How do do cut 16/4 stock?

Al killian

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Floydada, Tx
As part of fixing up the MIL resturaunt I made a new railing out of very rough 2x4's. I had to glue some up to make the two new post that where needed. My RAS could not cut all the way thru the post which where around 3-1/2" square. I had to you a hand saw to finish the cut. The post had to be cut a angle to match the stairs. They are done now, but wondering how others might have done it.How would you cut them if you had your choice a RAS,circlar saw or a hack saw? Currently I only have one ww saw and that is a little gent saw for trim and stuff. Hopefully I can get my bs wheel replaced and working soon. It sucks being a newbie to ww when makeing anything other then square things.:(
 
Please forgive me Al but I'm not exactly sure what your question is. However, to cut material that thick, depending on how good the cut had to be, I'd use either my 12" SCMS or my 10" BigFoot wormdrive saw.

It sounds like this might have been one time that your growing experience level would indicate a need to purchase a new tool. (As if one needed a good reason :D ) For a cut as you describe, a good SCMS would be the tool of choice IMBO (In My Bonehead Opinion).
 
Well, with your tools, if I didn't have another power tool to use, I would have used the radial arm saw you had to make the initial cut, and then finished the cut with a hand saw.

In my case, I would have made a simple jig and made the first cut with my Circular saw, then flipped the jig over to the other side and made the rest of the cut.
 
It sounds like you were crosscutting it--I would have used my 12" miter saw. When we built my parent's deck, I cut the posts using a circular saw by cutting, flipping, and cutting again. It sounds like what you did was acceptable.
 
This past summer I reated a giant fence and the posts were 3 1/2" square. I not only cut joints with the RAS but cut to length using the RAS. A ten inch RAS won't cut half way, falls short about an inch. I rotated the work piece and cut the next side, rotated again and cut again, rotate and cut all four sides leaving a 1" square in the center then it is easy enough to slip in a Saws-all or hand saw and tthe RAS cuts keeps the blade square & true.

The same can be don with and angle except you cut only two sides at the preset angle, finish the cut with the Saw-all or handsaw.

My SCMS will also to the same as the RAS, but the RAS has a larger table for supporting the 4x4 timbers. (working by myself)
 
It just dawned on me when reassembleing the Shop-Smith, that will take 12" blades.:doh: After talking to my new neighbor he showed me how to make ts sled for it and keep peices from sliding into the blade. FYI---- ShopSmith has a tilting table, which can be intresting cutting angles on. His sled has a 8" back peice which tie both halfs together . There is a short section of T-track, with a toggle clamp on each side to keep the wood tight to the fence and to keep it from moving after the cut. With setup I will not need to use the chainsaw.:( Now I can put founds towards other things that are needed in the shop.
 
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