Best tool for trimming merbau screen boards in place

[Stryks]

I've recently put up a screen wall using 2.4m lengths of 90mm wide merbau decking with a 15mm gap between boards.

I was all geared up to go, and had fitted the first board before I realised that I hadn't taken into account some slight length variance between the boards. For some reason, keen to keep going as I was, I decided to continue, keeping a uniform edge on one side and the varying lengths of overhang on the other.

My thought was that I would just trim these to length at the end.

So now I'm done, and I cant for the life of me think how I had planned to do this.

I could use a planer or a belt sander, but I'm unsure of how much risk I run of splintering the edges.

Alternately, I could clamp a guide board top to bottom and run a circular saw along it, although some of the boards may need only a few mm's off. Might be a challenge working vertically.

Probably the least appealing method would be to mark the ragged edge and take each panel down and trim them one by one.

What would you recommend?

Cheers

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Personally my first choice would be to cut 'em with a Circ Saw, set to maybe a mm more depth than the max board thickness. Provided I had sufficient "lead in" & "lead out" to make the cut in one pass.

You don't say, but this'd be a right PITA if your panel is floor-to-ceiling, as then the CS won't "reach in" to cut the bottom- or top-most boards and you need to fall back to the hand-saw or a good chisel. (Or pull them off and cut individually. :rolleyes:)

First though, I'd accurately mark the ragged edges. It'd be easier to do this now, while there's still some meat on the boards. Just in case you doneed to fall back to cutting each board individually... back-up plans are always a good thing. ;)

[Stryks]

Thanks for the response.

The screen is mounted on top of a raised garden bed, so the top is clear and if worst comes to worst, I can dig down to make room for access to the bottom.

Still ... it's not going to be a whole lot of fun. The bottom edge starts at about 4 feet off the ground up to about 8 feet. I cant see it being done in one pass unless I start out kneeling in the raised bed and gradually standing up. Unless I can manage to find a safe way to use it between my knees.

Two cuts might be the go if I can stop between boards - half from the ground to about shoulder height and the rest from on top of the garden bed.

Thanks for the feedback though ... if nothing else, it at least *seems* doable now. :U

[ton]

I usually fire a straight board on with a trim nailer, use that as a staight edge to run the circular saw on but position yourself so you have complete control of the tool & be cautious when plunging it in & slowly work your way up. If the odd length is too long, cut it back with a handsaw around 2-300mm so the falling board doesn't pinch the blade. Also, a handsaw will finish off the couple at the bottom if it finishes ground/deck level. Works well and the only way i finish cladding before installing stop blocks & trim overhang on decking, screening etc. A plunge cut saw is even easier with these applications, if your not confident using a saw this way, don't, a quality sharp hand saw will get you by and you get to keep all your extremities for the next project, cheers. BTW, you could take the first few bottom boards off if possible so you don't have to plunge the saw, just a thought !

[Handyjack]

At the risk of repeating what others have said
1/ Use a track saw - that is easy for me as I have a Festool. Set up may not be easy unless bottom board is removed or dug under for clamp.
2/ Use a multi function saw. Will take a while and cut might be ragged. Could be useful to line up track saw though, or finish cuts where circular saw cannot reach.
3/ Use flush trimmer on router after longer boards are cut within a length the router can handle.

Other variations or combinations are possible with hand and power tools, but not knowing your skill or equipment levels can not comment further.

[Lumber Bunker]

circular saw what you can and hand saw the last board and a half.
15 mins and youll be done.

[Trav]

circular saw what you can and hand saw the last board and a half.
15 mins and youll be done.

This. No doubt. 15 mins includes picking up all the bits you cut off.

Make sure you use a guide board clamped hard in multiple places. You'd be surprised how often they move at inconvenient times.

Trav