YARW (Yet Another Roubo Workbench) #3: Cutting a 10/4 piece of maple for the leg vise

Several months ago I purchased a 10/4 maple board that was about 10” wide and 120” long. Near the ends there was some bark on the edges and interior of the board, but I still had almost 9 feet of usable wood. Just because I’m a masochist, I decided to use a Japanese-style pull saw to cut the boards (slightly over-long) so they can dry for a few weeks (or months) before I mill them to final dimensions:

Surprisingly, it only took a few minutes to cross-cut the board. Sawing from underneath was a little awkward, but it was fun considering that I don’t have to do it for a living. My setup was a little jury-rigged, but it worked okay.

In the photo, one end of the board has already been cut off (it’s next to the Coke can, under the books), and if you look closely at the far end you can see the bark on one of the edges.

From this maple board, I cut three large boards and later ripped two of them to obtain pieces 6.5” and 2.25” wide. The largest (and uncut) board will be used for the leg vise on my Roubo bench, one of the the narrow pieces will be used for a planing stop on the bench, and the remaining boards will be used for a Moxon vise for dovetailing.

-- More tools, fewer machines.