Braking down ash boards

[tablesawtom]

I posted not to long ago about how I broke down plywood into manageable pieces. I got a lot of different responses. Most were mainly about storage of my table. Mine has fold up legs and stores against the wall behind my router table and planners. I also posted it on the Saw Mill Creek forum and saw a lot of saw horse arrangements and even 4 folding work benches  with 2 X 4s on them.  I also saw sheet goods being cut in the shop, which means one had to bring the sheet goods into the shop

Well maybe 5 years ago I could handle a 4 x 8 3/4 sheet of plywood but not today.  My wife would help but I won't ask her anymore. Trust me she has no business wrestling plywood.

And today I found out that plywood is a walk in the park compared to 2 inch thick Ash, 22 inches wide and 7 foot long. It is rough cut so it doesn't slide out of the truck, it comes out kicking and screaming all the way.

Anyway the table is the same for rough cut lumber as it is for plywood. I said my circular saw needed a new blade. i was going to mount a different saw to my plate but decided to mount my Makita in stead. A 7 1/4 instead of 6 1/2 blade.  Now I will say this and it is that if the saw blade is not perfectly parallel with the edge of the plate the saw blade will pull or push the saw away from the straight edge. This is one of the reasons that track saws are so popular.

Anyway I dragged the ash out of the truck and onto the table. Lets see I fold down the legs and place it behind my truck. I pull the wood out of the truck. If other than pulling it out onto the table it is a two person job to move a piece of Ash that big and heavy. 

I used a Makita battery circular saw instead of the one I used in my other pictures. I really liked loosing the cord and it preformed better than I expected it to. I have tried other battery circular saws in the past and I was less than impressed. I couldn't get the full 2 inched of depth. But I was really happy about that. I didn't need to worry around the wood closing in around the blade and having it send shock ways back into my shoulder. The second board was cupped so I turned it bow side down and cut I didn't want it collapsing in on the blade. The picture is a little misleading because the plate that the saw is mounted to does ride in the groove on the guide I didn't have it quite on for the picture.

Anyway I had to use my jig saw to cut it completely apart.  Just used the saw kerf as a guide.  Because of the tables web design I had to wrestle the board around to completely get it cut in to. 

I have some Ash just as wide 8 foot long that  that needs to be cut in more manageable widths and the process it the same. So I guess the process is the same as for plywood, 8/4s ask and 4/4 s Ash 

Anyway pictures

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Thanks for looking

Tom

[jteneyck]

It's a sad fact that we have to adapt to declining strength as we age.  Your cutting table and how you've adapted it for various needs is a good example of the adage "with age comes wisdom".  Well done.  

John

[barryvabeach]

Tom, don't know if you ever saw videos by Blacktail Studio -  he readily admits he is not a great woodworker - but he works with very large slabs and has tons of viewers.  One of his viewers suggested carrying pieces of pvc pipe in the bed of the truck, and put them on the bed and let the slabs roll on and then off on the pipes.  I tried it and was very impressed.  Much easier.

[Maple Leaf]

Well played Tom. And thanks for thinking it up. I've been using a variant of your table for similar jobs since I saw yours years ago. Simple, light, stiff, and it lives outside ready for a truck load. I put it together with Miller dowels because I knew I'd never remember where steel fasteners were lurking. That was a good call.

[rwe2156]

I'd be interested to know how the cordless jigsaw held up.

[tablesawtom]

I'd be interested to know how the cordless jigsaw held up.

I really like the Makita jig saw. It seems to cut forever. I use it mainly for cross cutting.  I sawed the 2 inch ash with the circular saw. but because of my set up, I lacked about 1/8 of an inch from cutting completely through so I just went down the kerf with the jig saw to finish the job.