Rip cuts on a Roubo


Immortan D

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How do you make long rips on a Roubo with a hand saw? 

I mean, it's easy on my workbench because the leg vise is right at the edge of my bench top, so I just need to put a wedge on the other side to get a solid grip and make the entire cut without having to switch sides.

2017-02-05 16.21.51.jpg

It's also easy on benches with a tail vise, but on the roubos you guys often build here it seems impossible,  am I right? How is it done?

 

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12 hours ago, C Shaffer said:

No one rips long rips much on a joiners bench. It's too high and not set up for sawing. 

Paul Sellers does it all the time. But his vise is spaced from the bench top, that allows him to continue cutting for a while before flipping the board, working at an acute angle. I think that's the reason why he doesn't like Japanese saws, his technique wouldn't work with them.

Edit: Actually he does not need to flip the board over, because he keeps raising the board and clamping again until the cut is over.

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7 minutes ago, Jim DaddyO said:

I am in the sawbench camp too.  I built the one featured on "Billy's Little Bench".  It is a good build and he has plans and videos to show how it is done.  Pretty easy to follow.  He is on YT and has a blog about it too.

I've seen that one and looks good. But I don't rip by hand so often, can't justify building one of those because I'm short of storage space.

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2 hours ago, Immortan D said:

I've seen that one and looks good. But I don't rip by hand so often, can't justify building one of those because I'm short of storage space.

I am cramped for space too.  But I use the saw bench all the time (I built a second of my own design).  Not always for sawing.  Perfect height for sitting on or to use to stand on to get things that are up high.  I have laid 2x's across them for cutting sheet goods too.  I can't bear weight directly on my right knee to hold a board down with it, so my second bench has a thick laminated top and a couple of holes for hold fasts to hold work down.  I stack them against a wall when not in use.

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The average Roubo is too tall, but you could try clamping the board with the off side off an edge, then climbing up on the bench, kneeling on the board and cutting away.  I know my Roubo is stable enough to stand on. It might look silly, but could work.  If you built a split top, you could remove the center strip and rib between the slabs. 

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If I had to rip long boards by hand, I'd load 1 bullet in a revolver, spin the cylinder and then make a line every 8 inches, when I reached each line I'd get one chance to end the misery. If I got through the whole board before I was able to end it, I'd crack open a 6 pack and call it a day. 

On a serious note though, if I absolutely had to, I would just use the holdfasts and let the board hang off the edge of the bench and then maybe a small stool to stand on for needed height. 

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