Becoming a Galoot #7: Prepping for the Big Cut

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I’ve been on a bit of a project tear as of late. I finally got fed up with piling stuff in one corner of the garage only to move it to the other, then back again. After knocking together a couple of small coffee/lamp tables, I wanted to tackle last of the big stuff.

that big stuff would be 1/3rd of a large redwood root I had purchased. Part 1 became a still in-process bench and, part 2 was sold in a semi-rough state (offsetting the entire purchase and then some).

I could have taken the easy road out and used my router sled to flatten this, but I am hoping to be able to salvage a small slab to retain for future projects or to sell. The wood is so gorgeous that I could not justify turning it into saw-dust.

After hoisting this beast onto my workbench, I set about using a rather sophisticated marking gauge to start setting a line

After getting all of the corners notched out, I snapped a chalk line to follow; or so I thought. The irregularities of the live edge made getting a level line very difficult. So reverted to my sophisticated marking gauge and worked my way up in saw length.

The idea here is to get a couple cm deep groove to help my cut track clean and level. Once I was confident that I had enough of a groove cut I flipped this log on end to get a bit better leverage. I also added a set of my newly patented saw stiffeners to the blade. As the name implies these are a huge help in keeping the blade from binding, which when starting this type of cut is a significant issue. That my be a result of my trying to over muscle the cut. Nonetheless, they are a tremendous help.

The goal is to get another couple CM’s in depth through the entire length of the log (both sides) then I’ll stand this log upright and let gravity work to my benefit. The channel that I’ve started will give me a nice line to follow for the rest of the cut and hopefully ensures that this cut tracks level.

Here is a wide angle shot that better reflects the size.

I had hoped to get this thing stood up and ripped in half today but made the unfortunate mistake of partaking in my local gym’s annual pull-up contest yesterday. I had a respectable 3rd place finish but man-o-man, I hurt, all over.

I’ll chip away during the week then try to get this cut clean next weekend.

Thanks for reading.

Source: LumberJocks.com

Becoming a Galoot #7: Prepping for the Big Cut