Several years back we purchased a cabin. Over time, we have been working on improving the place as it was built in 1986 and is a log home (what a lot of work a log home is). Finally found a painter who knew what to do with logs and that has been completed. A whole new place now.

Anyway. The original owner had created a spot about halfway down between the cabin and the lakefront. He made a level spot with some boulder retaining walls. In this spot sits an old cast iron bench seat. The ends of the bench seat are cast iron and in between there was wood slats to sit on. The wood was rotted so I removed it thinking this is going to be a very easy project. As all things with this place, I should have known better. I took the boards to the big box stores and a lumber yard and the slats on the bench are either narrower, or wider than what is available today. The slats are about 2.25" wide and 4' long so a 1" X 3" doesn't fit nor a 1"X2".

I don't own a table saw and am wondering if anyone has an easy way to cut down a 1" x 4" or 1X3 board to the proper width. I own a circular saw, a jigsaw, sawzall and sliding compound miter saw.

Oh, and this is duck related as i can sit on this bench and watch ducks on the lake all day.

Thanks -

Mark

I would set up a guide and rip the boards to width with the circular saw. You did not mention if you have saw horses or a workbench to work from.

Rick

I have saw horses and work benches. Just never have a strong need for a table saw until now. Couple of buddies have then but they are a ways away.

Also have a router if this makes a difference.

I would just rip the boards to width using the circular saw with the boards set on the sawhorses, maybe round over the edges with the router.

Rick

THIS

Full service lumber yard would probably rip them to a custom dimension for a reasonable charge. You could then follow up with a sanding block or router to round over or break the edges.

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Take care, Huntindave McCann SHELL ROCK IA. ,,,,,, "As sailors grow older, the wiser ones move to smaller boats." Thomas Firth Jones, Multihull Voyaging

I tried the closest thing to a lumber yard in the area and while they will cross it boards, they won?t rip boards. And since I?m in the middle of nowhere WI, thought someone here might have a suggest that I haven?t thought of.

My plan is to just clamp a guide onto the bord to be ripped and give it a go.

Update: the plan seems to work. One board done, 5 more to go. Luckily these boards don?t need to be perfect.

Mark

Mark

Mark~


Sounds like you've gotten sound advice here. Friends gave us this bench earlier this year. It needed a single slat replaced.






The treated slats were quite dry and open-grained. So, I primed it with a thinned coat of grey oil primer, then top-coated with a solid Cabot stain (oil). I use this stain on most of our outdoor wooden furniture because it's so soft and easy to re-coat every few years. No scraping, just light sanding - like my shop!


BTW: The #1 machine for any wood shop is a table saw. Even a portable "bench top" model makes ripping easy. Not to rub salt in the wound, but I picked one for free - roadside - last Summer. It's up at our camp now. Keep your eyes peeled!



All the best,


SJS











Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

Glad you found a good solution.
Echoing Steve, I bought an entry level Ryobi portable table saw and dont know how I ever lived without it.

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Carl
Mobile, AL
DHBP Member since 1998

"Life is too short to drink bad beer."
Disclaimer: This post and/or report is not a substantiation of or reflection on the true accuracy of the present surveying methods. It is only a report on or comment concerning local observation and/or results. Your results and observation may vary based on your location, local water conditions, food supply, weather conditions and migratory patterns "

I have heard that these are awesome for ripping.

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Take care, Huntindave McCann SHELL ROCK IA. ,,,,,, "As sailors grow older, the wiser ones move to smaller boats." Thomas Firth Jones, Multihull Voyaging