Roughing up wood - with a dado set?

I'd suggest starting w/ rough sawn material...

I've seen suggestions in WW magazines suggesting that to cut the groove for an interlocking joint, it's appropriate to use a dado blade, then a spacer, then a regular blade. Raise the dado blade up high enough to make the groove as deep as you want it, have the spacer set for the distance you want the dado cut from the edge of the board, and you can groove and cut with one operation. I don't see that what you're proposing is any more difficult than that. And I'm imagining that most of these magazines are litigation sensitive enough that they're cautious about suggesting stupid things, but I'm sure it happens on occasion.

But for something that's only 1/32 of an inch deep, can you almost scratch that in with something sharp? I'm thinking even laying the board down on the ground, sharpen up a metal lawn rake, and have at it. May not be pretty, but you'll rough it up nicely!

BTW, what does a bat house look like? I've heard of them, and thought they'd be kind of cool to have around (got lots of skeeters up here, and the kids would be impressed), but never dug into it any further. I know, I could DAGS, but since I threw in my $0.02, I thought I'd try to get some value from it! :)

Clint

Howdy.......I'd try a rasp rough it up a little bit......What type of wood were you planning on using......dig the rasp in a bit but don't push it the whole way across and it should give the little critter plenty of stuff to grab onto...

Here's a link for some bat house plans........

Anybody have suggestions for getting bats to move out of my house and into a bat house? I have an older (circa 1890) home and the bats just love it in the awnings.......

The one I will make is at:

You don't need to have the grooves every 1/4". Just run it throught the saw blade every 1" or so. Bats aren't particular and will surely find any groove to get a toe-hold on. Heck, I've build them using luan in the back and made utility knive cuts across the grain with firm pressure. They pay their rent on time and eat a lot!!

Thanks for the link. Around here, some of the most readily available cedar is 1x6 fence boards. Not sure if that plan could be scaled down by 2" less width, because otherwise, those boards would be perfect. Nice and smooth on one side, and rough (furry rough) on the other. I think the bats around here are pretty small as well, at least, the ones I've seen, so maybe that would work. Ah, well, might have to try it someday. Got some extra boards kicking around the shop even as we speak.

Clint

A four year old with a fork.

4-1/2" or 9".

Your choice.

Lew

Just buy rough-sawn lumber.

ISTR hearing about someone who made finger joints using four ordinary blades separated by 1/8" spacers. I don't see why you couldn't use three ordinry baldes separated by two quarter inch spacers.

You could also use a very coarse toothing plane, which you'd probably have to make yourself but would be easy to do.

That sound like a good idea, and faster than setting up the dado set; thanks.

I just resawed my timber on a Woodmizer with a damaged blade on it (around 100 bat boxes)

For making one-offs, I'd use the corner of a rebate plane held at an angle, or a wooden beading plane I hadn't yet got round to tuning up. Bats aren't fussy and I could do this quicker than changing blades. A couple of strokes will put a bat-claw sized groove into soft larch or cedar.

Case you don't recognize it, right angle sander is the basic tool of the fiberglass boat builder.

With some practice, you can almost become a sculpter, like the guys with chain saws working in ice.

BTW, 24 grit works better on a 4-1/2" sander.

Keep the 16 for the 9" unit.

Lew

Rather than roughing up he wood, couldn't one staple some screen or hardware cloth on the inside instead?

Drill and a wire brush cup. Or let the cat use the board for scratching for a month or two.

-- dadiOH ____________________________

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Worth trying dampening the wood and hitting it with a power driven rotary wire wheel, perhaps mounted on a drill or angle grinder.

a 3" wide board, with a half dozen screws/nails in it. Drag it across the grain with a bit of pressure. It'll gouge and create splinters galore.

(DAHIKT)

I did exactly what you're proposing: the two outer dado blades, and 1 chipper, w/ 1/4" spacer made of balt.birch scrap (OK, 7/32"). Pics here:

This is actually what's suggested in the book I have on bats.