I ripped my strips last month using a cirular saw without any problems apart from my own lack of skill. The idea came from one of Pauls old posts on this forum. http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/index.cgi/frames/read/68737

I mounted the saw under the 2m x 1m workbench with short coach bolts and large washers. The head of the bolts are recessed into the table then Bondi filled and sanded smooth (don’t Bondi the bolts in before mounting the saw, the threads will get gunked up. Ok,Ok I’m blond!). The trigger of the saw is kept down (on) by a couple of nylon straps. The plug of the saw and extension cord is Velcroed near the end of the table, I just plug it in to turn it on.

The 2.4m guide is made from MDF with a piece of 4x2 behind it for strength it is also epoxied where the wood rubs against it. The guide is adjusted by 2 bolts with wing nuts that go through slots in the table. These slots end 2cm from the line of the blade and are covered by the guide when in use so the strips won’t get stuck. Lower the saw through the table bottom once mounted to create the blade slot.

I used some 4.5m long boards that where laying around the house as table extensions. These sit on a “shelf” on each side of the table and sawhorses on the other end. The top of the infeed one is the exact height as the table top while the outfeed is an inch lower to allow the strips to drop down ready for the next one.

To set the guide I used a piece of 6mm ply (side on) left over from my last yak. I then measured from each end of the table to square the guide up. I found it handy to draw a line on the table when the guide was in position so I can regularly check to see if it moved during use (it didn’t).

Cheers
Grant