Any opinions on what is the best power tool to cut a 6×6 on a 45 bevel?
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Got a bandsaw? They work very well if you have a real one. You could also do a lot of passes on a jointer, or a jig to hold the work through your planer. Lots of choices.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
16" radial arm.
24 would be better.
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
16" radial arm.
24 would be better.
I was thinking rip, perhaps incorrectly. I have a basket case radial arm that I have yet to reassemble, 8 yrs after buying the parts. Smaller than what you suggest, but I still see no reason to acquire one. Last shop I ran had a 16". Interesting, but nothing I wanted in my shop. My 36" bandsaw (Crescent clone) is my pride and joy. One of the few stationary tools I retained when I left Denver.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Makita makes a 16 5/16 circular saw. It will cut 4 3/16 @ 45 degrees. You will need to make two cuts to finish, and most likley will be the neatest cut you'll get using that saw. Good luck
Rip or crosscut? What kind of accuracy and finish are you looking for?
For a cross cut you might get it close with a chain saw and make the final surface and dimension with a coarse belt in a sander. A sawzall with a 12" blade will also track fairly well if you give it kerfs on two adjacent surfaces to guide it. Start the guide kerfs by hand, deepen them with the sawzall, then work inward from the common corner.
To rip it, look for a thread from not too long ago about felling trees and using one of those portable sawmill setups.
-- J.S.
MAUCK1
we just finished a dental clinic her in missouri.it had all exposed cedar rafters and beams. we cut it all with the makita beam saw. we had a lot to cut and it done great. one pass right thru with very little sanding needed. hang on to it with both hands and go slow.its a monster. if you have alot to cut its well worth it.
goodluck
framer
Mafell makes very large saws for timber framers. Big bucks, though if you had a lot to do it might be worth it.
i have seen an attachment to a standard skillsaw that turns it into a chainsaw for just that purpose. it looks like it would be a little easier to handle than the beam saw. i have used the beam saw, and it does work well but i am scared the whole time. i guess i would get comfortable eventually but i don't use it enough.
personally i just take my skillsaw and cut as deep as that will go and finish off with the sawzall. i mark it on all 4 sides first with my speed square, and i make sure that my saw foot settings are accurate when i cut the 45's.
My vote is for the band saw.
-You can tilt the table if the piece is not too long.
-You can build a cradle to pass it thorough with the table level
-Even better than those options if it is a long piece is a "ships saw" - It is a bandsaw where the machine tilts, but the table remains level.
Here is a homemade ship's saw I saw in Knots
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-knots/messages/?msg=15904.1
Edited 1/22/2004 6:25:32 AM ET by Jim
You guys make things way too complicated. Many 10" mitre saws can handle this, all 12" can for sure (one chop is all it takes). Below is a method using ordinary circ saw.
For bigger material I use circ saw as above and then make the through cut with chainsaw held back 1/4" from circ saw cuts. Clean up cut with handheld power plane.
Wally
Somebody posted a link here to a picture of a giant Mafell circular saw. 25" blade IIRC. The picture showed two men guiding it.
see this:
404, not found; got an updated link ?.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
I get a 404 error on that.
why not take it to a mill?..if its a rip, if a crosscut, nevermind. Just do it.
try this page: http://www.mafell.de/englisch/produkte/prod_saegen_fr.htm
its the fsg240k
That's the one I remember seeing.
Thanks for all the info. I thought the 16" radial arm saw was a great idea until I saw the price tag. It costs more than my truck! I guess that could mean that I need a new truck. I will be cross-cutting 100 to 200 per month. Both cedar and doug-fir and they will be used for exterior corbels in new construction. I'm leaning toward some type of circular saw or saw attachment simply because of the cost.
Prazi beam cutter it is then.
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
100 to 200 a month; you really want one like this (under $1000) http://busybeetools.com/pictures/b1108n.jpg.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Phill,
Are you suggesting the bandsaw for rips or crosscuts? I think the original poster is looking for a saw that will miter a 6x6, not bevel.
Jon Blakemore
And a horrizontal bandsaw does that very well. While most available are intended to be used for cutting metal, put a wood blade (try to buy one that uses a standard blade-length) in it and it becomes a bandsaw where the work-piece stays still and the blade moves. The one in the picture has a capacity of 12" x 6" and can be had with an optional swivel clamp for doing mitres. This particular one is a little heavy because it has an integral coolant pump, shop around for one without the pump and save maybe 70kg.
I've also used a portable bandsaw (same principal, clamps onto the work-piece); but, they cost the same/more and would not be nearly so fast or as accurate to use..
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
a photon-plasma laser?
Phill,
Ok, so I was the confused one, not you.
I still don't see the benefit of the bandsaw over a Prazi, Makita 16", or the other options. What am I missing?
Jon Blakemore
Well, it may come down to a matter of personal choice and what we're used to.
The Prazi costs a LOT more than a simple horrizontal bandsaw; is heavy to use; still requires work-stands etc. to use; cuts rough; and, IMHO, is not without risk to use. And there's a much higher potential for error using a hand-held power machine.
With the horrizontal bandsaw, you clamp in the work-piece (you need a roller stand to hold up the other end, of course); you turn it on and start the feeder (they all have some form of either power feed, or controlled gavity feed system); walk away and it turns itself off when it's finished the cut (probably just a minute or two through wood, I've seen them run an hour on a piece of steel). We're talking about a fairly high production rate (he said 100-200 per month, but I'll bet that it's not spread evenly across the month) of consisitently even, repeatable, smooth cuts. The down-side is weight, a bandsaw is heavy; but, unlike its verticle cousin, only requires very little set-up to move around, or could be run in a truck/trailer, or in a shop..
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
I'm leaning toward some type of circular saw or saw attachment simply because of the cost
or you could get a portable band saw or a carpenter's chain saw check out the ZSE 330E (chain saw) and Z3 (band saw) here http://www.mafell.de/englisch/produkte/prod_saegen_fr.htm
If you're going to be cutting a lot, but don't want to spend a fortune on a new saw, an 8 1/4" saw will cut a 6X6 in 2 passes, as Mark "If I were a carpenter" said.
I bought a Milwaukee 8 1/4" worm drive a few years back, and really like it. (Model 6378) No one else around here has an 8 1/4" saw, so it's been borrowed a few times. It has plenty of balls for making cuts like the ones you'll be doing.
Here's a link:
https://www.milwaukeeconnect.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=27&catalogId=40027&langId=-1&productId=368&search=yes
The saw is $230 at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004TQEB/qid=1074866025/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1_etk-tools/103-1735609-5348620?v=glance&s=hi&n=228013
My only regret is that I wish I'd bought a case for the thing. They make one, but it doesn't come with the saw.Homosexuality in Russia is a crime and the punishment is seven years in prison, locked up with the other men. There is a three year waiting list. [Yakov Smirnoff]
If you're doing production on beams, what about setting up a dolly on a rail system a portable bandsaw could sit on? The critical element would be alignment between the rail system the dolly moves on in relation to the stationary placement of a fence against which the beam would align. You could do this with something like garage door rails and rollers mounted on a dimension lumber and plywood base. Probably take a few hours to set up but would be easy enough to set up and take down for intermittent uses of the bandsaw for other applications.
What's the capacity of a 12 " makita compound slide miter? I'm almost thinking that the 10" would do it. I know the 10" will chop 3.5" but later I'll check the clearance up to see what the up " is. Then all you gotta do is flip it and reverse cut for the same. And I know it would be nice to get the 12". I always thought that delta dropped the ball by not making there saw buck into a 12" unit.
Clay
Yeah and it's 3 phase too!
Are you doing a handful or thousands ? I ask, because if you're doing hundreds/thousands, then it would be worthwhile to invest in a horrizontal bandsaw (more often used for metal-work, but with a change of blade they do a great job on timbers and beams). If you're just doing a few, then I'd just use a handsaw (bowsaw for rougher work, good handsaw for fine work) and I'm finished in less time than it takes to do all the set-ups for using a small power tool.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
if you've only got a few (less than 100 LOL!!) use a handsaw.
by the last one you'll have improved your acuracy loads.
I've had the best luck using a dewalt 8-1/4" circular saw, and making two passes. But I did work with a guy in Texas who could do amazingly perfect cuts with a chainsaw. I never had the nerve to try it myself.
How about a 14" metal chop saw ? replace the abrasive blade with 14" wood blade? Not shure how well it will work.
chop saw woun't replace a miter saw, is spins at a different RPM , and you;ll burn out the motor. See if you can fine a Makita 14" miter box or a Hitachi 15". There both discontinued. Maybe on E-bay you could fine one. Good luck
The Prazi is the one that I am familiar with. However, in the reviews on the Amazon related site (second one below), it didn't gain all that good of reviews. The other sites below give some other types of saws. I have the Makita 16" saw which I picked up at a bankruptcy sale. Haven't used it yet and I was surprised that it only is rated at 4 3/16" cut at 45 degrees.
http://www.loghelp.com/tools/special_attachments.html
http://www.tools-stop.com/b/Beam_Cutters/Prazi_USA_PR-7000_12_Prazi_For_7-14_B0000224SA.htm
http://www.loghelp.com/tools/sawmills.html
http://www.timberwolftools.com/tools/kind/beamsaws.html
really ? what is the Makita 14" miter box or a Hitachi 15" rpm and hp.
Oh me oh my I better stick to the sticks. This is the ? 4th or 5th try to get the picture displayed.
This is My LS1013 with about a clear of 7" to the up. It would get you nice 45s
Sorry about the size of the file but I'm tired of fkn around so this will have to do .
Part of this sending is just me figuring out how to work this stuff. Lets see if I can get this to you it's smaller, I lowered the resolution on the D camera so the file was smaller.