Seeking advice

[Mark L.]

Greetings All, I have a wall of app 70 square feet that my wife wants covered in hickory. She has her heart set on hickory T&G that she wants me to mill up. Here's my conundrum. The local hardwood store has stock already milled to 3/4, but she really wants me to cut it in half down to 3/8 so it won't be too expensive. I can see 3 options, maybe someone out there can shed some light on this for me. Option #1 is after squaring up, I could use my Unisaw to rip the boards in half to 3/8 and then run them through a planer to get a consistent thickness. My problem is that after the saw kerf there won't be much left to plane down and I think the minimum thickness is

3/8 for the planer. Option #2 is square up the 3/4 stock and still use the Uni to get them to 3/8. But then run them under a drum sander which seems like a better choice than the planer. Option #3 would be to resaw to 3/8 using a band saw and then drum sand down to 3/8. My predicament is I have neither the drum sander nor band saw, but will be able to buy one of these if needed. Would you get the band saw or the drum sander? Or is there another way that I haven't thought about? BTW, I have a Unisaw, DJ20 jointer and DeWalt 735 planer so far. Many TIA, Mark

[tom]

Option 4- Buy the bandsaw (Yay!) and a good blade, buy 5/4 rough KD stock, square it up, then resaw to 1/2 inch. Watch for movement. Then plane the bandsawn faces and mill the T&G. Hickory need sharp tools working on it. Tom

[Morris Dovey]

Option #5: Ask the guys at the hardwood store to provide the wood the way you want it. If they can't/won't then it's time to visit the mill.

You're unlikely to get two 3/8" thick boards from one 3/4" board.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[George]

Tell your spouse there's a reason why standard t&g comes 5/8. Attempts to mill t&g out of 3/8 stock, even the straightest and best grade are doomed to curses and splinters.

Then compare the price of commercial product to the price of your materials and equipment acquisitions and build a couple of jewelry boxes.

[ROYNEU]

Just say NO! Here is what you will get. Table saw: The best you can expect is 1/8" loss from blade and surfacing. If the nominal 3/4 is actually 3/4 you are left with a 5/16" board. Now cut a tung in the board. The tung is at best 1/8". But that leaves only 3/32" wall outside the groove. Not much strength. Just a little to much pressure and you blow out the board.

With a band saw you will have to have some pretty good equipment to resaw flat enough to not have the same waste in the end as the table saw. I know there are people that do it.But would you want to in trying to save a little money. Let's see hickory at about $4.25 a board foot is $297.50. Half of that is 148.75. Not factoring in the waste you will have because lack of experience with new equipment, blown boards, warping after cutting, time spent and cost of equipment with tolerances capable of handling the job.

Now I'm all for getting new equipment for a job. But, I'd better be able to complete the task the equipment was purchased if I am getting for a specific job.And the time factor is only relative to how much time you have to spend doing the job. I just don't see doing it with

5/16 wood.

Roy

[Larry Jaques]

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 05:40:56 GMT, the blithe spirit "Mark L." clearly indicated:

Tell her that the extra saw blades, planer blades, and T&G router or shaper bits would add up to a whole lot more than that wood costs, not to mention several EXTRA days of your time.

"Honey, it'll cost more and extend the project by an extra month or 2, but if you want me to do it that way, I'd love to, just for you."

.-. Life is short. Eat dessert first! ---

Comprehensive Website Development

[WillR]

These are CDN dollars....

at the equivalent of $2.60 per board foot in USD -- then maybe a band =

saw and a planer is a good idea -- but rough sawn boards...

I agree with everyone else about thin boards -- tried it -- been there.

--=20 Will R. Jewel Boxes and Wood Art

power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those=20 who have not got it.=94 George Bernard Shaw

[bf]

how about this option. Buy the drum sander, then tell her that it just won't work to resaw the boards that thin (as others have posted), but the drum sander will let you sand down the 3/4" stuff really nice.

I can't imagine working with hardwoods without a drum sander. I get one before a bandsaw every time. It's a huge timesaver and produces much better results.

[Stephen M]

I use mostly maple, oak and cherry. I have never used a drum sander, just my planer. It does not take me much work at all with an ROS or scraper to be ready for finish. Am I missing something? or is it that you don't have a planer?

-Steve

[Mike O.]

The cost of either of these tools will easily pay for the full 3/4" stock. Of course if acquiring the tool(s) is the goal, either story will work.

Seriously, I'd go with full 3/4' stock or see if I could get a mill work or the yard to mill it for me. Hickory is pretty hard and sometimes difficult to work not to mention it's hard on blades.

Mike O.

[Mark L.]

[Mark L.]

[Mark L.]

[Mark L.]

[bf]

It's just so nice to push the boards through the drum sander. You get a nice sanded surface and fast. Also, it helps flatten out the boards if they are slightly out of wack from the planer. It's no substitute for a jointer on badly cupped boards, but 95% of the time, I can run the boards through the planer and drum sander only (don't mess with the jointer).

It's not necessary to have a drum sander, but it's a huge timesaver. Anything that reduces the time to do tedious sanding is worth it, IMO.