Thread: How to cut timber posts

Being 100mm thick you'll need to do two passes, set the guide on the C/S, clamp the timber to a saw house, cut all the way to the clamp, re position the clamp the other end, continue the cut. Then flip the timber and repeat. Or find a table saw , set the fence, one pass then flip the timber, then do second pass. Above all do it safely, limbs don’t grow back!

You need to make sure the posts are straight, flat and square. It is harder than you think.

Guys
What kind of jig do you use though to hold the circular saw straight? The pieces are IMO too narrow for a circular saw.
Bin

Maybe you shouldn't tackle any of the machines at all and take the timber back to the supplier and exchange them for 50mm thick timber.

Bin, most C/S have a foot or guide that attaches to the side of the saw. If you keep the timber hard up against this foot, you get a consistent cut. As long as you start with a consistent and straight piece of timber as wongo mentions. Your cut will be as consistent as the edge the foot rests against. Be confident in making the first cut / attempt. Practice makes perfect, you can always get another post if you feel it goes wrong.

i'd lay the timber on a couple of saw horses and clamp the furtherest end down with a G clamp and then split it with my power saw with the guide set at half the thickness of your post ,if the post is 100 mm square, you of course will end up with less than 50 mm .When you sawing it may get a bit tight in the cut so hang onto your saw tight and don't back up as this can make your saw feed out of the cut .when you do cuts like this just take a bit of care and you should have no problems .

You will have to turn the piece over and do the other side if you a power saw as they don't do a 100mm cut in 1 go .

Originally Posted by Bin57again

Hi all
I bought some hardwood timber posts which approx. 100mm wide and deep (about 1.8m long).
I want to cut them into 2 lengthways (so they are only 50mm thick).
I have no idea which tool to use - I have a bench saw, a circular saw and (maybe) soon a bandsaw.
How do I tackle this without losing a limb?
Cheers, Bin

Guys
this bit I have no idea which tool to use worries me

while it can be done with a bench saw and/or a circular saw, I think the best advice to offer is use the task as the excuse to get a band saw and hold off slicing the posts till after it arrives.

Thanks to all.
Jason, the circular saw approach does work - I tried it successfully last night. I did use a jig in the end as the foot/guide on the circular saw was too flimsy. I just basically attached a straight thin strip of pine so that I'd get a better/tighter fit against the edge of the posts.
It does quite a while to get the fitting right though but once you've done that, it's pretty straight forward.
I didn't use saw horses - I used the top vices on my workmate.
Cheers