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General Category => General Scroll Saw Talk => Topic started by: jscott2 on May 05, 2012, 09:43:47 am
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Went to a flooring store yesterday and walked out with a couple of cubic feet of sample boards, all 3/4" thick - oak, teak, and Santa Maria. Sounds like heaven but the back of the boards are all grooved (typical wood flooring) and some are finished on the surface. All the pieces are 9 to 10" long and from a couple of inches to 6" wide.
I need a something to remove the finish from the top and the grooves from the bottom. I don't have a band saw or a planer. I'd share the boards with anyone who can fix the wood for me. I'm on the West Island area of Montreal in Quebec.
On another note, how would you folk make these pieces suitable for the scroll saw?
Thanks for your help,
Jim
Corrected the thickness of the wood - 3/4" thick. Sorry.
J
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I also was gifted some flooring scraps of Bamboo.
The first time I used some similar I just toughed it out using my 3 X 21 belt sander and 80 grit belts. It took a while but turned out pretty nicely. Only way for me to do it since I have limited equipment.
When finished it turned out about 5/8" thick and I am sure not perfectly flat but usable.
~~~GB~~~
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use a table saw if you have one. i do that with scraps i get from a cabinet shop.
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If you have a drill press or a spindle sander you can use them as a small drum thickness sander by setting a fence an appropriate distance from the drum and using coarse sleeves. Use a push stick to slide the wood between the fence and drum and out the other side.
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Does your local high school have a mabrication shop? If so the shop teacher may use your wood to allow students to practice with the planner or table saw. The teacher saves by not having to buy stock just for practice purposes and you get your wood planned in the process. ;D
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Actually cdrover the stock is too short for a planer.
GB's suggestion would be your best shot. If you had a router and a straight bit you could make a jig and take down your stock that way. (You'd secure the wood first.)
Karl
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I have a few pieces of oak and bamboo flooring too. They stay in the scrap wood pile because I don't want to take the time to deal with them!
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I agree the pieces are too short to pass through a planer but I was wondering if a sled would work. This tip from Woodsmith http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/2006/05/26/wb/ (http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/2006/05/26/wb/) looks like a great idea. It seems to say one could run really short pieces (a couple of inches long?) through.
Has anyone used these and are they safe to use?
I do have a router and could build a jig like this http://www.thesharkguard.com/sled.php (http://www.thesharkguard.com/sled.php)
Don't have a belt sander but GB's idea of using a belt sander is a good one, as is Bill's with the drill press. Could get a belt sander but I also found a new DW734 planer for $440 (Can.). Trying to make up my mind. The planer is quite a bargain, for Canadian prices.
Thanks for all the comments, I always get good advice here.
Jim
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Hi Jim...
It's too bad that they are so short. I'm in Chateauguay and have a DeWalt planer and I would be more than happy to dress your wood for you.
Having said that, I get my wood from a guy out in the country (Havlock). He gives me an excellent price on birch... the type of wood I really enjoy working with. The wood is rough and has to be planned and joined together. I make up about 3 projects of 8"x11 1/2" at a time. It is a cheap way to have loads of wood to be used for scrolling. Some people have told me that it is too much work... but isn't it all a part of the hobby? It really doesn't bother me when I consider the fact that I have about a year's supply of projects for $200.00.
The shortest length I put through my planer is 12" without any problems. I mostly use 1/2" thickness for my projects which means a lot of time spent at the planer because most of the rough wood is 1" or more. But as I said... it is worth it in my books.
Bobby
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Resaw with a band saw thats what I did
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Bobby, have you tried running short boards through the planer on some kind of sled - like the one in the first link in my OP? Some say it works but I'd like confirmation before springing for a planer.
Thanks,
Jim
PS, which planer do you have?
J
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This tip from Woodsmith http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/2006/05/26/wb/ looks like a great idea.
--- I don't know about this one. I'm sure they tried it, but they are still going against the manufacturers recommendations.
I do have a router and could build a jig like this http://www.thesharkguard.com/sled.php
--- That's kinda what I had in mind, just a bit simpler than what I was thinking. As long as your wood is real secure that should work fine! As a matter of fact you could go to the dollar store and get a couple of cutting boards to use on the bottom of the runners! (Thanks for the link, I might make that!)
Karl
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Here is what I do when I need to plane short boards through the planer. I will attach longer runners on either side of the smaller boards using a hot glue gun. The runners should be long enough to be feed through the planer safely, and approximately the same thickness as the smaller board. The runners will feed the board safely through the planer. Plane equal amounts on both sides. Once you have reached the desired thickness, the runners can be easily broken off.
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dgman, I've got between 50 and 100 boards to do so gluing runners on one at at time would be safe, but very slow.
Some suggest feeding short boards butend to butend would be OK. Anyone have experience with that?
It's odd that it seems nobody on the forum has tried a sled to handle short boards. I've found lots of internet comments of people using sleds to flatten and straighten longer boards but not many references to planing short boards on a sled.
On a related note, the recommendations are to take a cuts on alternating sides of the board. With 1/8" deep grooves on the bottom of the board, ideally I'd only take the 1/8" off the bottom and nothing off the top. Would I be asking for trouble with warping if I could use a planer, or with a belt sander as GB suggested?
Thanks again to everyone.
Jim
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Hey Jim, It sounds like you are thinking about getting a planer! Yes you are probably right about the amount of board you need to attach runners to. I have not made a dedicated sled for this because I usually don't have many short boards to plane. I have done the board butted up against each other, but you have to be fast and accurate. It is a tough thing to do, but It can be done.
It is important to take off equal amounts off both sides. I have seen boards cup and twist because of uneven moisture levels on the board. Your best bet is to try to plane off the back side first, then take a little off the front. You will probably end up with about 1/2" thickness, and if your lucky, the board will stay flat. This is why the few boards of finished flooring stay in my scrap wood box.
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dgman, in a way, I'm trying to talk myself out of a planer. Cash is relatively tight so I only want to buy one if it will plane the flooring safely. Of course, once purchased, there will be other uses for it but this is my concern right now.
I could probably handle the end to end feeding but what happens with the last piece, is there only snipe or would I need to feed another, longer piece of scrap to clear the machine?
Jim
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It depends on the last piece feed. Most bench top planers have a minimum feed length of 12 to 18". If you go shopping for one, check on the minimum length required.
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There is another consideration with a planer. It is never a good idea to plane a board shorter than the distance between the infeed and outfeed roller. The problem occurs when the board might get "sucked" up into the cutterhead from being too short. I would fear the same thing happening with simply feeding boards end to end (although this is a good way to eliminate snipe), or even fastened with 2 sided tape to a sled. Especially with as many as you have to do. A router on ski's would be safer. A drum sander (as in a thickness sander) would be ideal, but a little pricey. Just my opinion from doing similar things.
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I got a pretty good planner from Harbor freight for around $250.
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Judy, from what I hear, HF doesn't shop to Canada, at least not at a reasonable price.
I think I have worked out how to use a planer for the flooring. A friend reminded me the boards are all tongue and groove so if I join two pieces side by side but with the joints staggered. A bit of glue will make the pieces into one large board and the table saw will take care of separating the pieces - can't use the tongue or groove area anyway.
Can anyone see a flaw in this idea? Am I going totally in the wrong direction or is it a good solution?
Thanks,
Jim
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It sounds to me like a doable solution.
I think I would still place them on a separate board beneath your glue up. i.e. if the width of your glue up is 12 1/2" mount a number of the pieces to a 13" x 48" (or 60") piece of plywood. This will give make your glue up sturdy.
Karl
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I agree with Karl, and I think you are on the right track. One concern. You mentioned that some of the boards have a finish on them. This can be very hard on the planer blades and can dull and gum them up. Ideally you could resaw the face off with a bandsaw if you have one, and then plane off the saw marks.
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Bill, good point on the finish on the faces. Don't have a bandsaw so I expect I'll become very adept at using a cabinet scraper by the time I get the finish off, perhaps some very coarse sandpaper in my 1/2 sheet sander will do the job. Maybe I can get SWMBO to agree to getting a belt sander as well as the planer.
Even after gluing up the assembly, I think I'll make some full length runners to glue on. It will not be too hard to make tongue and groove on the table saw.
Thanks to everyone who commented. I've decided to go for the DW734 on sale at Busy Bee for $439 (Canadian), plus a whole bunch of tax.
Jim
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Jim... no... haven't tried the "sled" thing... For scrolling projects, they are all 8 1/2 x 11 so far. So I just add another inch to make it an even 12" to put through the planer and trim it after it is done. According to the DeWalt manual you shouldn't try to put anything shorter than 12" through it.
Bobby
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Jim...
I don't know why I didn't remember this earlier but there is a way to plane down your short pieces of wood. It would involve butting up to a piece that is going through the planer so that the piece behind that piece actually pushes the piece ahead of it through. Of course, you need 2 people to do this... one to feed the wood through the planer and the other to be catching it as it comes out. I did this a few times quite a while ago - that's why I forgot about it - and it worked very well.
Bobby