[Ken]

I’m just getting started in woodworking and finally have most of the tools I need to start my first project. I’ll be making a saw bench out of 2×6 Doug fir. Should I rough cut my pieces then square and plane it or should I square and plane the whole board and cut after?

Thanks,

Ken

Topic

[JimN]

#2026702

Personally, I would cut the wood to rough dimensions first, then plane it square.  I find that it is easier that way, and less wood will end up in shavings on your floor.

[Jonas Jensen]

#2026716

Rough cut before surfacing

I’m with JimN on this one.

Rough cut the pieces to length before starting to square things up.

Assuming your legs are going to be say 22″ long, I would make a board that is 45″ long,  flatten it on both sides, crosscut to 22.5″, rip all to the correct width. plane the remaining sides.

The final 0.5″ can be removed after assembly, when you make sure the saw bench touches the floor with all four legs.

I made a sawbench some years ago, and it is one of the most useful projects you can make in my opinion. I think I need to make another one at some point.

Brgds

Jonas

[Mike in TN]

#2026739

The previous posters are right on with their answers. This is standard practice with most woodworking to eliminate waste caused by warping, bowing, and cupping.  Very short and very long pieces are normally more difficult to manage at the bench and there are circumstances, such as running molding, where it is easier to keep pieces longer to facilitate the work but it sound like it would definitely  be to your advantage to rough cut the pieces first.

[Ken]

#2026762

My gut was telling me to rough cut before surfacing, but I wasn’t 100% sure.

Thank you for the replies, I’ll be doing some layout and rough cutting tonight.

[Author]

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