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OT: Ideas for a rip fence/track for rough sawn lumber......

david n

Diamond
Joined
Apr 13, 2007
Location
Pillager, MN
I wanna build a fence or track to mount a circular saw for ripping a straight edge on rough sawn lumber. I don't want a cheesy track saw with short pieces of track. What I need will be used on 4/4 to 8/4(maybe thicker) lumber and lengths from 8'-12'. I want to be able to mount a circular saw to a trolley that will ride on the fence. Ease of loading, clamping and sawing boards is what I'm after. Right now I'm just using a hunk of 1/4x3 6061 for a saw guide. I wanted to maybe go with some extruded ali tube, but it's not always the straightest. I would even go as far as using linear rails/trucks for the saw trolley................:scratchchin: I want to be able to toss in a board, clamp and rip................and ideas or know of any designs out there? And no, I'm not buying a straight line rip saw...................they are spendy and I have no place to put it.
 
Look into solar panel mounting rails made of extruded aluminum. Each maker has a different profile. I know they are in stock up to 17 feet long.
Bill D
 
My son and I built a rip saw out of an extension ladder and flanged wheels. Light, cheap enough and straight enough.


There are makers of chainsaw mills that use that system. A friend has one, and it works very well. For rough cut, why a circular saw?

Maybe (on re-reading) the idea is to be STARTING WITH rough sawn, and getting finish dimension lumber? The ladder track systems do rough sawn out of the log.
 
Yabbut, by that token you're assuming everyone reads every forum on PM

just saying

The OP got some good answers on the other post.
"just Sayin' " is just that, not thinking about how conrfusing multiple postings
work (or fail in this case).

Saturation bombing a forum, with multiple postings is bad form eh ?
 
Just to clarify, the one my son and I built using an extension ladder for rails was for finishing rough cut lumber. We start out with an Alaska mill which does a very good job of cutting timber and you don't need to lift anything off the ground. Just spike a guide board to the top of the log and cut. We are making slabs about six inches thick by twelve to fifteen feet long for various projects. The issue comes in when you need to finish the edges. We use a 16" Skillsaw mounted on a low carriage which rides on 3" diameter flanged wheels. Some of the boards we make are 24 or more inches wide and would not fit on a ladder so they are cut outboard of the carriage. The boards are stickered just off the ground and the whole track/carriage assembly is light enough to lay it on the ground next to the board. The ladder just holds the carriage and guides it straight. No real weight is put on the ladder assembly. On a 15' board the cut is no more then 1/16" from straight the entire length and with the proper blade it is a nice smooth cut.
 
saturation bombing the forum....:
I wanna build a rip fence for rough sawn lumber.....ideas?

so now you got qty (2) running....maybe try for 3 or 4 ?....:nutter:


:rolleyes5:....yeah, so?...................some of the other forums don't get to much traction........I often post in two places...........CNC and Haas forums..............and it gets a wider group to put in their two cents usually resulting in a better outcome to a question/situation.
 
So take into account that the guy in this video is a wood worker not a machinist or metal worker................ his idea for rippin a straight edge on rough sawn lumber is kinda what I want to do...................of course I'll improve over the design in the vid....................and the reason I want to do something similar is I don't have just a handful of boards to do at a time, it will be a few hundred board feet now and again.....................

 
Lost "track" of where best to post answer and didn't read all the other answers.
However, structural metal studs are pretty good for stuff like that and easy to move around.
16 ga or better. NOT drywall studs. (20 ga)

Structural studs are available at most contractor building supply places in 18, 16 ,14, & sometimes 12 ga.

3-1/2, 3-5/8, 4, 5-1/2, 6, 8" wide for studs usually up to 12' long locally, longer by order. Then they go to structural joists 10, 12, 14" wide, and "quite long" if required.

I just priced 16 ga 3-5/8" x 10' this afternoon for another project @ 28.00 ea. without any discounts or quantity spec.
 
So take into account that the guy in this video is a wood worker not a machinist or metal worker................ his idea for rippin a straight edge on rough sawn lumber is kinda what I want to do...................of course I'll improve over the design in the vid....................and the reason I want to do something similar is I don't have just a handful of boards to do at a time, it will be a few hundred board feet now and again.....................


Seems to me, watching that video, that you could do a lot worse than to just buy a floor truss, and build a sled for the saw over that.
 
I know this is a metalworking forum but this is basically what I have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPlM0qUWlQ

Used baltic birch plywood. One 8' and one 4' for whichever one I need. One difference on mine is I have about 6" on the "back" of the guide strip so I can clamp it anywhere and the saw will clear the clamp. I know it's not a fancy cradle but the OP said he wanted something to put on the rough board, clamp and rip; so there you go.

Steve
 
Rough sawn lumber.

Snap a line with a chalk box and just cut the line.
A good man can split that line and the lumber is gonna move anyways after you straight line it and…

The list goes on but I’m not a big fan of a bunch of gear when just technique will get the job done.
 
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Rough sawn lumber.

Snap a line with a chalk box and just cut the line.
A good man can split that line and the lumber is gonna move anyways after you straight line it and…

The list goes on but I’m not a big fan of a bunch of gear when just technique will get the job done.

I do this most of the time. Its really fast with a helper. Straightline one side then on to the tablesaw for the other.
 








 
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