How to rip round stock ?

[dzrtrat67]

Howdy all!
What is the best way to rip round stock? I'm talking anything from 2" dowel up to 4" lodge pole style logs....ripping in half, to create basically half-round stock.
I've searched here, google, etc.... suprisingly, haven't found much on a safe way to do this.
As an example of what a finished project would be, here's a pic of a door with half-rounds in it...



(Pic is from a craigslist ad for a Sante fe style entry door...so it may be an invalid pic link after awhile.)

Rat

[Uncle Cracker]

You can make a jig which can hold the round stock in place, and either slide along the rip fence, or in miter slots, if you have them. The door in the picture, though, was probably made from flat dimensional stock that was shaped to look like parallel rounds using a shaper with a beading profile. Router bits with this profile are available, but usually scaled for tighter-spaced beading. A larger millwork shaper would be used, typically. If you prefer, half-rounds of various sizes are usually available in the moulding department of your typical HD or other home center (right next to the full-rounds you might be looking at).

[crokett]

A safer alternative is to take square stock and run it through a roundover bit on the router to create your half-round. This is slower though since it requires two passes and obviously you'd need a mighty big bit to round over 4".

Only thing I can think of is some sort of 45 degree cradle.

[John Hunter]

I would make a jig and cut it on a bandsaw.

[russd]

On a bandsaw, pre-saw the round stock to about and inch or inch and a half. Make a v notch block jig, make a saw kerf in the center of the v notch. Epoxy in a piece of sheet metal the size of your saw kerf. When your epoxy is set, file the sheet metal down so that the kerf in your round stock will slide easily through it. Position in front of your blade and then saw stock in half. The sheet metal keeps the round stock from turning so you get a straight cut the length of your stock. On a table saw you could use the same type of jig, but inverted or you could hot metal glue the round the stock to a piece of square stock and run the square side against your rip fence.

Hope this helps.

[dzrtrat67]

You guys rock!
Thanks!

Although the sheet metal jig sounds interesting, I'm a little too skeered ta try it after reading this:

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...e_sawmill.html

[nickg]

For safety's sake, I think I'd go with the bandsaw with a 3/4" blade - and a fence. I've never tried to halve round stock, but I would think your results would be OK. If you were a little off, I don't think it would matter too much if you planned to glue to cut pieces to a door or something flat like that.

Nick

[mpc]

One of those "100 tips" type of books had a jig just for this. Basically it was a flat piece of wood in a squarish "C" shape. A hole was drilled through the arms of the "C" that the dowel would fit though. One hole then had a thin metal strip (old hacksaw blade piece) shoved in there to act as a splitter and to keep the dowel from turning.

This jig was clamped to the bandsaw table with one "C" arm ahead of the blade and the one with the splitter behind it.

mpc

[cabinetman]

WARNING: Don't try this at home!!

I had a project to split bowling pins in half lengthwise. I pondered possible solutions to the point of just biting the bullet. I made a standing support to run against the TS fence and added a support for the narrow neck end and screwed it to the guide to run it against the fence. Filling the screw holes were the least of my problems. I've done this with baseball bats too.

[LarryG]

To rip larger rounds (that are already round) into half-rounds, as has already been mentioned the solution is some sort of cradle or carrier. There are any number of ways to do this, the key factor being that the workpiece cannot move or rotate while the cut is being made.

For smaller half-rounds like those on the doors, I would use a bullnose bit at the router table to put a half-round on the edge of a wide board. Then take the board to the table saw and rip the rounded strip off. Repeat until the board is too narrow to handle safely and/or I have enough half-rounds.

When ripping the rounded strip I'd set the fence so there was an 1/8" or so of straight section beyond the curve. This will ease assembly since the adjacent strips will butt squarely against each other as you attach them to the substrate. It will also help conceal any minor splintering that may occur when making the rip cut. Like this:


Bullnose bits up to 3/4" dia (for a 3/4" board) are readily available; if you shop a little harder, you can get them up to about 1-1/2" dia.

[cabinetman]

To rip larger rounds (that are already round) into half-rounds, as has already been mentioned the solution is some sort of cradle or carrier. There are any number of ways to do this, the key factor being that the workpiece cannot move or rotate while the cut is being made.

What is your solution to the number of ways to do this?
.