Cross cutting

[paul24dual]

Which is your preferred tool for cross cutting? Circular saw, jigsaw or mitre saw?

 

[wizard]

A good quality sliding mitre saw

 

[marcros]

radial arm saw.

but mitre saw, or circular saw would do as good a job. I would avoid using the jigsaw for it personally. The limitation with the circular saw would be short pieces. But you could also use that tool for other tasks.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

26" x 6tpi Tyzack Sons and Turner or 22" x 10tpi Spear and Jackson 88 for thinner stuff.

Doing some fence-building over the last few weeks, I found the only thing I had that would cross-cut 6" x 1" and 4" square tanalised sawn softwood without jamming up instantly was the old gardening bow-saw. Surprising how accurately you can cut with one of those after a bit of practice. Oddly, the Roberts and Lee Dorchester 26" x 4 1/2 tpi rip (which is set for dry hardwoods) worked OK, but I did have to wedge the longer cuts open.

 

[shed9]

Surely this would mostly be dictated by the dimension of the timber being cut?

I use a mitre saw for moderate widths and a table saw or track saw for anything bigger. Convenience and safety being the determining factors.

A radial arm saw would be a good intermediate between the above options but they scare me and don't tick my safety box. That said, I need to get over this as I'd love to get one.

 

[Grahamshed]

I use a 305.. sliding mitre saw ( actually a axial glide but same sort of thing ) which gives me really accurate cuts up that width.
I also have a radial arm saw that will do the same width but I also do not feel safe with it and no longer use it.
For wider stuff I use a track saw.

 

[custard]

The decider is often length. The sliding table on my panel saw has a scale that only measures down to about 120mm. Anything shorter than that becomes difficult to hold safely, so for smaller components I'll often cross cut with a hand saw on a bench hook and clean up the cut with a shooting board, or if there are a lot of small pieces to cross cut then I'll cut them on a bandsaw and clean up on a disc sander.

Another cross cut option in my workshop is a hand held circular saw running in a track, but again the length of the component becomes an issue, if they're too short they disappear under the track itself.

 

[Grahamshed]

For really short pieces it has ( in my opinion ) to be the bandsaw.
Radial arm saw = hand to close to blade
Mitre saw = hand to close to blade
Table saw = <emoticon for EEK !!! >

 

[carlb40]

For really short pieces it has ( in my opinion ) to be the bandsaw.
Radial arm saw = hand to close to blade
Mitre saw = hand to close to blade
Table saw =

Like this

 

[Grahamshed]

Yep, thats the one

 

[custard]

For really short pieces it has ( in my opinion ) to be the bandsaw.
Radial arm saw = hand to close to blade
Mitre saw = hand to close to blade
Table saw =

Like this

That's brilliant! That's the perfect emoticon for so many workshop experiences, from a bandsaw blade suddenly breaking to when a glue-up starts to go wrong!

 

[Graham Orm]

Emoticons are so easy to nick

Cross cutting. A decent hand saw.....mitre saw......table saw....never a jig saw, the most inaccurate saw ever.

 

[wellywood]

Cross cutting small pieces? Definitely my beautiful Pax 10" 15tpi tenon saw. It sings.

 

[carlb40]

Cross cutting small pieces? Definitely my beautiful Pax 10" 15tpi tenon saw. It sings.

Does it do requests? :mrgreen:

 

[Grahamshed]

Cross cutting small pieces? Definitely my beautiful Pax 10" 15tpi tenon saw. It sings.

Doesn't that make it a tenor saw ?

 

[John15]

For cross-cutting I use a bandsaw, a circular saw and a handsaw.
For ripping I use either a bandsaw or a table saw, and for long pieces (6 feet +) a circular saw.

John

 

[MMUK]

For cross-cutting I use a bandsaw, a circular saw and a handsaw.

At the same time? =D> :wink:

 

[andersonec]

Depends how big the wood is, this any good?

Andy

 

[wellywood]

Cross cutting small pieces? Definitely my beautiful Pax 10" 15tpi tenon saw. It sings.

Doesn't that make it a tenor saw ?

And you have the nerve to call my jokes shocking :shock:

 

[Grahamshed]

Cross cutting small pieces? Definitely my beautiful Pax 10" 15tpi tenon saw. It sings.

Doesn't that make it a tenor saw ?

And you have the nerve to call my jokes shocking :shock:

Mmmm, Sorry about that