I have five 150mm x 150mm posts, (pressure impregnated soft wood), and these
are structural posts for a car port & garage.

The fixing for these is that there are base plates fixed to concrete,
proving a 200mm T section steel upright onto which these posts slide, and
they are then are through bolted to it.

Pic on http://tinyurl.co.uk/pri5 if my power of description is not to
good.


The steel of the blade that they slide onto is 8mm plate which I have had
galvanised ... just measured and it's 'about' 8.5mm thick on average.

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ... but
it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended


Rick

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ...
but it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm
wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended

I'd use a circular saw, though it would have to be a fairly large one to cut
to 75mm+ (probably at least a 235mm blade). I would clamp other bits of wood
around the post accordingly and make careful use of the rip fence to make
2-3 passes as necessary, moving the rip fence fractionally for each.

I don't quite get what you mean, sorry! But my inital thoughts lead me
to think a morticer may be what you need!

I don't quite get what you mean, sorry! But my inital thoughts lead me
to think a morticer may be what you need!

Rick Hughes wrote:
I have five 150mm x 150mm posts, (pressure impregnated soft wood), and these
are structural posts for a car port & garage.

The fixing for these is that there are base plates fixed to concrete,
proving a 200mm T section steel upright onto which these posts slide, and
they are then are through bolted to it.

Pic on http://tinyurl.co.uk/pri5 if my power of description is not to
good.


The steel of the blade that they slide onto is 8mm plate which I have had
galvanised ... just measured and it's 'about' 8.5mm thick on average.

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ... but
it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended


Rick
Mark it with a mortice guage or if you haven't got one something else -
pencil?
Cut it with a sharp handsaw - e.g. new cheapo hardpoint.
Chisel out with thin chisel, or anything - sharpened screwdriver?

cheers
Jacob

normanwisdom wrote:
Rick Hughes wrote:
I have five 150mm x 150mm posts, (pressure impregnated soft wood), and these
are structural posts for a car port & garage.

The fixing for these is that there are base plates fixed to concrete,
proving a 200mm T section steel upright onto which these posts slide, and
they are then are through bolted to it.

Pic on http://tinyurl.co.uk/pri5 if my power of description is not to
good.


The steel of the blade that they slide onto is 8mm plate which I have had
galvanised ... just measured and it's 'about' 8.5mm thick on average.

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ... but
it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended


Rick
Mark it with a mortice guage or if you haven't got one something else -
pencil?
Cut it with a sharp handsaw - e.g. new cheapo hardpoint.
Chisel out with thin chisel, or anything - sharpened screwdriver?

cheers
Jacob

Drill through first with 9mm drill, then handsaw the slot out.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
rrh wrote:

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm
thick or perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides
... but it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and
only 9mm wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended

I'd use a circular saw, though it would have to be a fairly large one
to cut to 75mm+ (probably at least a 235mm blade). I would clamp
other bits of wood around the post accordingly and make careful use
of the rip fence to make 2-3 passes as necessary, moving the rip
fence fractionally for each.

I tend to agree - although a 10" blade is quite large for a hand-held saw.
There are lots of saw tables with 10" blades but I imagine these posts are
about 8' long - and I wouldn't fancy trying to maneouvre one over the blade
in an upright position!

An alternative may be to make 6 cuts with a smaller circular saw - 3 on each
side of the slot from both sides of the post and the bottom. This woudn't go
the full depth in the middle - so you'd have to finish off with a handsaw
and then use a narrow chisel to remove the remaining material.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:15:13 +0100, "Rick Hughes"
wrote:

I have five 150mm x 150mm posts, (pressure impregnated soft wood), and these
are structural posts for a car port & garage.

The fixing for these is that there are base plates fixed to concrete,
proving a 200mm T section steel upright onto which these posts slide, and
they are then are through bolted to it.

Pic on http://tinyurl.co.uk/pri5 if my power of description is not to
good.


The steel of the blade that they slide onto is 8mm plate which I have had
galvanised ... just measured and it's 'about' 8.5mm thick on average.

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ... but
it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended


Rick


I'm a wee bit confused .I can see that you just need to cut the one slot as the
other part of the plate abuts the back of the post but according to the diagram
the distance from the top of the plate to the support part joining the vertical
parts of the plate is 200mm but you are saying the slot only needs to be 75mm
deep . ??

Stuart

On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:58:01 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

normanwisdom wrote:
Rick Hughes wrote:
I have five 150mm x 150mm posts, (pressure impregnated soft wood), and these
are structural posts for a car port & garage.

The fixing for these is that there are base plates fixed to concrete,
proving a 200mm T section steel upright onto which these posts slide, and
they are then are through bolted to it.

Pic on http://tinyurl.co.uk/pri5 if my power of description is not to
good.


The steel of the blade that they slide onto is 8mm plate which I have had
galvanised ... just measured and it's 'about' 8.5mm thick on average.

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ... but
it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended


Rick
Mark it with a mortice guage or if you haven't got one something else -
pencil?
Cut it with a sharp handsaw - e.g. new cheapo hardpoint.
Chisel out with thin chisel, or anything - sharpened screwdriver?

cheers
Jacob

Drill through first with 9mm drill, then handsaw the slot out.


I suppose hiring a bandsaw for just 5 posts is overkill.. ?




Stuart .

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Roger Mills wrote:


An alternative may be to make 6 cuts with a smaller circular saw - 3
on each side of the slot from both sides of the post and the bottom.
This woudn't go the full depth in the middle - so you'd have to
finish off with a handsaw and then use a narrow chisel to remove the
remaining material.


Another thought . . Do you have access to a band-saw? You'd need to support
the posts horizontally, and have some means of guiding them onto the blade.
You could then make 2 cuts defining the width of the slot, and chisel out
the bit in the middle.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

(SNIP
So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ...
but it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm
wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended

Use your router with an edge guide to cut in from both sides to whatever
depth you can cut easily. Make several passes stepping down 5 or 6 mm each
pass. Then use a hand saw to cut the rest. A little chisel work at the top
to square it up.
Earl Creel

"Rick Hughes" wrote in message
...
I have five 150mm x 150mm posts, (pressure impregnated soft wood), and
these are structural posts for a car port & garage.

The fixing for these is that there are base plates fixed to concrete,
proving a 200mm T section steel upright onto which these posts slide, and
they are then are through bolted to it.

Pic on http://tinyurl.co.uk/pri5 if my power of description is not to
good.


The steel of the blade that they slide onto is 8mm plate which I have had
galvanised ... just measured and it's 'about' 8.5mm thick on average.

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ...
but it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm
wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended


Rick
If you have to use that kind of base - use a skilsaw and finish with a
handsaw. Personally, I would not use that kind off base. I would some
thing else
http://www.strongtie.com/products/ca...bases_diy.html

Dave

Whichever tool you use, I would first drill a through-hole where the
slot will stop. I'd drill it half way from either side because it will
never emerge in the right spot otherwise (unless you have very regular
timber and a pedestal drill). Drilling the hole somewhat oversize e.g.
20mm will mean any inaccuracy in the slot meeting the hole will be much
less obvious.

I'd cut the slot as two parallel cuts up to the drilled hole. Best
possible tool is a bandsaw, a fairly hefty one. Failing that a handheld
circular saw, 2 parallel cuts on each side - then handsaw the
remainder. Remember your timber may be far from square or of constant
dimensions, so a single deep cut will produce the best result. As
others have said, for 5 posts in softwood, handcutting with a new
hardpoint ripsaw isn't that bad - even without precuts with a circular
saw.

Can you get hold of a chain saw?
"Rick Hughes" wrote in message
...
I have five 150mm x 150mm posts, (pressure impregnated soft wood), and
these are structural posts for a car port & garage.

The fixing for these is that there are base plates fixed to concrete,
proving a 200mm T section steel upright onto which these posts slide, and
they are then are through bolted to it.

Pic on http://tinyurl.co.uk/pri5 if my power of description is not to
good.


The steel of the blade that they slide onto is 8mm plate which I have had
galvanised ... just measured and it's 'about' 8.5mm thick on average.

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ...
but it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm
wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended


Rick

On Oct 13, 2:06 pm, Stuart wrote:
On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:15:13 +0100, "Rick Hughes"
wrote:





I have five 150mm x 150mm posts, (pressure impregnated soft wood), and these
are structural posts for a car port & garage.

The fixing for these is that there are base plates fixed to concrete,
proving a 200mm T section steel upright onto which these posts slide, and
they are then are through bolted to it.

Pic onhttp://tinyurl.co.uk/pri5 if my power of description is not to
good.

The steel of the blade that they slide onto is 8mm plate which I have had
galvanised ... just measured and it's 'about' 8.5mm thick on average.

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ... but
it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended

Rick

I'm a wee bit confused .I can see that you just need to cut the one slot as the
other part of the plate abuts the back of the post but according to the diagram
the distance from the top of the plate to the support part joining the vertical
parts of the plate is 200mm but you are saying the slot only needs to be 75mm
deep . ??

No, read it again, he said it would require a cut at least 75mm deep if
cutting the slot from both sides. Nowhere does he state that it is only
75mm deep.

MBQ

wrote:

On Oct 13, 2:06 pm, Stuart wrote:
On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:15:13 +0100, "Rick Hughes"
wrote:





I have five 150mm x 150mm posts, (pressure impregnated soft wood), and these
are structural posts for a car port & garage.
The fixing for these is that there are base plates fixed to concrete,
proving a 200mm T section steel upright onto which these posts slide, and
they are then are through bolted to it.
Pic onhttp://tinyurl.co.uk/pri5 if my power of description is not to
good.
The steel of the blade that they slide onto is 8mm plate which I have had
galvanised ... just measured and it's 'about' 8.5mm thick on average.
So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ... but
it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm wide.
I have a hand held router.
Any other suggestions ?
It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended
Rick

I'm a wee bit confused .I can see that you just need to cut the one slot as the
other part of the plate abuts the back of the post but according to the diagram
the distance from the top of the plate to the support part joining the vertical
parts of the plate is 200mm but you are saying the slot only needs to be 75mm
deep . ??

No, read it again, he said it would require a cut at least 75mm deep if
cutting the slot from both sides. Nowhere does he state that it is only
75mm deep.


definitely OTT for a router anyway, or at lest one of 'hobbyist' flavours.

Actually I'd use my small chainsaw for that since its outdoor work

And not THAT accurate.




MBQ

The message
from "Rick Hughes" contains these words:

Any other suggestions ?

If your local timber yard has a band saw, slip 'em a fiver to cut the
slots for you.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Actually I'd use my small chainsaw for that since its outdoor work

I'd agree, if it weren't an important loadbearing joint. The fit should
be reasonably close over most of wood/steel area. Some people can do
very neat cuts with a chainsaw (I'm not one of them), but for people
without that ability, a bandsaw will bring the easiest neat result.

On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:00:13 +0100, Guy King wrote:

The message
from "Rick Hughes" contains these words:

Any other suggestions ?

If your local timber yard has a band saw, slip 'em a fiver to cut the
slots for you.

Best idea so far rather than all that faffing around with a router,chainsaw ,
circ saw etc .


Stuart .

On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:15:13 +0100, "Rick Hughes"
wrote:

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm thick or
perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides ... but
it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and only 9mm wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?


When I made a fence with 100 posts which needed 3 such holes drilled
in *every* post - I hired one of these - did the job really
easily/neatly......

http://www.tool-net.co.uk/data/index.php?ToolID=315547

Got one from HSS, but they don't appear on their website atm as far as
I can see right now

Best of Luck

Tim

"Stuart" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:58:01 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I suppose hiring a bandsaw for just 5 posts is overkill.. ?

Don't know why I did not think of a bandsaw .. my neighbour has one ...
maybe this is the solution (unless somebody else has a neat idea)

"Teamcasa" wrote in message
news:rWMXg.1$qv6.0@trnddc06...


If you have to use that kind of base - use a skilsaw and finish with a
handsaw. Personally, I would not use that kind off base. I would some
thing else
http://www.strongtie.com/products/ca...bases_diy.html

Dave


As the plates had to be 8mm thick and structural calcs had to be provided
for this job, there is no option to use what you suggest - they look suited
for decks ... but not for full structural loading of a roof.
Also - I have already had these made - so money spent.

"Tim" wrote in message
When I made a fence with 100 posts which needed 3 such holes drilled
in *every* post - I hired one of these - did the job really
easily/neatly......

http://www.tool-net.co.uk/data/index.php?ToolID=315547




Thought this was going to be an answer - but no the width is 16mm, I want a
slot of 8.5 (or 9mm) so too big - a pity.

On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:04:42 +0100, "Rick Hughes"
wrote:


"Stuart" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:58:01 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I suppose hiring a bandsaw for just 5 posts is overkill.. ?

Don't know why I did not think of a bandsaw .. my neighbour has one ...
maybe this is the solution (unless somebody else has a neat idea)


Cant see how you'll get anyhting neater (and cheaper) than a neighbours bandsaw
..Go for it .
Just make sure the posts are guided accurately and make sure you stop the cut at
the proper place .


Stuart .

Stuart wrote:
On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:04:42 +0100, "Rick Hughes"
wrote:


"Stuart" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:58:01 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I suppose hiring a bandsaw for just 5 posts is overkill.. ?

Don't know why I did not think of a bandsaw .. my neighbour has one ...
maybe this is the solution (unless somebody else has a neat idea)


Cant see how you'll get anyhting neater (and cheaper) than a neighbours bandsaw
.Go for it .
Just make sure the posts are guided accurately and make sure you stop the cut at
the proper place .


Stuart .

Farkin ell, basically if you can't do it with any of the solutions
offered yer ****ed anyway and I'd suggest don't bother just abandon the
whole tedious project.

cheers
Norman

Rick Hughes wrote:
I have five 150mm x 150mm posts, (pressure impregnated soft wood),
and these are structural posts for a car port & garage.

The fixing for these is that there are base plates fixed to concrete,
proving a 200mm T section steel upright onto which these posts slide,
and they are then are through bolted to it.

Pic on http://tinyurl.co.uk/pri5 if my power of description is not
to good.


The steel of the blade that they slide onto is 8mm plate which I have
had galvanised ... just measured and it's 'about' 8.5mm thick on
average.

So at one end of each post I need to cut a slot right though the post
(i.e.from one face to another on the centre line), either 8.5mm
thick or perhaps 9mm.
My only thought so far are to use a router, cutting from both sides
... but it's still asking a lot ... at least 75mm depth of cut and
only 9mm wide.
I have a hand held router.

Any other suggestions ?

It needs to be neat, straight, and square ended


Rick

20GBP? spent at a lumber yard is time and money well spent.


--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

in 578806 20061013 140630 "Roger Mills" wrote:

I tend to agree - although a 10" blade is quite large for a hand-held saw.
There are lots of saw tables with 10" blades but I imagine these posts are
about 8' long - and I wouldn't fancy trying to maneouvre one over the blade
in an upright position!

No, me neither, but you could fix the post securely to the table then raise the blade.