How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

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Cruiser
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by Cruiser »

IMO with your estimated 80+ strips, you are likely safe by about a dozen strips ....
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themrbruceguy
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by themrbruceguy »

Thanks Brian, that's exciting to hear! I just picked up several hundred pounds of brick (for free!) this morning, which will help out with the face glue-up :)

But my original question still stands: How do I go about getting a straight edge to use as a reference for ripping the boards? I'm thinking a jointer, I'm just concerned about doing it accurately with such long boards.

Thanks!
~ Jake
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by Cruiser »

You may be creating your own problem ..... I will assume the wood you have is somewhere near straight on the edges. One thing I did mention is that edge alignment with the gluing should be done.

The "glue up" leaves you with a piece of wood that is thick enough, but with edges that are going to be a bit messy/uneven, but are going in the right direction. I would wipe off the glue while it is still wet ... just so there aren't runs/drips ....if they happen just scrape them off later.

This is the area where using the skilsaw method for doing strips really has advantages ... it follows the edge, messy or not, it will take off the 1/4" and leave a smooth cut behind. The first strip is usually just a sacrificial one that gets the surface smooth enough for the rest. So as long as you don't have real sharp turns you are good to go .... with really bad edges, you may need a second sacrificial strip, but I have never had that.

Once the strips are cut, they are so flexible that even if cut from a curved board, they will lay flat just fine.

Talking about planing can get confusing, largely because in this case there are 2 separate planing operations being talked about. The first one is the thickness of the rough boards heading to be strips. I believe, correct me if I am wrong Jim, that this dimension is what Jim is referring to as far as making that uniform depth using the router setup .... when the strips are pinned between the bit and the backstop, the bead cut will maintain a constant width cut, essentially performing that planing operation as part of the beading process.

The strips are usable directly from the saw cut, however I like to cut them a bit oversize as stated and then do a very light planing to get them close to exact, prior to bead/cove operations ... the 2 planing operations are different and work on the different faces. The second operation is just because 1) I have a planer 2) I find strips at almost exactly .25" through the planer, are a bit easier to use and give a hull with slightly less work to smooth. That however is just my opinion, I have done hulls both ways and they both work.

Brian
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Jim Dodd
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by Jim Dodd »

Jake here is a method you might be interested in.
Image

Brian maybe right about over thinking the straight edge. I've cut strips from planks that had a real curve to them, and the strips turned out fine.

If your planks are REALLY bent, or warped, Halsey's video, may be of help !

Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
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themrbruceguy
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by themrbruceguy »

Okay, I understand the meaning by "sacrificial strip" now :) Thanks for clearing that up! I wasn't even considering using the saw as a way to get a clean edge. That's much better than the jointer!

Update: just purchased all of the trim wood last night! A bunch of clear Ash and Walnut. My friend took home some Cherry as well. Fun night!

Image

Thanks again guys!
~ Jake
Last edited by themrbruceguy on Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
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themrbruceguy
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by themrbruceguy »

Hi Brian.

I'm coming up on the face-to-face glue up. However, I'm very skeptical about the potential results. I am having a tough time thinking of any method that applies a strong enough pressure for gluing, and I'm almost positive I'll get gaps after it's done.

Have you done this kind of face gluing before?
Do you have any tips on applying an even, high pressure for the glue up?
If there are gaps, would you choose option A, B, or C below? (anybody else feel free to chip in here as well)
A. Deal with the gaps and continue on with this method.
B. Don't do a face-to-face glue up and instead use 3/8" strips as-is. This gives edge grain strips.
C. Resort to ripping 3/4" widths which will result in face grain strips instead of edge grain.

Thanks,
~ Jake
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themrbruceguy
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by themrbruceguy »

Hey Jim and Brian! Turns out after close inspection of my Western Red Cedar stock, they all (except 1 board) seemed to be quarter sawn. So the faces of the boards already had pretty straight, consistent grain, which means there was no reason to perform the face-to-face glue up. Super happy about that!

Ended up planing ~1/2" boards to 1/4". I know this was a huge waste of wood, and I learned what a hundred dollars of dust looks like, but it was the simplest and most effective method.

Image

Then used Jim's circular saw method for ripping the 3/4" widths. This was interesting because his write-up detailed cutting 1/4" widths from a 3/4" thick stock. Due to my thin stock (1/4"), my aluminum 'runner' piece had to be very thin to avoid interfering with the support blocks. I used a piece of 1/16" angle aluminum cut on a bandsaw. Tried the method with vice grips but got frustrated with them hitting things and moving around. With the vice grips holding the aluminum runner in place, I drilled some holes, countersunk them, and inserted some bolts and nuts. This made ripping the planks a breeze and super enjoyable!

Image

Build is coming along! Just got the first few strips on :) Thanks for the great feedback guys, as always!

~ Jake
Last edited by themrbruceguy on Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Cruiser
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by Cruiser »

Looks like a DW 735 in the background and a Makita saw unless I am mistaken ..... it's what I use.

Good to see you moving forward, don't forget to post and let us see how it is going.


Brian
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Jim Dodd
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by Jim Dodd »

That's definitely the hard way to do it, not to mention expensive !

But it sounds like you accomplished the task ! And that's what it's really about !

Good Luck, and I want to echo Brian's request for more !

The pics aren't showing up. I get a dark gray screen, with circled minus sign in the middle, when I click on the circled minus sign of the original post ?

Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
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themrbruceguy
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by themrbruceguy »

Hmm.. Seems like Brian is able to view them, as he spotted the Dewalt planer (which is an older DW733).

Brian, are you using Google Chrome? My pictures are linked through Google Photos and this may be the reason only some folks can see the pictures. I tried Internet Explorer and Firefox. They both seem to have issues viewing the photos. I wanted to avoid creating a photobucket account due to the hassle (Google Photos is incredibly convenient for me), but if many forum users can't see the pictures then perhaps I will cave in, haha!

UPDATE: Seems like I solved the mystery! Jim, let me know if you are able to view them now. I did a test run using Internet Explorer and the photos popped up :)
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Cruiser
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by Cruiser »

Jake, I use FireFox and Chrome and Google Photos .....

For posting I just go to the pic I want in Google Photos, so it is enlarged/selected, right click and select "copy location" ...paste the location in the post and bracket the link with IMG AND /IMG (both in square brackets, which won't post for me) and it works everywhere.



Brian
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Jim Dodd
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Re: How to get straight edge for ripping planks?

Post by Jim Dodd »

Yes ! I see them now ! Thanks !

After I burned up two 11 amp Skilsaws, I up graded to the Makita 13 amp. It still works fine today ! I've Semi retired the Old Makita, in favor of a slicker base.
Image

I haven't actually used it, but I bought 4 planks this am, and so it won't be long.

The Skilsaw 15 amp, was recently purchased for $50. I paid $127 for the Makita ovet 20 years ago.
We'll see which holds up better ! Oh The Makita was built in Japan. The Skilsaw ? China :sad

Thanks again Jake !

Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
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