to dress or not to dress?

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 4:45 pm

Hello from the far side of the planet! (Tasmania),
This is my first time building a strip canoe and I have managed to locate some western red cedar here in Tas. I was wondering what the concensis is regarding ripping and dressing planks. I am considering ripping 7or 8 mm thick strips and running them through a thicknesser to dress them to 6mm. Is this nessecary or just more good wood turned to sawdust?
Cheers,
Greg

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 4:54 pm

Welcome aboard, Greg. I use a small diameter ( 7.25" ) thin kerf blade in my tablesaw and it leaves a very clean edge. I set the fence for the thickness of strips I want to produce and I don't have to run the strips through the thickness planer. Perhaps you can find this blade or something similar in your area.
[IMG:400:400]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/ ... DO724X.jpg[/img]

Edited: I forgot to mention that obtaining strips of an even thickness with a smooth surface also requires the use of long infeed and outfeed tables, feather boards above and beside the board being ripped, a well adjusted tablesaw and having a splitter after the blade also helps.

Woodchuck · Post by **Woodchuck** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 7:02 pm

Make sure that when you have 3/4" thick boards that the face grain is up so that when you rip 1/4" strips, the edge grain will be across the 3/4" width. This will help in sanding the hull and make a more uniform color and apperance. When you put on the bead and cove, you really don't need exact widths because the router will take care of making all the strips the same width. IMHO

CYA, Joe

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:10 pm

Thanks for the input guys.
Joe could you give me a little more detail on the router bits you are using. I have been looking at router bit catalouges here and have found a bull nose ( bead ) bit that will give me a 3mm radius half round that seems to fit the bill for the bead edge. I am still looking for something to do the coving. I havent seen anything that does what you are describing but then again perhaps I am looking in the wrong places.
Cheers,
Greg

John K · Post by **John K** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:50 am

Hi Greg,
I live in Tasmania (Legana) and am building my second stripper at the moment. I bought my bead and cove bits (I/2 ") from Carbatec in Melbourne, and they also sell a 1.3mm kerf circular saw blade (185 mm) by the same manufacturer, CMT.
You can use a circular saw with a guide to cut the strips if you must, but you can also use a Triton work mate if you don't have access to a table saw.
You can buy flitches of WRC in Meander if you know someone to rip it for you.

ttp://www.carbatec.com.au/store/index.php?main_page=index

Woodchuck · Post by **Woodchuck** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 12:26 pm

Greg,
MCLS, http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/, is a good place for router bits and they call their bead and cove bits "Flute & Bead" Sets. They have them in 1/4", 5/16" or 3/8" dia. and in both 1/4" & 1/2" dia. shafts. The normal is 1/4" sets with 1/4" thick strips but lately, some are using the 5/16" sets with 1/4" thick strips to provide a stonger edge that is not so prone to breakage and supposedly finishes better. I have only used the 1/4" so I can't speak with any experience.
Hope this helps you...
CYA, Joe

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:10 am

John K, please contact me either though email or private message as soon as you can.

The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

to dress or not to dress?

to dress or not to dress?

Grain direction...

To dress or not to dress