Rip or cross-cut

[RogerS]

Take a piece of timber. Could be anything - even a sheet of ply or MDF.

You need to cut it down to get the dimensions that you need. That will leave you with some left over and you have no idea what you might use it for in the future.

So would you rip down the entire length first to get your width and then cross-cut to get your length ? Or...

Do you cross-cut across the wood to get your length and then rip to the desired width ?

Curious to know what people prefer.

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Easy choice for predominantly a spindle turner - rip then cross, preserve as much length as possible.

Regards Mick

 

[custard]

Good question. It does depend to some extent on the dimensions of the required workpiece relative to the dimensions of the original board. So if I had a three metre by one metre board (chance would be a fine thing!) and needed a 10mm long x 500mm wide workpiece then I'd cross cut off 10mm and go from there.

But leaving aside extreme examples such as this my general practise is to rip first and cross cut second, you can always glue on a bit for more width, but it's a bit trickier to glue on a bit for more length! For what it's worth, the policy at The Barnsley Workshop for extremely valuable timbers was to cut out just the section you required in order to maximise the future flexibility of the board, in other words to both rip and cross cut, even if that required a bit of hand saw work.

 

[thick_mike]

I definitely cut out just the board I need...a shed full of L shaped wood will testify to that.

 

[woodfarmer]

I go with Mick, always preserve as much length as possible. so rip then cross...

 

[joiner_sim]

Another vote here for generally ripping first and cross cutting after. Annoys me so much at work when I'm not about to sort out people's cutting, so they do it themselves only for me to then find something like an 8x4' sheet, that is no longer 8ft as someone's happened to cut 2" off the top for just a 4'x2" length. Useless sheet then. You maybe able to tell, it has become a bit of a rant! Rant over, it's the weekend! :roll:

 

[RobinBHM]

The answer has to be 'it depends'!

Making a hardwood door: I would always start with selecting the stiles, if the board is wide enough to double up, I may cross cut first, maybe leaving an offcut long enough for a bottom rail. If the board is only wide enough for a stile plus an offcut, then I may take a rip first to yield a long trim then cross cut.

Making some cupboard doors: If these are small I may rip first, PAR, then cut a number of parts to length with minimal end waste. Of course if the board is bowed, then it would have to be cross cut before face / edging, maybe doubling or tripling up

Sheet material: Always best to preserve the full board length if only cutting off a part of the sheet, to leave maximum options for later use. If cutting up a few sheets, the cut sequence will be determined by cutting list, sometime an initial head cut can help yield an extra piece or so. Of course a veneered board, being directional severely restricts options. When writing cut lists for veneered jobs, I always put the first dimension as grain direction - helps to avoid grain running front to back on short shelves and grain running side to side on backs................not that Ive ever done that of course.

Hence the 'it depends'