George wrote:

"Vic Baron" wrote in message
. com...

Thanx George, after thinking a bit and reading the comments, I can see
where
it would be very difficult to get the extensions to be the exact height.
What brought it to mind was some 8' long 4/4 hard maple I'm using. Trying
to
cut corners because at 8' that sucker is heavy. I did cut it into smaller
workable parts and it went well.


Only drawback with cutting to length first is that you may get an unexpected
snipe in the planer and ruin a piece. I like to combine into 4' minimum
lengths. I used to crosscut an inch proud, then I learned that I couldn't
read a ruler that well, so I went to two. Still a lot easier to join a
board two inches over use length than to run the whole thing. I also make
one extra of the longest and widest piece in the project.

You do cut the longest pieces first?

As noted in a previous thread, I cut to layout based on grain matching
for the project first and foremost, and only after satisfied there try
to minimize waste. Using every scrap is of no benefit if the project
comes out looking like a mish-mash of unrelated parts.

I cut all pieces enough oversize to mill w/ comfort and avoid snipe.
Multiple pieces such as window muntins, etc. are, of course, blanked out
in larger pieces for rough preparation. Short single pieces such as
narrow drawer fronts are also roughed out in two's or three's, depending
on the size of the piece, both for keeping them together for grain and
as is comfortable size to work with/minimize waste.

IOW, it's a logical selection of what makes sense driven first by the
aesthetics, tempered the practicalities. There is no fixed length or
specific minimum/maximum other than the above considerations. As noted,
it does make sense to not make a zillion really small pieces too early
in the process, so such pieces are kept together as long as possible.

HTH...