a sled.
I am doing one of these cuts as we speak.
This cut is to 0 but process is same.
Just setup for taper and width of stock and away you go...:

image.jpg

image.jpg

Surface is smooth and exact- ready for final sand.
 
When I was building my boat I had some similar scarfs to cut. I laid out the angle on the edges and used a miter box to crosscut the wood almost to the line, with the cuts about 1 inch apart. Then used a chisel to remove most of the wood and finish with a hand plane.

Not the fastest way, but it gets the job done.
 
First you get a humongous sine bar...

I like the planer or router method, but you should ask the shop what they think, since they know the capabilities of their equipment.

If it were me, since the material removal isn't too much, I'd go at it with a sharp Stanley #7. Why? Biggest plane I've got.
 
Use your bridgeport for bulk material removal, then clean it up with a hand plane.

A bit big to resaw unless you have a friend with a big ass bandsaw.

Same for planer.

Not saying they aren't out there, it's just not a "every wood shop has one" type of tool.
 
The manual way to do this is a taper jig with a router on a sled.
I am doing one of these cuts as we speak.
This cut is to 0 but process is same.
Just setup for taper and width of stock and away you go...:

View attachment 210070

View attachment 210071

Surface is smooth and exact- ready for final sand.

Done this before too...but rarely have the bench space to set it all up!

Guess I could clean off the acorn table...that's where I just glued up the butcher block countertop I am gluing back together.
 
Thanks all.

I should clarify that the surface being cut will be 17" x 20" so the router method shown would not work.

My Doall bandsaw unfortunately has a 14" depth of cut so it can't handle 17".

I have milled wood a lot on my Wells Index but I've never tried face milling...and I'd have to slide the head out in order to span a 17" area on the Y axis. But it could be done. Unfortunately I have only one 688 though!

The planer idea is good...I'd have to use guides (as noted) to prevent it from rotating. I'll wander out to the shop to see if my planer will go 17". I think it's a 16" affair though.
 
Thanks all.

I should clarify that the surface being cut will be 17" x 20" so the router method shown would not work.

You aren't understanding it if you don't think it will work.

The router is on a sled (that piece of laminate), and lays on top of those vertical pieces which sammich the piece that you want to cut the taper on. Now you use the router to fly cut the 17x20 surface, one strip at a time.
 
Thats like couple of minutes work with a simple packer on a thickness-er or a jointer if you can find a local one wide enough. Hell its not even that hard to do with a power plane, or just a hand plane if you have some skills. Hand plane, you can skip the gym for a day or two as a added bonus.

Bridgeport mill with alu insert face mill works pretty good too. Even just roughing it on the mill as steps and hand planing would not take long.
 
If I cut it prior to gluing, I'd still have a fair amount of stock to be removed/sanded away. That would pose the issue of getting it to be flat. As a minimum I'd need a 17" wide sanding belt which I don't have.

Hand plane? Lol. This wood is expensive and I am not about to start practicing on it!

My power planer only goes 13" so that kills that.

I'll re-study the router idea.
 
what type of machine can make this cut?

In my shop, the "machine" would be a Stanley #6 plane, my personal favorite for work that size. Taking only half an inch off one end wouldn't tax my old shoulders that much - a nice piece of mahogany like that one would be pretty quick work.
 
As Conrad and frank have stated, A number 6 or 7 plane will do this job without any issues. It's just healthy excercise. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the prospect, I've got a piece of 36"x96"x1.25" mahogany that needs attention!
 
I have milled wood a lot on my Wells Index but I've never tried face milling...and I'd have to slide the head out in order to span a 17" area on the Y axis. But it could be done. Unfortunately I have only one 688 though!

C'mon. You don't need a Kurt at all.

Its WOOD.

You can surely find a way to hang onto it with sumthin' that can be held tight to the mill's table, even if that "sumthin'" is itself all-wood, and even "sacrificial", eg; get milled away, too, as you go.

Even so... TR's simpler router approach scales to larger sizes. Waay larger than your task.

My dining room table seats ten w/o crowding, twelve if need be, and a router THE key player in thinning one half by sixty thou to match the other.
 








 
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