Woodshop 101 - Suggestions?

[CharlM]

Hi Folks;

I am contemplating sawig my own HO ties from pine stock - what kind would work best and what kind of saw? Would the miniature saws work better? I do not fancy sawing ties on a normal shop-sized saw?

Any ideas appreciated

[SpaceMouse]

I have the Micro Mark saw and I really like it. I have used all sorts of power tools in my day and I can say this little sucker kicks booty.

[cacole]

Most commercially-sold crossties for hand-laid track are made of redwood, not pine. Pine will warp and split too easily.

I have no answer about the tool to use because I have never tried cutting my own. By the time you factor in the cost of the tool (not cheap), the time and effort involved, and the raw materials, the pre-cut redwood crossties are cheaper.

[jeffers_mz]

On our trestle, I used poplar for the ties. I glued 4 1x3's together to make a 3 x 3 about 4 feet long. The extra size allowed me to guide this through the full size table saw easier.

I then cut a short piece of it off, to use as a test piece to make sure that the table saw blade was perfectly perpendicular to the table. Once that was done, I set the fence to about a 64th over 1/8th inch, and ripped several 1/8" plus lengths with the glue joints standing vertical, parallel to the blade, until the stock was too thin to manipulate safely any more. Naturally I used guide sticks and pushers to keep my fingers away from the blade.

Next I ran the pieces through the thickness planer to remove the blade marks left by the table saw, but any belt or orbital sander would have done just as well. After figuring out how many ties we would need for the trestle, I then ripped the 1/8th inch by 3 inch stock down to 1/8th by 3/32nds by three foot pieces.

I cobbled up a small miter box from a one by one and some quarter inch plywood for the edge guides, because the power miterbox teeth were too large for the small stock, and would tear it and throw the finished ties into placers I couldn't find most of them.

The oneby in the miterbox was wide enough to allow me to place 5 pieces of the 3' tie stock in it, side by side, and I clamped another one by one stop block into the miter box to allow me to get the length right quickly and easily.

To cut them I tried a hacksaw, a coping saw and a Jap saw, since I didn't have a back saw, and the Jap saw did the best job by far. Back saws of various sizes aren't very expensive, but it's a long trip to town for me, around 100 miles roundtrip, and I just didn't want to waste that much time unless I had to. I've borrowed a lot of Jap saws from other carpenters over the years, and my preference is to use the Vaughn model, because it cuts much faster than others, yet still leaves a smooth cut.

I ended up with about 50 extra ties on purpose, I always cut a lot more of anything than I think I need, because setting up each step takes a lot longer than actually making the cuts.

The poplar took Micro Engineering's medium spikes without a single split tie, but was just a fuzz harder than I would have liked. It took a two step process to get the spikes in, first gripping them halfway with the needlenose pliers to avoid the chance of bending them, then driving them the rest of the way with a second grip at the head. After all of the spikes for a given rail were set, I was still able to move the rail a sixteenth of an inch to either side to get it perfectly straight, then pu***he head down fully tight with the tips of the pliers. The poplar gripped the spike tightly even after being moved around for adjustment, and I am completely comfortable with the longevity of the result. About 1 tie in 5 or 10 refused the first spike, and these extra hard areas took from two to four spikes to get one all the way into the wood. The rest went in first try, right up at the edge of the pressure I was comfortable wih, the consequences of a slip would have been disastrous.

If I had a whole lot of ties to make, I'd make a wider miter box, and probably invest in a back saw for it. It might sae time and effort to use a wood block to clamp down the tie stock while cutting if using a wider miter box, but five at a time was easy just using my fingers to hold the stock.

If repeating the process, I'd also make sure to stain or fini***he tie stock before cutting the ties to length, and certainly before gluing them into place. Coming back later and staining the ends would have been much, much easier than getting an even coat in between the bare ties.

[SpaceMouse]

Jeffers--paint ties--stick them in a tea strainer and dip them in stain.

[SpaceMouse]

Jeffers--paint ties--stick them in a tea strainer and dip them in stain.

[ARTHILL]

I use a standard table saw with a very good blade, (Forest Woodworker 2). I put a sheet of 1/8 inch playwood on top of the table for zero clearence and raise the blade just enough to clear the thickness. I use an incra-jig for a fence to get precise repeatible thickness and a push block with an expendable bottom. It is a time consuming and some what dangerous task. Without out a very good blade and zero clearence table and adaquate push block, wood will fly and hands get very close to the blade.

For cutting to length I will use a radial arm saw with same blade and a stop block and GREAT care.

[reklein]

[#ditto] What Art Hill said plus you might try Basswood for ties. Its a soft hardwood and not so likely to split out as pine and not so hard as poplar, although poplar is very stable. You can get basswood at good LUMBER yards, not HD or the other guys. Woodcraft stores also sell it. I too can't stress the safety factor on the use of a table saw but maybe you already have experience with power tools.

[nbrodar]

If you have one, a bandsaw, with a guide fence, and a fine blade would work too.

Nick

[fsm1000]

A band saw or a scroll saw or even a jig saw upside down and secured would be my choices.
Make sure you have zero clearance and push sticks. Wood can be replaced. Fingers can not.

[jeffers_mz]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SpaceMouse

Jeffers--paint ties--stick them in a tea strainer and dip them in stain.

That's a good idea. I'll file that one away for future use.

I still want one of those miniature table saws, but right now I don't have any place to put it. I could operate it on top of the full size table saw, but when I'm not using it, the storage space is just too short in supply.

Using pusher sticks, I had no safety issues involving fingers when ripping small material, but I suppose I should point up one risk that was an issue.

Small stock between blade and fence is very likely to chip or tear, and be thrown at high velocity. I use a 40 tooth blade in my table saw for cutting small stock, though this tends to burn the stock and I prefer a 24 tooth blade for normal cutting. That cuts down the risk of thrown material somewhat, but still, you never want to stand in line with the blade when cutting anything, especially small or thin stock.

Safety goggles are a must too.

I'll go a step further and say that if you aren't very comfortable with your table saw, I would not recommend the above procedure. I've been around saws for 25+ years now, and cutting small stock was still at the very edge of what I'd do with a full size saw. A mini-saw or buying precut stock is much safer.