Best festool for cutting off rafter tails?

[bwehman]

Hey all!

I have a bunch of these rafter tails to lop off to make room for a facia board. I think a combo of a jigsaw and vecturo is best but wanted to see if I’m not thinking of a tool in the festool world that may do it better.

 

[Farming_Sawyer]

I used my hk55 to track a plumb line as far as it could go, then a jigsaw and finally Vecturo to finish on a project last week....

 

[Gregor]

I take it you want to cut them at the green string.

What depth of cut is needed? How much space to the wall?

You might be able to get away with a TS75 on a rail (clamped with FS-RAPID), should the 70mm cut depth (of the TS75 on rail) not be enough you might look at the HK 85 (80mm on a FS rail). I would prefer both over using a jigsaw, even when having to vecturo the rest, as the cut will be cleaner and the cut location and orientation easily reproducible (since using a FS rail).

Impractical solutions (as a little joke on the side) would be the HK 132 (50-132 mm) but we're talking ~3k€ and it dosn't work with the FS rail. Then there are the SSU 200 EB (200mm cut depth) and the IS 330 EB (330mm cut depth) which both work nicely on the FS rail but will also make short work out of the rest of the roof as they're not depth adjustable (both around 1k€).

 

[peter halle]

None.  And this is coming from a guy that everyone thinks is totally Festool.

I am assuming that you want to keep the roof sheathing and shingle in tact.  You can't use a rail.  A jigsaw will make cuts but then the shoe will hit the sheathing.  Then you either go brute and use a handsaw upside down or a Fein or Vectura.

M personal suggestion is to make a cut 1.5 inches back with a reciprocating saw, add a 1.5 inch sub-fascia, and then your fascia board.  The sub fascia will help smooth out rough cuts.

2 cents worth.

Peter

 

[Gregor]

You can't use a rail.

Sure about that? I'm neither, as I have no real size reference, but one might (barely) be able to fit one... don't you think?

 

[mrgeigh]

Use a jigsaw with a flush cutting blade. I believe DeWalt still makes that type of blade.

 

[DeformedTree]

You could use a jig saw then hand saw as mentioned,  saw saw is also and option (and may be needed to cut nail/screw from the sheeting coming down into it.

You could get yourself an adjustable square, or get yourself 2 blocks of wood to clamp on both sides of the tail, use this as either a guide for a jigsaw foot, or flush to your line to guide a sawzall (recip-saw).  Saw zaws and jigsaws don't give nice straight cuts, but with guides they can be general kept on track.

As much as it might suck, a good old hand powered saw, or bow saw may be the best answer, give you good control and a way to keep an eye on things if they go astray.  Also leave some material and sand back flush to guide blocks I mentioned with agressive sand paper on a sander.

 

[Holzhacker]

I've done this job. I usually use my Dewalt cordless circular saw or PC saw boss to cut up as high as possible; then finish with the sawzall. Using the jigsaw / Trion would probably work better for some people. For me using a sawzall is a decades long habit so I can get a good line. I've tried using the multimaster but didn't find it very efficient. That old lumber tends to eat up the multimaster blades which are too expensive for my taste anyway.

 

[BMH]

Did this at my old cabin. Favorite tool is Jigsaw and this jig modified for the job:https://benchworks.be/en/projects/carvex-cross-cut-jig/. Finished the cut with the good of Fein multimaster. These tools are much easier to use on the top of a ladder for weekend warriors.

 

[Sparktrician]

None.  And this is coming from a guy that everyone thinks is totally Festool.

I am assuming that you want to keep the roof sheathing and shingle in tact.  You can't use a rail.  A jigsaw will make cuts but then the shoe will hit the sheathing.  Then you either go brute and use a handsaw upside down or a Fein or Vectura.

M personal suggestion is to make a cut 1.5 inches back with a reciprocating saw, add a 1.5 inch sub-fascia, and then your fascia board.  The sub fascia will help smooth out rough cuts.

2 cents worth.

Peter

 

I'm with Peter on this one.  I'd first mark off from the bottom with a chalk line, then use a bevel gauge to mark the vertical lines.  A jigsaw or a Sawzall will do most of the vertical cutting finished off with a Multi-Master.  I like the sub-fascia/fascia approach.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Similar to above, mark with chalk line, mark vertical with bevel gauge or small level, then cut with jig saw.

Start with regular jigsaw blade and go as far as practical then switch to flushcut blade.

 

[bwehman]

Welp, ended up doing as most suggested and used a Trion + Vecturo combo. Some tails were doubled up, like sistered together, due to the OG one being rotted at some point, so had to get the big daddy 4" Carvex blade to get through it. One got chowdered on a hidden nail, but other wise it was a time consuming, but relatively clean job.

Gotta say, after having the Carvex for a couple years and then switching to the Trion, dust collection is SO much better on the Trion, as long as it doesn't get clogged. Cross cutting, like this project was all about, doesn't clog it up, but ripping sometimes can and that's annoying. That's where the Carvex did better.

 

[Marven]

I'm with Peter.  Mark the cut on both sides of the rafter and use a Sawsall with new blade.  Put the blade in upside down so you can get closer to the sheathing.