We have begun our student built "Nomad", and are finishing the molds. I am about to start ripping the planking, however the lumber we have (western red cedar) has come to us in 1 3/4" thickness x 7 7/8" (roughly). We will be dressing it to size. If we plane it down to 1" there is a considerable amount of waste. What would be an acceptable width for planking? Canoe craft says 7/8".
Please help before we fill up our dust collector with expensive shavings.
If you want to follow the school biuld, please check out the blog i've created for the project;
www.mjklunder.blogspot.com
thanks,
Mark
Cedar-strip planking widths?
- Glen Smith
- Posts: 3719
- Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
- Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada
Mark, if the plank faces are rough cut I would plane them just enough to obtain a smooth surface. Then I would rip off the 1/4" strips, flip them over and cut them to half the strip width. I would use a circular saw blade in the table saw and get one with a very thin kerf for less wastage. I recommend this blade:
Freud Diablo DO724X.
Freud Diablo DO724X.
- Joan and Ted
- Site Admin
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- Location: Peterborough, Ontario
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Ripping planking
Hi Mark - we often use wood with the same dimensions as you have. Ted says if you cut a piece 7/8" off the board you can then slice it into 1 and3/4" so you will get four pieces out of each strip.
Please let me know if I can help further - Joan
Please let me know if I can help further - Joan
I had the same issue so I planed one edge of the boards so that it would be smooth against the fence when I ripped 1/4 strips x 1 3/4". Then I cut them down the centre. The I routed the bead on the cut edge follwed by a cove on the rough edge (what would have been the top or bottom of the board).
I used a finishing blade that I had that has a thin kerf to give me reasonablly smooth planks and minimal sawdust in the shop vac.
The only thing I would have done differntly is to cut the strips slightly over 1/4" and use a thickness planer to bring them down to 1/4"
I used a finishing blade that I had that has a thin kerf to give me reasonablly smooth planks and minimal sawdust in the shop vac.
The only thing I would have done differntly is to cut the strips slightly over 1/4" and use a thickness planer to bring them down to 1/4"
- Glen Smith
- Posts: 3719
- Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
- Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada