[beelzerob]

Let's say I have a 2 X 3 piece of wood maybe 4' long. I want to cut roughly a diamond shape into it the entire length. (This isn't really want to do, but it describes my problem pretty well). So, I tilt the table saw blade maybe 20 deg and make the first rip. No problem. I flip the stick over and do it again, still no problem. 2 sides are now done. Now I flip it end over end and make the 3rd rip. However, there is now half of the support against the fence that there used to be...a little risky. Let's pretend I actually do it without problems, however. Now we flip the board over again, and to do the last rip there would be almost no support against the table saw top or fence (since we just ripped that away).

Am I describing that well enough, or do I need to make a picture?

I just can't figure out how to do that without really risking the board moving during the cut.

 

[woodnthings]

like this only 4 ft long?

http://www.glassdistributorsinc.com/clear-mirror-glass-4-square-beveled-on-all-sides.htm

 

[beelzerob]

No, basically a 2" X 2" board 4' long, and then I want to rip a bevel down its length. So, looking at the cross section of it, the cuts would look like this (with a 45 deg bevel):

Maybe bevel is the wrong word.

You can see that with each cut after the first 2, there is much less board resting against the fence or table saw top.

 

[fire65]

I would make a sled to to hold the board that could run against the fence. Make a V bottom and to support your already beveled board.

 

[woodnthings]

Got it

WHY not just plane the corners of the 2 X 2 leaving a small flat like your diagram shows?

 

[cabinetman]

The end view could be called rhombus. When you get to a cut with no support, fasten to a guide board to run against the fence.

.

 

[beelzerob]

What the project actually is is...I'm making a wooden sword for someone. nothing fancy or overly done, but I thought I'd have fun making it. So I started with about 7/8" X 2 1/4" white oak, around 3' long, and I wanted to make the cuts along it so it was shaped like an actual blade.

woodnthings, what do you mean by planing it? By hand, or in my thickness planer somehow?

 

[woodnthings]

this is simple

Your drawing is just a square shape rotated 45 degrees. The small flats can be created by using a hand plane, a jointer,or a table saw.
You are trying to create that shape by sawing MOST of the material away rather then leaving most of the material and removing just the corners....a chamfer, essentially.

 

[woodnthings]

OK, it's not a square

What the project actually is is...I'm making a wooden sword for someone. nothing fancy or overly done, but I thought I'd have fun making it. So I started with about 7/8" X 2 1/4" white oak, around 3' long, and I wanted to make the cuts along it so it was shaped like an actual blade.

woodnthings, what do you mean by planing it? By hand, or in my thickness planer somehow?

When I made a wooden sword for my son I used a bandsaw, tilted the table about 10 -15 degrees and created an edge. You could rip it with a tablesaw with about the same setting, but not as safely. I would not cut all the way through in that case and finish it with a handsaw.

 

[Kelvartis]

why not use the material removed as part of a support along the fence + kerf removed when it was cut. hell maybe just use a true piece of wood w/ the same angle of the sword blade as a fence and clamp it down w/ c-clamps? Pain to setup, yep. functional for a 1 time job? yep. The planer idea could also work, once 3 sides are cut plane the one remaining side 10-20 times till it's what you need.

 

[beelzerob]

What I actually did was make the 3rd and 4th cuts *most* of the way through the length, then stopping (because the alarm bells in my head were going off big time), and finished with a chisel to take away most of the material and a belt sander to take the rest. I'm pleased with the result, but not the method. I wasn't sure if I might have to do this again, and the technical problem of how to do it RIGHT bothered me, so I posted the question. And thanks for the great answers!

It's true, I could just keep the cutoffs and perhaps double-sided tape them back onto the sword?