I'm going to go the other way from Fred and recommend an axe. You can chop down redwoods with an axe, surely you could cut a bit off a tiny ~6" square hollow log...
OK--if you don't like that, how about a regular old manual, non-electric saw? Actually would do a great job in the right hands. If you have a friend you can use one with two handles.
On Tue, Aug 12, 2014 at 12:32 AM, Fred Baker (fred) <fred@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I would use a table saw and a jointer. Used to work in a furniture factory, and that’s how we did it.
On Aug 11, 2014, at 7:43 PM, Phillip Hallam-Baker <phill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Base of the TARDIS and the sign boards are both half done.
>
> So now I come across a problem that nobody in the tardis-building
> community has (yet) come to a good answer to, how to trim the posts
> down to exact size.
>
> They are 8' long ( a bit longer actually, that being the problem) and
> made of 4 planks of 5 1/2 x 3/4 pine. So they are heavy. Its at the
> limit of a one person lift and certainly too big to handle on a table
> saw.
>
> Chop saw? Well too big for my 12" chop saw and a slide does not help here.
>
>
> I am thinking I probably need to make a jig and use a circular saw.
>
it being 8 feet long, this is a job for two people
First, run one side over the jointer to make a flat side. You can use a table saw for this with the right jig. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtSoo1AaBDo is inexpensive; I don’t like how close he got his hand to the blade (says the guy with a short finger). I like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKDxKb-B0sQ better, but it’s going to mean you have (from somewhere) an 8 foot long perfectly straight board to run down the guide. Probably means a piece of plywood.
Second, set up a guide the prescribed distance from the table saw blade. Make sure you have some other stick you can use to push the board through. Put the flat jointed side against the guide and the rough side on the other side of the blade. Push slowly past the blade, and pull from the other.
You can then rotate the board 90’ and repeat the second step. That makes it square.
There is value in having a second stick that looks something like a table fork but perhaps three feet long. Use that to push the board against the guide. You’d rather have the blade hit that than your fingers, and it keeps the board from migrating out.
Chris Elliott
chelliot@xxxxxxxxx