Hi every body, I installed a new brazilian teak hardwood floor (steel wood) and after of all I ended a little bit disappointed with some tools that I own, my dewalt 12 inch compound miter saw, it was just not strong for to cut this wood (new finish blade), my bosch table saw was just ok and I used a new blade (freud premier fusion 10″)but with this wood look like the nothing work well, Thanks God Im done !!! (the old floor was maple). any comments??? advises!!!
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Replies
Nice looking floor Paul.
I'm surprised your tools didn't cut the mustard.
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Looks great...I find that sometimes people use great blades on great machines but use the wrong amt of teeth for the machines. Some people think the more teeth the better and thats that...
http://www.cliffordrenovations.com
http://www.ramdass.org
Andy, you said "Looks great...I find that sometimes people use great blades on great machines but use the wrong amt of teeth for the machines. Some people think the more teeth the better and that's that..."This is an area of confusion for me. Can you say more? I replaced my 12" miter saw 32T with an expensive 90T, and it seems to cut more slowly and almost burn its way thru. What gives?
Pix...One could almost write a book about saw blades so you should do a Google search to educate yourself. One of THE best blades money can but are Forrest blades so start there http://www.forrestsawbladesonline.com/application_chart.html
When buying Forrest blades I recommend letting them sharpen them when they get dull.
This link will talk more about what blades are used for what.
http://www.rockler.com/articles/display_article.cfm?story_id=72&cookietest=1
http://www.cliffordrenovations.com
http://www.ramdass.org
Andy may have something there.
Also though, if that is dense wood with mineral like Ipe`. it is simply hard on blades.
And if that was prefinished as it seems to have been, that stuff is real hard too. You have good tools AFAIK
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On the Janka Hardness scale, Brazilian Teak ranks 3540 vs. 1260 for Red Oak. It would seem that your tools are not at fault, but that to work with this species you simply have to change/re-sharpen your blades more often.
One good option is to use 'Exchange-a-Blade' cutting tools, if they're available at your lumber yard or tool store. You pay a moderate price when you buy the blade (they are not new, but CNC re-sharpened), then when it's dulled, you take it back and get a new re-sharpened one for about 35-30% of what you paid for the first one.
This is more expensive than having your own blades resharpened, but the upside is you don't have to wait on your re-sharpener...assuming you have someone good nearby (many people don't).
I've used their sawblades and router bits for years and have no complaints. They are good quality, industrial-grade blades and bits to start with, and the factory does a better than average job of re-sharpening them.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
I had read somewhere thast's it's not necessarily the hardness of the wood, but the teaks contain silica which quickly dulls the blades."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I didn't know that, but it seems logical when you think about it.
But I'm just a poor boy; the only teak I've got in this place is a set of Thai teak bowls my first wife and I got as a wedding present from her brother in Thailand. I can tell you that stuff is very, very hard to scratch.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
mine4rals like sulphur and silica are a definite part of it, and with Ipe, there is a sort of waxy resin substance that makes the crud stick to the face of the teeth so that a sharp cutting edge is not being presented to the kerf. We clean th e teeth every day or two on Ipe.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Good comment!!!!
The old floor looked good to me, and so does the new one. I am interested in why you laid the strips 90 degrees to the old floor. I presueme the old strips were laid perpendicular to the floor joists. What modifications did you do to lay the new strips, or did you lay the new floor over the old strip flooring?
Virginbuild
So long as the subfloor is adequate, it is not necessary to run flooring perpendicular to framing.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
?????????? If you were my client I'd say "They have more $$$$ than brains". But what do I know??????? Change for change sake, nothing else to do in the house?????
i like the old floor better...
me too (I think) .. curious how much those wide boards will expand/contract, not wild about the bevel edges on the prefinished stuff, wish they'ld come in more than 2 or 3 lengthes. However, the orig doesn't look good going perpendicular to the hall, don't like the washboard effect .. maybe tiled to the kitchen, or laid on 45º ..
Good point on the floor running perpendicular to the entrance. I too like the flooring to run in the direction to which I'm entering the room. That was an improvement.
One 3" wide flooring board may expand or contract 1/16 depending on the relative humidity fluctuation in the installation area.
I liked the old floor too, but there were to much gaps, so any way...
Well, the problem with the old floor was the gaps, a lot, and they don't wanted refinish the floor because is to mess, and yes this people have some money and they told me that they want to keep the economy running, so, good point do you think?
Good point............
I'm confused. What are you disappointed with? The quality, look or the performance of your tools. Looks pretty darn good from the wide angle pic. I agree with some of the others that it might have been a bit soon for a reno given the age of the old entrance, but what the heck.
Brad
Paul,
I'm installing the exact same wood throughout my own house right now (1,700 s.f.). Mine seem to be a little darker overall than yours and maybe narrower- mine are 3 5/8" wide. The shorts are a little annoying to work with. The brand I got (Johnson) basically came in 4 lengths from 18" to 36" with maybe half a dozen 6 footers in the entire lot.
Anyway, Brazilian Teak is not really the same teak that most people recognize as teak, i.e. Burmese teak when it used to come from there- used a lot for marine carpentry. Brazilian Teak is actually called Camaru, but they call it teak as it closely resembles the color and grain. Density and hardness, though are completely different than teak.
As far as tools, I have had no problems using a Freud Diablo blade in the chopsaw and the combo blade that came with the Jet table-top portable table saw. Yes, this is probably the hardest wood I've ever worked with, but it's not that hard to cut. You have to back off on the number of teeth on the blades. Besides, I can't see where you would need a clean and smooth cut anyway. All the cuts and rips are at the walls covered by base board.
Hey Rockford, thanks for the advices and comments, you know, is wondering is you are having troubles with the wide of the hardwood floor, mine was 5", and I found many pieces with 4 7/8", 4 15/16, 5 1/16",so I had to re- sized by hand many ones, the brand I got Bella Wood (lumber liquidator)not good. does any body know a very good brand?? good quality? , please let me know.. thanks guys !!!
I installed some exotic bekllawood and had the same issues with slightly different widths. I had to presort the boards to be sure each run was all the same width. I installed some BR-111 and it was very nice, totally different experience from the bella."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Paul,
That variation in width is completely unacceptable! I heard that Lumber Liquidators sold ####, so I stayed away. The brand I went with is Johnson. I'm very pleased with the finish and accuracy of the widths. Granted, there were a handfull of boards that were a little shy of full width (say 1/32 to 1/16") wich made it hard to make the joints tight. The problem is that it's not apparent until you run the following row and the problem board is already nailed in and bound between two others. My way around this was to simply rip down a step in the next board so it nested in tight. It usually is just ripping off a portion of the micro-bevel so it's not even noticable.
I'd definatey recommend Johnson and would use it again myself.
Good luck!
Thank you so much Rockford for the advice, Im gonna try Johnson in my next proyect, I'm done with L.L @##$%^^&* !!! , I had to re-sized by hand many a mean many boards to make the join look nice, but is done and my clients are very happy. ( the more important right? )
Unlike the others, I prefer the wood and run of the new floor to the old. (Although I do not like the beveled edges of the prefinished flooring)
One negative regarding installation I would raise, is that it appears from the picture, as though you ripped the boards at the transition between flooring and carpet.
IMO, that should have been a full width board.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Your floor follows the generally accepted design principle of laying the flooring parallel to the light. I think it looks great.
Scott.
Edited 3/26/2009 12:58 pm by Scott