scarf cuts

[mitchmellow]

There have been a few posts about how people cut the stringers for scarf joints and I thought I'd add my 2 cents.  This comes from someone who is not a woodworker and is tool poor.  I do have a cheap old 10 inch miter saw and thought I would see what could be done.  I'm quite satisfied with the results and feel it to be much safer than a table saw.  I checked at a local rental store and their 12 inch miter saw would cost $32.95 for a day.  My ten inch will just manage an 8:1 ratio with 3/4 inch thick material.  Some cleanup of the cut is needed. 

 

First I built a 90 degree "jig" with 1x4 pine, glue and sheet rock screws.

 

 

The jig clamps into the saw and allows the stringer material to be clamped in place.

 

 

A 10 inch saw will almost do a clean cut.  A corner has to be cleaned up.  A 12 inch would do it easily.  A sliding miter would be even better.

 

 

The finished joint was very strong and would take as much bend as the material (using Titebond 3).

 

[Aimless]

I think I will try this method.  My father in law just left a giant miter saw in my garage. I don't know if it's for storage or if he's giving it to me, but I'm gonna make good use of it while its here.

 

Did you have to deal with any splintering?

[Kudzu]

Miter saw can be a good option. After my accident I looked at every option I had and came back to my table saw. But the reason is I can't cut in the center of a long strip, the wood hits the frame of the saw or I would use it.  I often cut on both sides of a knot in the center of a stringer and just glue it back together. That way I can make use of what would otherwise be scrap wood. 

[Hirilonde]

Having both a good table saw and an excellent sliding compound miter box I find the table saw safer easier and more practical for the very reason Jeff mentions above.  If done carefully the miter box method Mitch describes is a good option, especially for those with limited equipment.  I just don't see it as the best or necessarily safest.

[mitchmellow]

1.  I didn't experience any splintering.

 

2.  I feel it was relatively safe because the stringer material was clamped in place.

 

3.  If I were taking a knot out of the center of a stringer I would cross cut on each side of it at a 90 degree angle and then miter the two ends for gluing.  I'd probably be losing a little more material but it would work.

 

4.  This was a good option for me but you still need some capability to cut your stock into stringer material.  My guess is the table saw is best for this.  A circular saw can be substituted as described on the Yostwerks website but it looks somewhat tedious to me and requires buying more stuff I don't need.  An hour with a friend and his table saw is a better idea.

[PAR]

You can clamp your stringer stock to a sliding jig on the table saw, to avoid kick back or other issues. Most just make a "sled" that rides the miter slot on the table saw and attach an angled guide to the sled, so you can make clean and safe cuts. Make the sled big enough so you can clamp stock without them hitting the blade.

[Kudzu]

This is my scarf jig for the table saw. After my accident I spend a lot of time coming up with this jig while my thumb was healing. It looks pretty simple and it is, but trust me when I say there was a lot of thought put into it and why it is made the way it is. And if you are left handed,  you would want to make a mirror image of this jig.

 

[mwagner]

Hi Jeff,  I did see this or similar in your book but couldn't figure out how you made it.  Would you care to share plans?

Thanks,

Mike

[Kudzu]

I think it is shown in one of the books. There are no plans for it, I just made it.

 

• There is a strip under the plywood base that rides in the miter slot, It need to be snug so there is no play.
• The plywood base is just screwed to the strip and the saw blade will cut it flush and square with the blade.
• The top block is a strip of scrap wood, I think it was  spruce 2x4. It it just laid on the proper angle, glued and screwed to the base. Cur flush.
• Toggle clamps I found on someones web site.
• The handles could be just dowel stock or recycled machine handles or what ever. But they are important! They make you stand out to the side of the blade and that is why it is made the way it is. If you are a leftie, you will want to build it opposite hand so you stand on the other side of the blade.

DON"T build one that base spans across (on both sides of) the blade. The cut off will rest on the base and when you pull the sled back, the cutoff is on the table and there is nothing to keep it from bouncing across the table and into the back of the blade. Then the blade picks it up and throws it at you! That is how  I mangled my thumb.

 

 

[Hirilonde]

If you are a leftie, you will want to build it opposite hand so you stand on the other side of the blade.

Bah!  Everyone was born right handed, but us lefties overcame it.  We can compensate and use our right hands.  We have been discriminated against in the work place for so long we can do anything with the wrong hand.  

[PAR]

I was born a lefty, but going to parochial school in the '60's, the nuns insisted I was a righty and forced me to conform, or feel the pain of a wooden ruler over my knuckles. I've since become ambidextrous for the most part.

[mwagner]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the description.  That along with seeing the picture makes a lot more sense than just the pictur alone.  I will have to give that a try sould I get to that point.

Mike

[Kudzu]

For you Lefties, I find that you want to grab the handles opposite of a RH person and that puts your body in-line with the blade, while the RH person will be standing to the left side of the blade.  That is why I recommend reversing it. it all about safety.

 

Of course with the blade flush against the base and the cut falling on the saw top it would be hard, but not impossible, for the blade to pick up a cutoff and launch it. I have yet to have it happen, but I don't want to tempt fate again!

[Hirilonde]

For you Lefties, I find that you want to grab the handles opposite of a RH person and that puts your body in-line with the blade, while the RH person will be standing to the left side of the blade.

Speaking for myself and most lefties we don't do that.  We have learned to be right handed.  The world has required we do so.  Table saws are designed for right handed use.  Yes, many can be used with the fence or sliding bevel or jig used on the opposite side, but it is not the same. So wide rips can only be done right handed.  Often the blade location or extension favors or even requires the fence be on the right side of the blade or sliding tool on the left. My semi-portable Bosch table saw has a sliding table extension that allows the rip fence to function for 26" rips, but only to the right of the blade. In most commercial shops the saw itself is located such that right handed use is the only way it will work.  Few shops are large enough to devote the space to allow both. It is just a fact of life that lefties have had to learn to deal with.  I find myself deciding to work left or right handed based on where I am standing, or the location of the work.  I can now do both and it is easier to give in to the situation than move things or myself to allow left handed work.  "Necessity is the mother of invention"