I am building a bed, with large posts at each corner. I need to cut the ends
off square and level. The posts are to large to fit in my miter saw, and I
don't have a large band saw, not that it would help much. Any ideas on how
to get them square and flush other the a ton of work with a plane and
sandpaper? I don't know if it matters but they are octagonal posts out of
hard maple (I know maple is not a common bedroom furniture wood, but I like
it!)
Thanks So much for any help. I'm betting that someone has some real easy
trick that will help.
Greg
Just depends on what machinery you have at hand.
You can do a work and turn on the table saw with a sled. You'll need to
be sure the sled and saw are really tuned up. I am doing this for some
3 3/4" QS White Oak posts for a mission bed I am doing right now. The
TS I have access too is just a bit our of wack so I get about 1/32" of
overlap misaglined cut but I have a deep edge sander and some tests
showed I can clean it up real easy with that.
BW
greg wrote:
> I am building a bed, with large posts at each corner. I need to cut the ends
> off square and level. The posts are to large to fit in my miter saw, and I
> don't have a large band saw, not that it would help much. Any ideas on how
> to get them square and flush other the a ton of work with a plane and
> sandpaper? I don't know if it matters but they are octagonal posts out of
> hard maple (I know maple is not a common bedroom furniture wood, but I like
> it!)
>
> Thanks So much for any help. I'm betting that someone has some real easy
> trick that will help.
>
> Greg
greg wrote:
> I am building a bed, with large posts at each corner. I need to cut the ends
> off square and level.
Well, traditional bedposts were turned in a lathe, on centers. If you
can make
some kind of center pivot (drive a nail in?), and turn the post, you
can at least
mark the cut accurately. Then use a handsaw. Traditional woodworkers
might have used a bow saw, they're easy enough to make.
"greg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I am building a bed, with large posts at each corner. I need to cut the
>ends off square and level. The posts are to large to fit in my miter saw,
>and I don't have a large band saw, not that it would help much. Any ideas
>on how to get them square and flush other the a ton of work with a plane
>and sandpaper? I don't know if it matters but they are octagonal posts out
>of hard maple (I know maple is not a common bedroom furniture wood, but I
>like it!)
>
> Thanks So much for any help. I'm betting that someone has some real easy
> trick that will help.
>
> Greg
Will your miter saw cut half way into the posts? If so you could cut half
way down, then flip the post and cut the other half to finish the job. As
long as you have a stop block or reference to butt the other end of the post
up to to ensure it is cut at the same length either side, you should be able
to cut it square and even with veryt little sanding required?
__________________
Regards,
Dean Bielanowski
Editor, OnlineToolReviews.com
http://www.onlinetoolreviews.com
Over 110+ Woodworking Product Reviews Online!
"greg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I am building a bed, with large posts at each corner. I need to cut the
>ends off square and level. The posts are to large to fit in my miter saw,
>and I don't have a large band saw, not that it would help much. Any ideas
>on how to get them square and flush other the a ton of work with a plane
>and sandpaper? I don't know if it matters but they are octagonal posts out
>of hard maple (I know maple is not a common bedroom furniture wood, but I
>like it!)
>
> Thanks So much for any help. I'm betting that someone has some real easy
> trick that will help.
>
> Greg
Hopefully I understand your problem correctly. If it is just a case of being
able to mark the cut accurately around the post, and the post is not
tapered, then you could use a card wrap. A piece of card, fairly robust but
not too thick - perhaps the thickness of a gift card. A rectangular shape,
ideally deeper than the diameter of the post, and longer than the
circumphrance of the post (so that there is a certain amount of overlap when
wrapped around the post). Ensure that the edge you will be using to mark
the post is dead straight. Wrap the 'wrap' around the post with the
straight edge where you want to mark/cut the post - pull it tight and snug
and make sure that the two ends of the cutting edge meet/overlap perfectly.
Mark around the marking/cutting edge. If done properly this should give you
a 90 degree cut all around.
Neil
greg Wrote:
> I am building a bed, with large posts at each corner. I need to cut the
> ends
> off square and level. The posts are to large to fit in my miter saw,
> and I
> don't have a large band saw, not that it would help much. Any ideas on
> how
> to get them square and flush other the a ton of work with a plane and
> sandpaper? I don't know if it matters but they are octagonal posts out
> of
> hard maple (I know maple is not a common bedroom furniture wood, but I
> like
> it!)
>
> Thanks So much for any help. I'm betting that someone has some real
> easy
> trick that will help.
>
> Greg
Will your miter saw cut half way into the posts? If so you could cut
half way down, then flip the post and cut the other half to finish the
job. As long as you have a stop block or reference to butt the other
end of the post up to to ensure it is cut at the same length either
side, you should be able to cut it square and even with veryt little
sanding required?
--
OTR
On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 22:22:17 GMT, "greg" <[email protected]> wrote:
>I am building a bed, with large posts at each corner. I need to cut the ends
>off square and level. The posts are to large to fit in my miter saw, and I
>don't have a large band saw, not that it would help much. Any ideas on how
>to get them square and flush other the a ton of work with a plane and
>sandpaper? I don't know if it matters but they are octagonal posts out of
>hard maple (I know maple is not a common bedroom furniture wood, but I like
>it!)
>
>Thanks So much for any help. I'm betting that someone has some real easy
>trick that will help.
Assuming you don't have a table saw, it's not too tough to cut from
each side with a circular saw and then clean up the cut with some
sandpaper. Just lay it out carefully and it works fine.