Hello,
I need to make 350lf of tongue and grove in Jatoba (356 of tongue, 350 of grove), and was wondering what was the best approach?
- use a dado blade on my table saw where I have a lot of power and a big blade to do the work?
- use t&g bit on my router, which is more precise, but might dull the bit, and will put a lot of strain on my poor little PC unit?
so, what are your suggestions?
regards, cyrille
TS would be my choice, but I have a T&G setup with my old Craftsman moulding head cutter. ( I do believe they are still availablefor sale & the T&G cutter came as part of the set) The only caveat is that you need to use hold downs & featherboards. I don't like using a dado blade for T&G- You didn't mention how wide, thick and long the boards are. If the boards are overly long & have to stay that way, or if they are much wider than 6" I would reevaluate my opinion. If you have to use the router-- hey that's what tools are for. I'm sure your PC will be up to it.=20 Phil
Guess who wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Whichever method you choose, consider that control of the stock and feed rates will have a major effect on the quality of the results, and the safety to the operator.
A pro shop would likely use a power feeder on something looking a lot like a shaper.
Keep in mind that jatoba is way up the hardness scale...
Patriarch
Dado cutter will remove material with much less input work. Easier on motor & tool. And you. Much faster, besides.
Be sure you've got adequate DC ready for the stream.
HTH, J
Start with the saw and cut close. Finish with the router. Depending on your equipment, but I'd do several passes, perhaps with a normal wide-kerf carbide, and not try to gouge all out at once with a dado. Either way, take more than one pass, and finish with the router.
...
That's what I'd use but I suspect OP doesn't have that option unless this looks like a good (enough) excuse... :)
Duane Bozarth wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@swko.dot.net:
My estimate is that this is probably about US$1k in materials cost. And this is a big project, no matter how you look at it, for a hobby guy. I'm one of those, for certain.
Do it carefully, Cyrille.
Patriarch
Yes, indeedy, that's first and foremost...
For a real answer regarding how I'd do it by hand, I'd like to know the size of the pieces (length, width, thickness) and the size of the T&G. Plus, it would be helpful to know the toolset available.
A 1/4" groove on 10-ft or less 3/4" stock of 6" or less width I'd probably cut w/ the help of a jig/featherboard/infeed/outfeed tables on the tablesaw--but I have a 5hp PM66. If I only had a very small contractor setup, I'd probably rethink that entirely.
I've done a lot of moulding of similar nature w/ the RAS and a moulding head in the past, but I suspect Cyrille doesn't have one of those, either....I've used the moulding head on the tablesaw or set up double-bladed cuts as for tenoning to do such things, as well.
It might depend on how much detail you want the T&G to have. Do you need a bevel at the joint or just a simple square T&G. If it's just a simple square T&G it could be cut easily with a table saw assuming the material is not to hard to handle. If you need to buy bits or cutters I would suggest calling the local millwork to see what they would charge you to run it. They will have T&G cutters and if the material is clean and straight (so they don't have to spend time prepping it) the cost might not be prohibitive. I would guess not much more than a couple of bits and a new router if you happen to burn yours up.
Mike O.
Cyrille,
I would suggest a money savings here. Not a bank wad full but with 700 board feet of expensive wood I would go with a spline and grove. The spline could be done with a much cheaper wood and you will get the same results without wasting 3/4" to 1/2" of material for each joint. Just make sure you use a wood with the same expansion/contraction compatability.
Roy
"Cyrille de Brébisson" wrote in news:kUd_e.13271$ snipped-for-privacy@news.cpqcorp.net:
And only one machine setup, too. Look for a '3-winged slot cutter',
1/2" shank, for your router, in the appropriate slot cutting size. Bearing guided, or use a fence, even if it's home built, on the router table, to control cutting depth.You still want to use feather boards to hold down that stock against the table.
Patriarch
You don't say--I presume this is 3/4" stock w/ a 1/4" T&G? You making flooring or something else? Answer to that is -- do you want the tongue centered or offset?
Of the above, the most limiting is undoubtedly the crappy blade. You need a good quality blade and the saw tuned up.
Assuming the 3/4" thickness, the size is small enough to handle reasonably easily. If you've gone really cheap w/ router bits as well, they won't work any better than the cheap saw blade. You spent a lot of money on material, why be so chintzy on the tool and ruin that investment?
Remember my other note regarding getting a decent blade and tuning up the saw, though...
hello,
actually, $700
I cut the boards to around 5ft long, and they vary in width from 4.5'' to
6.5'' $99 Ryobi table saw with custom build crappy outfeed table uneven dirt floor shop vac PC router (1 1/4hp I think) with a semi flat table $30 Harbor freight dadoo bladeI would love to have such a thing! but I do not know if my table saw would support it anyway...
regards, cyrille
hello,
THAT IS A GRAT IDEA!!!! and it will reduce greatly the chances of crapping out my tongue/grove fitting!
whoever you are roy, you are a champ!
thanks, cyrille
Only possible rub would be the end purpose -- if it's for flooring or siding or some such and want hidden fasteners, the tounge provides a convenient nailing place. Not impossible w/ the groove, but not quite as simple. Of course, if face nailing hidden w/ plugs or other technique is acceptable, then no problem....
Just reinforces that complete answers require full knowledge of objective... :)
Not a rub at all. The spline is installed into one board glued and left to dry before installing. The spline is nailed the same as the tongue would have been. Works the same.
Roy
That's pretty time consuming, but certainly it can work.
OTOH, if the spline is snug one could toenail w/o glue. If I were doing it, I'd probably do it that way...only possible problem is possibility of the spline tending to split owing to be small piece. But, yes, I'll grant it can work.
why?
seat spline, nail, seat spline, nail....
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