Initial Cuts

There are several ways to make your initial cuts into the wood. These are rough cuts to get the pieces ready for milling. My workhorse for this is my Makita circ. In my opinion the circ is the most dangerous tool in the shop so needs to be treated with some respect. Mark S from the woodwhisperer used a jigsaw for this role as it is safter. The danger lays in difficulty securing rough timber which can move once it's cut resulting in binding, kick back, and bad cuts.

To keep it straight I used a chaulk line for the long cuts and a straight jig for short cuts... and some pieces eyeball only.

A more efficient and safe way is to use a track saw... but you do the best you can with what you have...