: I would like some advice for novices. Two of us are building Little Auks on a
: shoestring budget. It is less expensive for us to rip our 1x6x12 North
: American Red Cedar and then mill it through our router than to purchase
: the kit. We are about finished with our strongback and forms and have our
: cedar. We have heard conflicting stories. On one hand a person writes that
: this is a piece of cake albeit time consuming and then another writes that
: this is a near impossible feat - whatever, we are committed and would like
: to hear from others.

: Aside from safety precautions, are there any special recommendatons for
: ripping the cedar. It appears that one need but mark a kerf and keep
: sawing until nothing is left and move on to the next plank. Should we make
: a special fence? Is is practical that one of us feed the board and the
: other catch it as it is well past the saw? Same questions for the router.
: We have already purchased the bitts.

: We plan to buy some white ash and use that for the outside stem and stern as
: well as the gunwale. We can but a cove on either end and build down for
: the hall and up for the deck. Previously, we had planned to use white
: birch but will follow advice from this bulleting board not to do so. Once
: this is done, you can expect more questions about epoxy and glass - havn't
: a clue about what to do or how do to it. But, you should have seen us
: before we became accomplished with the strongback and forms. Thanks.

Hey John and friend:

What you proposed in sawing your strips with someone catching the outfeed is called "Tailing off". The tail man/woman is a critical position, and should not be done by someone that is not experienced at it. It can be done, if you have a small budget and can't afford to put together a table for outfeed.

Tail man: You can assist by NOT grabbing the wood in any way. You are there to merely support the piece. It is the feed man who must align the piece and push it through. DO NOT grab or PULL the piece, or try to correct the angle as it will pinch the wood down on the blade and cause a KICK-BACK and you don't want to do that. KICK-BACKS are a bitch, to put it mildly. Just hold your hands under the outfeed pieces and let them ride on your hands backing up as they come off the table. It is very easy once you get the hang of your partners feed rate.

Feed man: You can feed the wood through the saw without the use of fingerboards, but, for someone new at this, it can be very dangerous, and is not recommended. Finger ( feather ) boards are cheap and easy to make, and can save fingers( real ones ) as well as keep your material pressed up against the fence for a more even cut. I, myself, have never used fingerboards, but, have thrown a few pieces away because of the uneven cut that was mentioned earlier.

The tapering effect mentioned earlier is a fact on most saws, and is usually correctable. 6 times out of 10, it is the blade to fence alignment that is off just a tad. The fence is too far from the blade on the outfeed side and although your strip will cut straight it is cutting at the front of the blade and the back is undercutting the waste side and tapering it as you go. You can lose 1 whole strip out of a 1 x 4 due to this mis-alignment. The other 4 out of 10 will be the grain in your wood. You will run into some pieces that the grain wants to draw the wood together as you are cutting, and will cause the waste side to run on the blade at the back, taking off a wee bit of material and causing the taper. Nothing much you can do about this.

If You don't have a router table, you can mount your router under a scrap of plywood with the bit facing up through the plywood, and use a scrap of 1 x to make a fence. Clamp or screw it down, and again, make some finger( feather ) boards to guide your material.

Also, and I don't think it was mentioned, you will need to cut a couple of push sticks. The easiest would be the stick with a "V" cut into the end to push your work piece through the blade area. You can use a 1 x 1 piece, but, may want to trim the end to 1/4" to clear the blade on the end. I prefer a piece of particle board the shape of a shoe, and the heel pushes the piece while the toe portion presses down on the material and also helps it stay against the fence. Keep the push stick on the other side of your fence, within easy reach and when you get the back of the material to the table, grab the stick and push it from there on through the blade. Never do anything that will bring your hand any closer to the blade that 2". Also, when ripping, keep the blade down to only 1/4" above your piece being cut.

It sounds like you have the main ingredient to do this already. A good attitude. You don't want to mess with power tools if you are afraid of them. Respect the hell out of them, but, don't fear them.

You sound like you are already enjoying this and that's the best part. Just continue to have fun and it will all come together. Look forward to hearing from you and how the work is going. Have Fun

Rehd