Replies

1. 
   johnnyd | Feb 18, 2005 11:08pm | #1

   Suggest you consider making a really LOOOOOONG straight fence and out feed for your table saw.

   I jury-rigged one out of a real straight 16' 2X6 with plywood attached that acted as an infeed/outfeed table as well.  My set up was not the best but worked real well to get 600 bd ft of random width butternut into 5 standard widths, with edges parallel and smooth enough to nail up as a ceiling. (Rustic but very attractive)

   My technique was to sort the planed but still rough-edged boards into 5 roughly equal width piles, take each pile and put tyhe first straight edge on each board by putting the concave of the crown up against the LOOOOONG fence so there were really only two contact points between board and fence and the convex of the crown was cut off.  Put it next to the rough pile, continue same process through all the widths, re-adjusting fence for each width, then go back through each pile and put the parallel edge on.

   Now this was relativly soft butternut.  I used a pretty good rip blade.

   The off-cuts kept me in kindling for 2 1/2 years!

   Some on this board are going to say why don't you just take it down to a mill where they can do all this in one step...but then you have all those tools.....

2. 
   FreeLand | Feb 18, 2005 11:19pm | #2

   You will do a better job if you can get down to about eight or ten-foot lengths.  build a temporary feed table so the boards will be controllable going in and then out of the saw.  Get a very reliable straight edge, such as a piece of poplar.  Screw it to one of your boards approximately parallel to the side you are going to cut.  Use it to run against your saw's fence.  Once you have a straight edge, remove the guide, flip the board, and use the new edge to determine your width.  Do it one board at a time until you are satisfied.  Once you have a system down, set up a production line.

   For planing, build another feed table for the same reasons.  Use the first one and adjust the height if possible.  I would stack the boards in order of thickness.  Leave them a little long so you can cut off the snipe when the planing is done.  Do the thickest first, taking off whatever your plane can handle.  When you get to a board that is thin enough that it is not being cut at all, adjust the planer and start with the thick ones again.  Eventually, you will get through the stack with all boards planed on one side and at about the same thickness.  Flip the stack over and plane as necessary.

   For the routing, you have enough information to make that work.  Beware of taking too much of a bite.- in hardwood.  You might have to run each board through several  times.  Unless this is a labor of love, it would be a lot less work and less dangerous to buy some good flooring or take the wood to a mill.  You could spend the extra effort making the finished product look better.

   If you do decide to do this, remember it can get tedious.  Never forget where the cutting edges are and never forget where your fingers are.

   Good luck

   Ten Fingers (at least up to now)

    

3. 
   jrnbj | Feb 18, 2005 11:25pm | #3

   Actually, your hardest problem is joining (jointing, as they say in the UK) one side flat.....

1. 
   OldGuy | Feb 19, 2005 12:00am | #4

   For joining my rough lumber I have a shelf fixed to one wall in my shop. Length is about 12 feet (would go longer if I had the room. I lay the board to be joined on the shelf and clamp a length of flat steel (happened to have a 1/4 x 4 x 12' piece at the time) to sandwich the board.I run a router with a straight bit (door trim bit) along the flat stock removing about 1/8 inch or less at a time. Setting up the clamping and correct distance from the flat stock goes faster once you have made a setup gauge. I've had good luck so far. As soon as I get time (ha) I'll do some more engineering to make a faster set up.

4. 
   Sphere | Feb 19, 2005 02:30am | #5

   Send it out to a shop with a Weinig 4 head...trust me, you'll really be glad you did.

    

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