About to start ripping strips...

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rlpecot
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Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:26 am

About to start ripping strips...

Post by rlpecot »

This weekend is already booked, but the following weekend I will probably start ripping the strips for my Prospector. So tonight I did a test run with some pine I had laying around the garage. The ripping part was easy enough.

My question is around milling the bead and cove. My first pass on the bead, I realized I was removing too much material. That was easy enough to correct. When I routed the cove, the edges where paper thin. You can see them here:
Image
I suspect I'm routing too deep into the strip. I could probably nudge my fence back a fraction and get the edge to be a little more stout. Comments? Experience? Tips?

I cut one of the strips into short pieces and glued it up (in the picture). The strips fit well; it sanded nicely. Is this really a concern or am I worrying about nothing?

Russell
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John Michne
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Location: Clifton Park, NY
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Post by John Michne »

Hi Russell -

I have written an extensive article on my web site that describes making strips. Go to http://michneboat.com and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click on the My Web Site link, then click on Builder's Corner. There is a list of building articles there - click on Making Strips.

Build on!
- John
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Jim Dodd
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Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:08 pm
Location: Iowa

Post by Jim Dodd »

Hi Russell
I do the bead first.

I run my strips between the fence and the router bit, this will insure that all the strips are uniform. Uniformity is the main goal !

Centering your bit on the strip is also very important !

Yes it appears your cutting your cove to deep. You want this as close to perfect as possible. Your doing the right thing, by running test strips!

Becareful !!!!

Good Luck

Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
rlpecot
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Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:26 am

Post by rlpecot »

Thanks for the responses.

John - I've got your site bookmarked. I remembered it after I posted. :embarassed

Jim - so you run your strip between the bit and the fence, huh? Interesting. So I guess you feed it "backwards" compared to a "normal" fence/bit arrangement. I could just imagine seeing some 16 foot long missles flying through the air!
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Jim Dodd
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Post by Jim Dodd »

I have'nt launched any missiles yet, I guess it's because I use three feather boards.

One before the bit, holding the strip against the fence.

One above the bit, holding the strip against the table.

And the last one, after the bit holding the strip against the fence. Usually I have light pressure on this one, so I don't destroy the cove.

The soft nature of WRC, allows me to run the strips this way.
All the strips come out the same dimension.

Good luck

Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
DrPepper
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Joined: Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:20 pm

Post by DrPepper »

John,
Nice article. Is Figure 8-2 inverted? :thinking The feather boards show a left to right feed. On my router table I always feed right to left. Am I missing something?

Hopefully my bits will arive by this weekend so I can play.

Thanks,
Craig
canoeblderinmt
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Location: Butte, MT

Post by canoeblderinmt »

The picture is going the right way. Many of us use a "climb cut" when routing our strips. WRC is very soft, and very prone to tearing. Climb cutting virtually eliminates this, but you NEED featherboards as described in the above post. I did mine the same way and it was all fine. As a wood shop teacher, I was worried about this set up but with a little adjusting it produced perfect strips very safely. I had to pull the strips through their last foot or so, so you get and idea of the tension used.

Greg
" Choose to chance the rapids, Dare to dance the tide..."
DrPepper
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Joined: Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:20 pm

Post by DrPepper »

Thanks. I guess it helps if I read the whole article not just the section on cutting the bead. The previous section nicely describes "climb cutting".
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Jim Dodd
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Post by Jim Dodd »

I was curious, if you run you planks through a planer before you rip your strips ?

I have run into a lot of planks, that varied in thickness. I don't have a planer, so to rectify this, I run my strips BETWEEN the fence and the router. This insures that they all match.

I have'nt tried setting up for the "Climb cut" yet, I may have to try that! I lose maybe one or two strips due to tear out.

Thanks !
Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
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