# Help getting straight cuts from my live edge slabs



## MarkHouse (May 30, 2017)

I'm fairly new to woodworking (and to this site) and this is my first larger project so I'm taking all precaution to make sure everything is right!

I'm making a dining room table from three pieces of live edge walnut - all are planed and drum sanded and I'm ready to cut the middle piece and the two inner sides of the outside two pieces (I want to keep the outside of the table as live edge) so I can joint them, biscuit join, glue and have myself a solid table top. However, I'm racking my brain on how to make sure my cuts are square, this is posing to be a challenge because of the live edge sides, there are no pre-existing square sides. I've read a few places that you should find your center on both ends and snap a line then grab your square, square up the ends and cut…but this doesn't answer my question for ripping (track saw) down the side to make my perfectly square edges so I can glue the pieces together.

Any help would be SO greatly appreciated!!!


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## JayT (May 6, 2012)

If your track saw has enough depth of cut, the way I would do it would be to lay the two outer pieces down and the center piece on top of them with the edges overlapping. Move and arrange until you get the look and grain alignment you want, clamp everything down tightly and cut both edges at once - center board on top and edge board underneath. That will assure they will mate up without having to worry about if the cut is perfectly square and you'll be able to adjust the overall width to get the size you need.

Hope that makes sense.


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## KelleyCrafts (May 17, 2016)

Are you worried about them being square to the ends (90 degrees to end grain) or side parallel to each other (center board).

You shouldn't worry about squaring the end grain sides. When your table is glued up you cut the ends square to the rest of the table. That might be 1/4" cut or 2" depending on your glueup. That's how I did it on my live edge table. My table had 4 slabs but same concept.

Do you have a tablesaw or just the track saw?


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Once you get a straight edge on both sides butt them together and then rip down the middle.

This will make for a perfect fit.

+1 for JayTs' methods as well.


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## tomsteve (Jan 23, 2015)

stack all 3 and clamp. make sure outside edges you want on the outside boards are stacked to each other.

mark both ends where ya want to cut. set your tracksaw up and cut all 3 at once.
take the fresh cuts and run across a jointer. run the middle piece through the table saw to rip to width.
run that edge across the jointer.

imo, "live edge" and "square" dont go together too good. live edge is freeflowing and square doesnt look good,imo.


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## ClammyBallz (Apr 16, 2015)

Are the slabs longer than the track for your saw? Is that where your concern is on getting a straight cut?


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## bbasiaga (Dec 8, 2012)

You could brad nail a long piece of hardboard to them, and use the straight edge on that to register against your TS fence.

Brian


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## gargey (Apr 11, 2016)

Mark your lines, hand saw, jointer plane. Stack them on edge to check alignment, and adjust as needed.


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## MarkHouse (May 30, 2017)

> If your track saw has enough depth of cut, the way I would do it would be to lay the two outer pieces down and the center piece on top of them with the edges overlapping. Move and arrange until you get the look and grain alignment you want, clamp everything down tightly and cut both edges at once - center board on top and edge board underneath. That will assure they will mate up without having to worry about if the cut is perfectly square and you ll be able to adjust the overall width to get the size you need.
> 
> Hope that makes sense.
> 
> - JayT





> Are you worried about them being square to the ends (90 degrees to end grain) or side parallel to each other (center board).
> 
> You shouldn t worry about squaring the end grain sides. When your table is glued up you cut the ends square to the rest of the table. That might be 1/4" cut or 2" depending on your glueup. That s how I did it on my live edge table. My table had 4 slabs but same concept.
> 
> ...


This is great, thanks guys for the help! I never thought about cutting all at once - this should solve my problem!


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## FoundSheep (Feb 24, 2017)

Not sure if any of this article could help, but it's a good coincidence it came out. The chalk line is a nice tip.
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/milling-live-sawn-lumber
Are you looking to get a perfectly square cut from the saw? Or do you have a jointer (powered or hand) that you can run over the edges?


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

You're in over your head if you expect a
track saw to deliver glue-ready edges
for a fine table top.

You can rip it straight any way you like, 
unless you're using a big sliding table saw
it's not likely to produce a nice glue line.

A decent sized jointer is the easiest way to
true and square the edge. It can be done 
with a sharp jointer plane and considerable
care as well.


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