Router Forums banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

Milling Rough Lumber

Jump to Latest
2.3K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  RainMan 2.0  
#1 ·
I am in the process of making some raised panel doors, drawer fronts and drawers from rough poplar. The finished cabinets are going to be painted.

Well, some of the boards are somewhat crooked. So I came up with this idea which lets me cut the 10 footers into manageable pieces of about 48 inches.

I guess I have been living under a rock and have never seen this in action before but it works great when cross cutting bowed boards. No pinching at all.

I just placed a couple of short pieces of scrap on either side of the saw blade to act as a temporary fence. At this point in the milling process, square isn't important to me. I cut all pieces longer than the final cut anyways.

Then it was on to the table saw. I cobbled up a jointer jig so I could cut a straight side on each board. Again square is not important. The jointer will take care of that later.

I had a piece of 3/4" plywood that I have used in the past as a planer sled and use it on the drum sander for small parts also. I also have a board that I use for clamping purposes when building face frames. So, I combined them to make the table saw jointer sled. Heck I only needed to use two toggle clamps at a time. Since I didn't use any glue, I can remove the pocket screws and return both pieces to their original usefulness. :)

Ripping a straight edge on bowed boards just became a non tedious task for me. And this is much faster than breaking out the track saw. Also, ripping a straight edge on shorter pieces of stock saves waste vs trying to cut a long straight edge on a bowed board.

This project will have a total of 17 doors and 14 drawers, so I have a pile of wood to go through. :)

Here are a couple of panels glued up after they had their turn on the jointer.

Hope you find this info helpful.
Mike
 

Attachments

#4 ·
Mike; question.
Your material to be ripped is raised up off the saw table (by the jig thickness). Does that create any increase in tearout on the bottom of your material, as you're no longer in contact with the zero clearance plate?
If not than why do we even worry about zero clearance? Perhaps only an issue for crosscutting?

...Okay, I lied; that was three questions.
 
#6 ·
Dan, I don't have a concern about tearout with these boards because they are being run through the thickness planer anyway. The side will clean up from that. Plus after flattening one side, I run the board across the jointer on the straight edge I cut using the jig. One or two passes and it is straight and smooth.

Hope this helps.
Mike
 
G
#5 ·
Dan--i use a jig similar to Mike's, and no problem with tearout on ripping. Every now and then i'll get a little "hair" on the cut edge, but a quick 220 grit block knocks that off (one pass only). I think you're right about the tearout being an issue more on crosscuts, but zero clearance is still a good idea while ripping to help keep the offcut from dropping into the table top and becoming a projectile flying object!!

The bigger problem i've had is in ripping wide stock with only a 2" or so lip to clamp the board to. I've used double stick tape on the board, on the table, screws, never satisfactory results. Have been working with some 12" wide poplar, and last night finally hit on a decent solution. Using a 48" long piece of oak (which i have taped to the table in the past) milled to same thickness as jig. Added 12" long cleats at 90 deg to each end so they would fall above the rails. My incra rails are 1/2" below the table surface, so not a problem finding stock. With the support board near the blade, a pair of clamps held the cleats down on the offcut side of the blade and out of the path of the board. Too simple to believe, but i need to go a touch wider and nicer before i shoot a picture.

earl
 
Router Forums
posts
760K
members
137K
Since
2004
A forum community dedicated to router and woodworking professionals and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about different types of routing and routers, shop safety, finishing, woodworking related topics, styles, tools, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
New Member Introductions Tools and Woodworking General Routing Table-mounted Routing Show N' Tell