Started playing with 2x2 lumber for enclosures and liking it more then the 2x4 but lowes wants $5 for a 2x2x8 treated vs the other place I go that sells 2x4's for like $3 . So figured I'd just by 2x4's and rip them down . What's everyone favorite way to go about this ?

fence on your circular saw with sacrificial boards on your saw horses

set the blade dept 1/4 inch deeper than the 2x4 and make a little sacrificial end stop so that the board doesn't slide on you at the end you are pushing at , now you can just walk down the 2x4 and rip nothing to hold nothing to move

I use a table saw. I rip 2" by 4"s down to make legs for rabbit cages. Use a block of wood to push the board and have your wife catch it, if it's long. I need to do some more.

Keith

Most Cheapo Depot's will allow 1 cut per board you buy. Let them do it.

A 2 x 4 ripped in half is not a 2 x 2....or more correctly 1 1/2 x 1 1/2.......it's 1 1/2 x 1 3/4.........which is not a square 2 x 2. It does however make a nearly perfect roost bar for chickens.......when placed narrow side up. Perfect size, rounded over edges and being 1 3/4 supports weight of birds without sagging. If you don't care that it's not square, then buy a 2 x 4 and rip it down the middle with a skill saw fitted with rip guide.......or a table saw.

If it does matter, then buy flat sawn 2 x 10 and rip that down with skill saw or table saw. Allowing for saw cuts should get you six 2 x 2 per one 2 x 10. Flat sawn to start with will mean quarter sawn once ripped. Quarter sawn being more stable going down the road.

Table saw, or stationary bandsaw.

Get a decent table saw and you can build anything you want

Good chance they won't be near straight after you cut them. Especially PT.

I use a small old craftsman table saw I have had about 20 years. Built the forest of my chicken coupe ripping down 2x4s.

This.

Yeah that's something I was worried about honestly

2" by 2"s are relatively easy to bend straight, if you're attaching them to another solid surface. If they have to be absolutely straight, instead of just good enough, they are easy to bend and straighten with heat and/or steam.

There's a lot of stress points in trees and the lumber they are made into. I used to straight edge raw, kiln dried lumber at a cabinet shop. Occasionally, some boards would pop apart and look like 2 long letter C's, mirroring each other, after being ripped. I always cut everything 1/4" wider than necessary and ran it through a molder, which did a good, if not perfect job of making very straight, flat boards, to exact specifications. I would love to have a straight edge saw and a molder, but don't use them enough to make it worth the cost.

Keith

I run through the table saw and the 8 foot out feed\ work table catch em

Alright looks like I need to add a table saw to the shed lol

Interesting, anything a guy can do as far as selecting the it's to make it less likely to have really bent rips ?

Stay away from center grained boards. They are much more likely to warp and twist, especially because they have a tendency to cup with the grain . One of the main reasons 4" by 4"s for bearing loads on trucks and pallets are made of center cut, otherwise fairly expensive oak, hard maple and cherry lumber, is that center cut wood has a tendency to warp too much to make cabinets and furniture with it. Also, center cut lumber does have a higher density, so it can hold heavy loads, such as steel girders, bunks of wood and rebar.

Also stay away from boards with sapwood, from the very outside of the tree.

The flatter the grain, the less likely a board is to warp.

When I did glue-up for panels, whenever possible, I alternated the boards grain cup, to prevent the panels I made from cupping. That's harder to do with wood such as cherry, that often has a lot of lighter colored sapwood, that you only want on the backside of the panel, unless you're going for a rustic cherry look.

Keith

Table saws are handy to have. I also use an old craftsman, find myself on that thing often , doing odds and ends. Just be careful use a pusher, scrap piece works fine. You can rip trim, lathes, belly boards, all sorts of uses and much straighter than a circular saw

Tablesaw’s are great tools especially for this, as far as crooked boards it’s hard to find any 2x4’s that are straight.

Table saw with rip fence works for me just have to make sure you adjust for blade width

Not a big fan of table saws. Don’t have a fear of using them, the set up, take down, putting it away, and the clean up make me lean towards purchasing 2x2 as more efficient and a better value.