Split top saw benches

[Bill_Houghton]

Vic Tesolin, in his "Minimalist Woodworker," shows a saw bench with a split top, suggesting that the 1" gap between the two halves can be used when ripping, with the saw running down the gap.  I'm curious: for those who've built their saw benches this way, how do you avoid cutting into the top?  Or do you just accept that you'll do so, hoping not to do it too awfully much?

[Phil S.]

Bill -

I think if you use any style of saw bench much that sooner or later you're going to hit it with your saw.  I have a Schwarz style bench with splayed legs that has a number of additions that give it a bit of character.


You know pretty quickly when you start cutting a lot more thickness than you started off with so the damage is cosmetic rather than substantial.  In my view it's a shop appliance that will end up with some wear and tear, but it will take more years than I've got to do enough damage that I'd have to think about replacing it.

Phil

[Carl Grover]

Bill -

I think if you use any style of saw bench much that sooner or later you're going to hit it with your saw.  I have a Schwarz style bench with splayed legs that has a number of additions that give it a bit of character.


You know pretty quickly when you start cutting a lot more thickness than you started off with so the damage is cosmetic rather than substantial.  In my view it's a shop appliance that will end up with some wear and tear, but it will take more years than I've got to do enough damage that I'd have to think about replacing it.

Phil

I've got a Schwarz bench I made and wouldn't you know it, the first time it was used some person cut right into it.


carl

[Admiral]

I'm going to make one, but my thought is that yeah, you'll nip the top here and there, but its not made out of mahogany, just 2x or 5/4 pine stock. so that's life in my book.

[AgGEM]

I'm going to make one, but my thought is that yeah, you'll nip the top here and there, but its not made out of mahogany, just 2x  or 5/4 pine stock. so that's life in my book.

Guess one could engineer a sacrificial edge (s).

[Phil S.]

I was thinking Ron Herman's saw bench was a split top, but it's not.  I found this picture of it -



Now I believe Ron knows which end of a saw to hold, but if you look carefully you'll note some modifications along the edge of his bench as well, including a couple of short kerfs in the edge through the dovetails.  Sometimes you pay more attention to where the blade is going at the top of the cut than where it's going when it comes out the bottom.


Phil

[Bill_Houghton]

Thanks.  I kind of thought what y'all have described would be the case, and I'm certainly not shop-proud.  I'll file this design in the back of my head for when it's time.

[hbmcc]

[attachment=15705]I thought Herman had a split-top also. But after checking, the variant is probably a Lumber Jocks adaptation. From associated images, it looks like the "rip slot" has no cross bracing.

[stillgotten]

I thought Herman had a split-top also. But after checking, the variant is probably a Lumber Jocks adaptation. From associated images, it looks like the "rip slot" has no cross bracing.

I think I need to make one of these, just not as good looking.
I have the splayed leg type and it's okay but I've always struggled rip sawing without leg interference.

[Phil S.]

There's something to be said for knocking together a quick and dirty saw bench like the ones Mike Siemsen builds in "The Naked Woodworker".



You can build a couple of them in an easy few hours, they are light and easy to more around the shop, they stack and don't take much room when you're not using them and you don't feel near so bad when you skate a saw down the leg of one as compared to that dovetailed beauty above that you sweat over for days.

Phil