Tool Selection

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lbabberl
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2006 6:10 pm
Location: Iowa

Tool Selection

Post by lbabberl »

I need some help with tool selection. I'm confused about the bead and cove bit. My local hardware store has a 1/4" bead and a 3/8" cove router bit. Nothing combined. He's not sure whether or not he can order anything. It seems to me that if I go with separate bits, I'm going to need to go with a 1/8" size and flip the board over to do the other half- a total of 4 passes rather than 2. When I look for bead and cove bits online, I'm coming up with a wide variety of sizes, so I'm not sure what to get. Can someone give a specific brand, vendor, part number?
Also, I'm running into a similar problem with a thin kerf blade. The local hardware store mgr says the kerf is the same on all the saw blades and to just go with a fine cutting plywood blade with lots of teeth. I should probably mention that when I asked him about the bead and cove bits he directed me to the forstner drill bits and thought I could use liquid nails instead of epoxy. Again, can someone direct me to a specific type of saw blade that will work on a 10" table saw.
I really enjoy the wisdom on this forum. I've found out so many answers to some of my questions already.
babs
David James
Posts: 223
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 9:04 pm
Location: Glenview, Illinois

Post by David James »

Hey Babs

check out the MLCS Router bit site online. . They have a selection of canoe bits: 1/4 or 1/2 inch shank "stacked" (bead and cove on one bit) or bead bits and cove bits. These bits will produce a 1/4" "half-round" edge and the mating 1/4" half round cove. They also have a 5/16" bit that is new and you'll here the other builders recomend. Check it out.
AS far as the saw blade, I used (based on advice from this forum) a 7 1/2 inch Frued Diablo blade on my ten inch table saw. You can pick them up at Home Depot for around 10 bucks or so. Much cheaper then buying a 10" blade. Also be sure to check out John Michne's web site "Builder's corner", it's very informative
Good luck building. I'm just laying on the last coats of varnish on my first boat, an F17.
Lots of work, but 10 times the fun!

Dave, in Glenvbiew, Illinois
"If given six hours to chop down a tree, spend the first four sharpening your ax." - Abraham Lincoln
TexasWoody
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Aug 24, 2006 6:53 pm

I second the motion

Post by TexasWoody »

BABS,
I have bought from MLCS in the poast and find them to be totally functional/good quality.
I also like the recommendation on the saw blade, but would also recommend a parana blade that is not so available these days. Many many yeards ago I bought a Forrest blade stabalizer, 6" size. I has lived on my table saw mostly. Only have to remove it if making deep cuts. With the 6" stabalizer on a 7 1/4" blade you still have plenty of room to rip strips....But look elsewhere on this site..I've read two pieces on using the standard 7 1/4" circular saw (some folks call them "skill"), and think that would be the way to go. Notwithstanding the size of my shop (2000sf) I'd have to move the table saw (and dust collection hook up) to rip 16'+ lumber.
I enjoyed the comments about the chap in the hardware store....he needs more training. The modern dot com world will be able to cancel the effects of ignorant minimum wage store clerks. If I were the owner of that store I'd like to know that the help wasn't....
Good luck..I'm on the verge of placing an order for a plan package, and getting help from time to time right here (not at Home Depot)
Dick
Texaswoody
lbabberl
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2006 6:10 pm
Location: Iowa

Re: Tool Selection

Post by lbabberl »

Thanks Dave and TexasWoody for the quick responses and very helpful info. I'm in landlocked central Iowa in an area that my sister refers to as "Hooterville" You would think I would get used to it.
babs
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davidb54321
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Location: Presque Isle, Maine
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Post by davidb54321 »

Babs,

Run, don't walk from that hardware store!

I got my router bits from Grizzly tools. Very reasonable. Sometimes the Bead & Cove bits are listed as canoe bits. You should be able to find a good thin kerf saw blade at any good hardware store.
David Bartlett

"I don't fully understand everything I know!"
http://photobucket.com/albums/b81/davidb54321/
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stonehollow
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 10:07 am
Location: Minnesota

Bead and cove bits

Post by stonehollow »

I ordered these from http://www.shop.com. They worked fine for my Wee Lassie.

Image
Image
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Arne
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Pete in the Deep South
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Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2005 5:07 am
Location: Jasper, Ga.
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Post by Pete in the Deep South »

To StoneHollow:

Tried www.shop.com and got a blank page?

Another great web site for tools is www.highlandwoodworking.com ...until recently they were called Highland Hardware. They sell a very highly rated bandsaw blade called the "wood slicer".

Thanks for posting the pic of the Wee Lassie.

I paddle the Okefenokee Swamp in South Georgia each year with the South Eastern Chapter of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Assoc. Mac McCarthy is the chapter president. It's quite a sight to see over twenty of these little craft on the water at the same time. We meet the first weekend of Nov. at Steven Foster State Park for several days. You do not have to be a member of WCHA. It's very informal.

Mac has missed the last two years, because of health problems. His sons are keeping his shop open on weekends, and they still have the Wee Lassie web site up and running.

www.feathercanoes.com
KG4YOL
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Jim Dodd
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Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:08 pm
Location: Iowa

Post by Jim Dodd »

Babs
How close are you to the Fort Dodge area?
Don't tell anyone but Iowa has a lot of good paddlin water, and no crowds! SSSH!
We also have a lot of builders!
I purchased my bits from MLCS . I'm not saying they're the best, but they will gitter done!
Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
lbabberl
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2006 6:10 pm
Location: Iowa

Re: Tool Selection

Post by lbabberl »

Thanks again to all who have helped me out. I got a thin kerf blade yesterday at Lowes and got my router bits ordered from MLCS- they should be here next week.

Jim- I'm in Boone- not far at all from FD. I've been renting or borrowing canoes to paddle a couple of nearby lakes. I've done the DM river a couple of times in a kayak. It's been pretty low, so have been a bit leary of trying a canoe. Hopefully the recent rain will bring it up.
babs
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stonehollow
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 10:07 am
Location: Minnesota

Boone - hmmm

Post by stonehollow »

Let's see - memory says Boone = birthplace of Mamie Eisenhower, west of Ames, where I graduated from Iowa State, lo' these many years ago.

Hey - I've been there! I built my first cedar stripper in Ames one summer - May, 1967 copy of Popular Science!
Arne
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Jim Dodd
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Location: Iowa

Post by Jim Dodd »

Stone
Did you baptize your stripper in the Skunk river, Squaw creek, or maybe Lake Laverne?
Coincidently, my first strip canoe plans came from Popular Mechanics, May 1990.
Good to hear of your Iowa ties!
Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
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stonehollow
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 10:07 am
Location: Minnesota

Iowa ties

Post by stonehollow »

Skunk river, at flood stage (I had a lot fewer brains then!). Very nearly lost it, and gained a great respect for fast moving water.

I never had a desire to try Lake Luverne - too much stuff floating in it.
Arne
canoeblderinmt
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Location: Butte, MT

Post by canoeblderinmt »

Babs,
DO NOT use a plywood blade or any blade "with a lot of teeth" for ripping an oily, porous wood like cedar. You will burn the blade almost immediately and ruin the wood. You need a good rip blade, like the ones suggested above, that will move lots of material quickly, and has a thin kerf so you aren't wasting wood. I wouldn't ask any more questions in that hardware store....

Greg
" Choose to chance the rapids, Dare to dance the tide..."
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Bryan Hansel
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Location: Grand Marais, MN
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Post by Bryan Hansel »

Ahhhh. Iowa. I grew up in Dubuque. Went to University of Iowa. Lived in North Liberty until I moved to heaven.... Grand Marais on Lake Superior.
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