Green oak sleepers - which saw to use for accurate cuts???

use a circular saw

 

A chainsaw. And yes, you can get stands to set them square.



Mr. HandyAndy - really

 

yeah a circular would be good with a fine cutting blade/cain

 

sorry meant chainsaw

 

Chainsaw works for me. A Radial arm would not be portable and you would need a large one so cost would be quite high. One of the big Maffel beam saws is another option if you want to cut on site but again they are not cheap.

Jason

 

get an old wadkin bursgreen radial arm saw

 

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When I cut some sleepers 7 years ago, I just went round with my 180mm circular saw on max depth and then used a hand saw to cut the remaining bit. If you have a 225mm saw, you should not need to use a hand saw.

PS have you tried lifting a sleeper onto a bench single handed. Much easier to do it on the ground and then roll the sleeper over to cut from the other side.

M2C1

 

Most of the landscapers I know use chainsaws and do a very neat job too.

 

I don't think one of these would be perfect, but then I've never used on, but it gives you somewhere to start, if you are going to go down the chainsaw road *

A decent chainsaw, keen eye and a bit of practice and you should be able to do it freehand.

Ross

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u tryed mafell stuff ?

 

if you are going for a radial arm saw i would get a 2nd hand wadkin machine

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wadkin-Radial-Arm-Saw-3-PhaseW0QQitemZ320179057888QQihZ011QQcategoryZ116672QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Not sure of the costs but what about a log saw The same company do Maffel as I suggested earlier but their big circular saws can be over £1000.

JAson

 

when i worked in Australia we had a BIG pull saw, bench mounted that I used to cut all my 150 x150 merbau posts. that thing would have done the job no probs, cant remember who made it. it was a bit of a big mother though. sort of thing you would may find an old one heavy one on ebay.
Mafell do a 185 circ thats 185mm cut, massive blade but i think its 2k. nice stuff though.

 

why not tr 1 of these http://www.hotsaw.com/Page1x.html

 

Your problem my friend is threefold. Saws that cut over 135mm in one hit are not made for someone on a medium budget. If you want to cut this size accurately you will be looking at spending around the 2k mark. As others have said Mafell make these kind of saws but they are aimed at oak framers etc who will happily invest in what they need. Mafell make a chainsaw with an attachment for cutting square but at around 2.5k and they make a circ with a 450 blade but its a two man bit of kit. Radial arm wise you will be looking at a few quid for a saw with this capacity. Your second problem is why do you need to work to a 1mm tolerance on green oak. You need to allow the oak to move. I had someone come in my workshop wanting a green oak feature coffee table making with a sliding section in the centre. making the table would have been no problem but as soon as the central heating hit the table it would have possibly made the sliding section unworkable. Thirdly the mechanics of cutting deadon square on a sleeper will be a challenge as your fence will be registering on a surface that is far from dead flat so your cut may wander. My experince of rustic green oak fuurniture is that 1 or 2mm here or there isnt a problem but perhaps I have misunderstood your situation