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Cutting corbels!

hopper | Posted in General Discussion on July 27, 2004 04:03am

I have a bunch of corbel shapes to cut on the end of some 6×10 and 6×12 cedar beams before I install them for some cantilevered balconies.  The beams are 8′ to 12′ long.  My bosses idea is to use a bandsaw on wheels and  set the beam on a bench and roll the bandsaw around to make the cut.

Anybody got any other ideas?  Is there a tool that I don’t know about that will make this kind of a cut in a 6x?  Keep in mind the profile has a couple of curves in it.

Thanks for your help.

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Replies

  1. JRuss | Jul 27, 2004 04:08am | #1

    router with a straight bit and a template

    Never serious, but always right.
  2. hasbeen | Jul 27, 2004 04:11am | #2

    There is a tool that's a sort of hand held bandsaw.  I'm not sure who makes it, but in the late 80's when I was working in Phoenix we built lots of mission and territorial style homes which commonly featured a fancy cut zapata (shoe) which sat on a post (usually a peeled log) and which had the ends of beams sitting over the zapata.

    We actually used a sub who came out in a cube van and custom cut all our zapatas for each job.

    You're unique!  Just like everyone else!      Scott Adams

  3. User avater
    SamT | Jul 27, 2004 04:12am | #3

    PortaBand with 10tpi blade

    SamT

    Arguing with a Breaktimer is like mud-wrestling a pig -- Sooner or later you find out the pig loves it. Andy Engel

  4. DougU | Jul 27, 2004 04:13am | #4

    Scooter

    The method that your boss mentions will work, I have seen it done that way, another way is to use a portable band saw to do it. I prefer the portable band saw, I think you have more control with it.

    Doug

  5. kcoyner | Jul 27, 2004 04:20am | #5

    Scotter,

    I don't how he did it, but I used to help a friend with hand hewn log cabins who made those kinds of cuts with a Husquavarna chain saw with a special thin bar and chain.  He could cut dovetail notches so clean you couldn't slide a piece of paper in.  I still marvel at the skill he handled that chain saw with.

    kcoyner

    1. hopper | Jul 28, 2004 04:06am | #6

      Y'all are very helpful!  Thank you!

  6. User avater
    RichColumbus | Jul 28, 2004 07:34am | #7

    A bandsaw on wheels will bind so bad that it will be next to impossible to do it that way, IMHO.

    The portable bandsaw is a viable option if accessible.  If not:

    Chainsaw is very viable.  Cut the rough and belt sand the rest (get it close, however, otherwise you will be sanding forever).

    Believe it or not... the router and template idea has some merit as a finishing technique.  You can get a straight bit that is 3" long with a 1/2" shaft.  On 6x... just trim from both sides.  Of course, you will still have to rough it out with something... hmmm... chainsaw comes to mind!

    Chainsaw... the builder's tool of choice!!!  LOL

    1. User avater
      BillHartmann | Jul 28, 2004 07:43am | #8

      "A bandsaw on wheels will bind so bad that it will be next to impossible to do it that way, IMHO."

      Why.

      How is this any difference than swinging a shorter piece of wood through the bandsaw.

      1. User avater
        RichColumbus | Jul 28, 2004 07:58am | #9

        Because when swinging a shorter piece of wood through the bandsaw, you are holding the piece of wood against the table and moving the wood through (and even with that, a bandsaw binds easily).  In this case, you are talking about a stationary piece of wood, with the saw moving around the piece.  Unless the floor is as straight and true as the table top... the saw will bind.  Additionally, it will be next to impossible to control the cut.... thus resulting in a severe bind.

        Edited 7/28/2004 1:04 am ET by Rich

  7. slykarma | Jul 28, 2004 07:58am | #10

    I had to do this on some 4" fir beams last year. They had a Roman ogee type profile on the ends. I used a Lancelot wood cutter on a 4" grinder to rough the cuts. You can check it out at Lee Valley on this URL: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=42528&category=1,42524,42527&ccurrency=1&SID=

    I made a template for tracing the shape on both sides and then roughed them with the grinder. Then used template and router w/ 1/2" straight cut bit from both sides to clean them up. Finished off with a sanding drum mounted in a drill. The lancelot cutter removes material really fast and can overcut if you're not careful. My first instinct was to try roughing them with a chainsaw but it was awkward and turned out slower than the grinder method.

    I can't imagine trying to handle a 6x12x12' beam through a bandsaw for a double curved cut. You would be too far from the line to see it, let alone cut accurately. A band saw on wheels with the beam stationary sounds fine in principle but I haven't seen such a thing. Not to say it doesnt exist, but it would be uncommon and therefore expensive I would think. The one link posted showed an interesting tool but it only had 4" capacity so no good for this app.

    Lignum est bonum.
    1. User avater
      BillHartmann | Jul 28, 2004 03:16pm | #11

      "I can't imagine trying to handle a 6x12x12' beam through a bandsaw for a double curved cut. You would be too far from the line to see it, let alone cut accurately. A band saw on wheels with the beam stationary sounds fine in principle but I haven't seen such a thing. Not to say it doesnt exist, but it would be uncommon and therefore expensive I would think. The one link posted showed an interesting tool but it only had 4" capacity so no good for this app."

      On TOH they showed Norm doing it, but I don't know the size of the beams.

      The bandsaw is no problem. Just set it on a dolly with 4 swivel castors.

      But I appreaciate what Rich was say about getting the beam level and at the right height. Norm used ladders, but I suspect that there was a lot of shimming, off cammera, to get everything to the right height.

      1. User avater
        hmanooch | Dec 27, 2020 05:28pm | #15

        the bandsaw table should register against the flat surface of the beam, otherwise it would be too hazardous and/or frustrating in my humble opinion.

  8. MojoMan | Jul 28, 2004 03:25pm | #12

    I asked the same question in the "Tools" section a while back. I got many of the same suggestions. I took the one from Sphere and got a Bosch barrel-handle jigsaw with 4" blades. Cutting from both sides, I was able to get a decent cut in 6x6 white cedar.

    Al Mollitor, Sharon MA

    1. User avater
      Sphere | Jul 28, 2004 03:38pm | #13

      Actually a real quick (for me) way is to, make a series of relief cuts..(just straight cuts to the finish line) and whack off the waste with a hammerclaw blow. Clean up with a sharp slick for the convex curves and a gouge for the concave ones..easily done with no highdollar tools. 

      Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

      Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

  9. User avater
    hmanooch | Dec 27, 2020 05:25pm | #14

    What you're looking for is called a corbel saw and is a portable bandsaw. Mafell makes one that is hard to get in the Americas and is close to $6000.00

    https://www.timberwolftools.com/mafell-z5ec-portable-band-saw

    I hear Ryobi makes them for the Japanese market that it doesn't sell here. But other brands of corbel saw(aka portable bandsaw)should be obtainable here that are sub $2000.00. Mafell also makes the best jigsaw in the world in my opinion that can be fitted with a special extra long, extra stiff blade (also made by Mafell) that costs around $800.00. you can probably cut the shape you want with that. I've seen a video of a guy cutting through what looked like an 8X12 in seconds; impressive tool!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plULNidSs30

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