Finishing Rough Sawn Hardwood

mattsk8

I buy my hardwood rough sawn. I've been sending it out to a mill that's been finishing it for me but I'm sick of inconsistent thicknesses and excessive tear out so I want to do it myself.

I know I need to get a decent planer (think I'll go w/ a 15" grizzly unless something pops up on craigslist or ebay) but I'm not sure how to do the straight edging.

I've heard you can do it w/ a jointer but this seems like it would be tough to get a good edge when feeding 12- 14' material through it on a 48" deck. I guess I could just cut it down to length for whatever I'm building then straight edge the boards?

Anyone here do this w/out a straight line ripsaw (can't afford one, they're like 8k$!)?? How's it working for you and what kind of problems do you run into? Thanks for any info!

pinwheel

With the tools I have available to me, there's no way I can come out ahead making my own flooring.

I've got a flooring tongue & groove set for my shaper that I use when I have to make my own transitions & nose boards, or if I've got to make small quantities of matched flooring, but that's as far as I'm willing to go. Just milling 50 sq ft of flooring would take all day easily with the tools I've got. I can order milled oak flooring for $2.50-3.00/ sq ft, so there's no way it's worth making my own.

Gus Dering

I don't see where he wants to make flooring. I think he just wants to surface and straight line solid stock from rough cut.

You will really need a good planer. Helical head will greatly reduce tear out. As far as the straight line goes, you will have to do it with your table saw and a straight board or some type of straight line jig that slips over your fence. Google search it.

I feel blessed that I have a great supplier that does this for way less than a small shop can.

I hope this helps.

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genecarp

I have the Grizzly planer and clean the edges with my tablesaw, GMOD

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pinwheel

Duh, my bad, you're right. After rereading, I see that I look like as idiot. Oh well, I'm kinda used to looking foolish. Sorry Matt.



I'm fortunate also to have a good supplier close by that will mill our hardwood. It's not finish planed, so I still send it through the planer for a final thicknessing. If I order 1000 bd ft, they'll run it through a straight line saw for ten cents a ft, but most times I don't buy that quantity, so I have to straightline it myself. 10' stock typically takes a few passes through the long bed jointer to get 1 straight edge. If it's badly bowed from end to end, I take a straghtlined board & draw a line, then freehand through the tablesaw a roughly straight edge that 1 pass through the jointer will clean up.

PrestigeR&D

I buy all my lumber rough cut locally then I run them through the planer to surface clean and depth, jointer you need a 12" - 96" table or TS with a very long fence attachment for the edge on 12-14' long boards --. You can get away with a Short bed jointer but you need extensions ie; roller stand , but I can not guarantee the accuracy of that,,,,,, save yourself a lot of headaches and $$$ do it yourself, at least your in control
Brian

WarnerConstInc.

Hey matt, you have a TS-55 don't you?

That is the perfect tool for straight edging rough stock.

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Rustbucket

When I build out of rough sawn lumber, I cut everything down to rough dimensions on the table saw and miter saw. I use a sled on the table saw that has a few clamps on it to hold the stock. I add a few inches to each piece in case of snipe. Then I joint a face and an edge, then bring it to the planer for thicknessing. Finally, I rip the piece to the desired dimension and cut to length.

Hard to make money this way, but when it's a high-end customer who demands perfection, that's what you need to do. Perfection costs money, so you can charge for it. I'm not set up for real production, but I can arrange myself to be pretty efficient. I also don't do any really big jobs this way. Small to medium built-ins, etc.

vaultf600

I'm with Warner. The slide saw is great and leaves a nearly glueable edge.

WarnerConstInc.

I was going to let him ask but, you can edge join two boards with it and it really does leave a nearly glue ready edge.

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mattsk8

Not so much high end customers as picky! It seems like the cheap ones are the ones that do the most wining! It definately wouldn't be to save money on the wood because I get it done fairly cheap, more for better product.

Sometimes it's hard to see the forest through the trees !! Can't believe I didn't think of that before ! Thanks!! And thanks for all the replies