Rip Cut
Affiliate link — we may earn a commissionA rip cut runs along the length of a board, parallel to the grain. Ripping is how you make a 2x6 into a narrower strip, or cut a sheet of plywood to a specific width. The table saw is the primary ripping tool. You set the fence to the desired width, push the board through, and the blade splits it lengthwise. Circular saws with a rip fence or track also rip, just less precisely. Rip cuts produce long, stringy chips instead of the sawdust you get from crosscuts, and the blade tends to heat up more because it's in the material longer.
Why It Matters
Ripping is a fundamental operation for any project that uses lumber or plywood at non-standard widths. Custom shelf depths, table aprons, face-frame stock, door-frame material. A table saw with a sharp rip blade and a properly aligned fence gives you consistent widths in one pass. That consistency is the foundation for everything you build next.