Thread: Deep Cut Power Saws - Available?

Originally Posted by riverbuilder

I did all the ones at my mate’s place at Somersby with a router, made a jig, roughed them off first with an electric planer, then used the jig with the router and cleaned them off. Probably took around 15 minutes for each post.

G'day Riverbuilder.

You caught my attention when you mentioned your mate's place at Somersby. That's where I'm located. I would be interested to have a look at the finished posts if it was OK to get the address. Still trying to get ideas for spacing of the 175 x 50 rails etc. I think you're probably right that these bevelled post tops will end up being cut with a combination of saws and planers/sanders. Thanks.

I think the consensus from all is that a combination of tools & techniques will be required to produce the bevelled top on the Ironbark posts. In addition to the top bevel I would liked to add a routed groove for additional feature. There's a new rural fence just up the road which has posts that look like this:

20220428_085048.jpg

These posts & rails are actually treated pine from South Australia. The posts are 200 x 150 and the bevelled top and groove were already machined on each post by the mill. Apparently it's some type of new treatment system for pine which has been licensed by the timber company - not sure exactly what it is but I'm told that these posts were $300 each.

BobL, you are quite right about the potential loading on a power saw doing full depth angled cuts in Ironbark, particularly given that there are 40 posts with 4 cuts on each post. You would definitely only want to do a few at a time, giving the saw a chance to cool down in between. I am a pretty good hand with a chainsaw and have a range of different sizes, so maybe I'll experiment with these as well. I like your milling rig setup. And yes Bob, I've seen the Rip Saw which is effectively a vertical chain on a power saw body. That would probably do the job too, but I can't seeing myself buying one just for this task.

Pete57 and Chris Parks... I've seen quite a few episodes of the "Rebuilding Tally Ho" series, Pete. What a great informative show/project that is! And I have also seen them using the big-blade Makita saw as well. Makita don't bring the big saw into Australia as they don't manufacture it in 240v any more. However, I found out that they do have a 270mm (11") saw available here in 240v corded or as a 40volt battery saw. The battery saw is fairly pricey at around $1,200 for the kit including 2 batteries and charger. Chris, I've seen some of the Mafelle range of equipment - it looks great! I think they also make a big-blade saw as well as a nice track-saw system. There must be some of those original 350mm Australian Makita power saws still around in someone's shed, surely?

Bushmiller/Paul, it's frustrating to see that the Americans have such a great range of equipment available over there, but the various manufacturers don't make then available here. England also has a 240v system so you would think it would be worth there while to make the 240v version of all there tools as well the 115v for the American market.

Twosheds, I think the idea of cutting to max depth with a power saw and then finishing with a recipro - or even a nice sharp handsaw - is probably the way to go to get a perfect pyramid top. Or maybe I'll try Mountain Ash's idea of making a jig to set up on the end of each post for consistency. AJ - yes we are semi-rural, and I've seen those firewood cutting saws on a bench set up, and they would probably handle these cuts quite well. However, I think that the posts would be far too heavy to be lifting them onto a bench and them rolling them for multiple cuts.

You know what? I think I've decided to make the bevel cuts on top of the post around the 4 sides at full depth of the 9 1/4" power saw, and leaving a small flat spot on top. It will look like a pyramid with the top cut off it. I think that will look just fine - I'll cut one this way and see how it looks.

Many thanks to all for suggestions and links. I'll post some photos once I'm under way with the project.

Here is a better view of the post top.

Posttop.jpg

The whole idea of a fully beveled top is to help water run off so it doesn't pool and penetrate the timber.
Leaving a flat spot in the middle is going to sort of counteract the bevel.
The effect of a bevel is usually longer lasting than any sealant or finish.
Rather than leaving it flat I would consider rounding it over, even it was just a little - two ROS one with a coarse pad and one with a fine pad would do,

Routed grooves look nice but are also a potential water trap.

FWIW the Rip saw is a bandsaw with a chain saw engine - no chain involved.

Another way is to machine the posts and then put them through a shaper or a sliding table saw to create the pyramid top.

Portable bandsaw may be of help, something like Makita dpb180.
good luck with the project

Remember these things are 200 x 200 mm in cross section so to cut these bevels on a TS the posts will have to be cut while laying on an angle on the table. But unless the TS has an 18" diameter blade each bevel will require two cuts so the posts will need to be rolled over and accurately positioned using some sort of a stop arrangement.

@ 20 x 20 x 200 cm x 1.1/1000 or ~ 88 kg each that's a lot of lifting.

Me thinks he will definitely want to be doing this on the ground or at most on gluts and just rolling the posts over to cut the bevels.


I have another idea, turn a chain saw into a chop saw.
The nose end of the bar can be drilled - yes I know there's a bearing there but if the middle of the bearing there is a fixed bit of hard metal. Ive done it maybe 10 times.
Make up a simple L shaped Steel or wood bracket that bolts the nose to the upright of the "L" but can still pivot about the bolt.
This turns the chainsaw in to a chop chainsaw.
The Base of the L can be put on the ground - Chainsaw lifted to be vertical - position timber - CHOP, roll CHOP roll CHOP roll CHOP.
For extra rigidity a custom mitre box could be employed.
If a low profile chain is use and the saw is dropped slowly it will cut comparatively smoothly.

Screen Shot 2022-06-09 at 8.37.42 pm.jpg

Originally Posted by BobL

Remember these things are 200 x 200 mm in cross section so to cut these bevels on a TS the posts will have to be cut while laying on an angle on the table. But unless the TS has an 18" diameter blade each bevel will require two cuts so the posts will need to be rolled over and accurately positioned using some sort of a stop arrangement.

A slider is ideal for this sort of cut, clamp the post and push, rotate the post and repeat.

H+F. If you are after a shallow bevel, like the photos, then this is easier. The sawcut becomes deeper as the angle gets closer to 90°. It is much easier to put full length posts in the ground and cut them to height than the other way round. I have done thousands of fence posts and only ever pre finished if access was a problem (next to a brick wall for instance). The suggestion of using a reciprocating saw to finish of the cut is great, use a tree pruning blade with it. The collar jig makes everything easier, you only have to concentrate on holding the saw against the post (after a few cuts the saw gets heavy).

Radial arm saw with the saw tilted to required angle, cut, flip post repeat x3.

Done hundreds like this with 6” posts and my saw would do 8” posts as well.

Use a small cant hook to flip post.