Ripping oak planks

[Tomska]

OK, I've almost finished laying the oak floor in my boat. I started along a centre line, laid one side, then the other. Because my barge is fatter in the middle than the ends, this means that the planks for the two edges need ripping at various angles and widths.

 

Now I'm a bit stuck. My first thought was to take them to a joiner and pay to get them ripped (there's only a dozen planks between 1 and 3 feet long), but none of the joinery shops or timber merchants in Reading will do it.

 

So assuming I'll have to do it myself, what's the best tool for the job? My dad has a table saw, but while the fence is adjustable, it's always parallel to the blade. I'm a bit wary about trying to force the planks through at an angle. I have a jigsaw, but I imagine that's going to make a pretty rough cut in oak. A circular saw might be a good investment, but the planks are only about 4 inches across. Once clamped, will there be enough room to get a circular saw up the planks?

 

I'm struggling to visualise the answer, although it's probably a simple one.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks.

Edited January 23, 2009 by Tomska

[carlt]

OK, I've almost finished laying the oak floor in my boat. I started along a centre line, laid one side, then the other. Because my barge is fatter in the middle than the ends, this means that the planks for the two edges need ripping at various angles and widths.

 

Now I'm a bit stuck. My first thought was to take them to a joiner and pay to get them ripped (there's only a dozen planks between 1 and 3 feet long), but none of the joinery shops or timber merchants in Reading will do it.

 

So assuming I'll have to do it myself, what's the best tool for the job? My dad has a table saw, but while the fence is adjustable, it's always parallel to the blade. I'm a bit wary about trying to force the planks through at an angle. I have a jigsaw, but I imagine that's going to make a pretty rough cut in oak. A circular saw might be a good investment, but the planks are only about 4 inches across. Once clamped, will there be enough room to get a circular saw up the planks?

 

I'm struggling to visualise the answer, although it's probably a simple one.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks.

If it's a one off job, and you've got a jigsaw, then I'd use that and clean up the line, with either a plane, or a router.

 

You can make an angled fence, for a table saw, and clamp it to the parallel fence, though, if you want an excuse to buy a table saw.

[alan_fincher]

I'd not discount a good old fashioned hand saw.

 

As long as you buy something branded, and not some complete tat, they'll cut hardwood more rapidly than you night think.

 

I've been using a Stanley "Fat Max" on recent tasks - it's a bout 2000% better than a real sh*te own brand one I bought at Wickes, so saws vary enormously.

 

When I recabined a 40 foot narrow boat in wood, onto oak framing, many years ago, I had no access to electricity. Any cuts in oak were hand sawn, and I didn't find it that bad.

[Chris J W]

Could you plane them?

[Scotty]

My dad has a table saw, but while the fence is adjustable, it's always parallel to the blade. I'm a bit wary about trying to force the planks through at an angle.

 

You need a taper jig for the table saw:

 

 

Once you know the angle, you can keep it set and easily rip all your planks

[Tomska]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies.

 

Alan - I've been using a good hand tenon saw to crosscut the planks at the end of the boat and that's been fine, but am not sure of my accuracy with a ripsaw: over a 3 foot plank, the potential to lose the line would seem high. Perhaps I'm just being too timid.

 

Scotty - that looks brilliant and may be just what I need. Of course the angle will be different for each plank, but no matter - that would do the job a treat. I'll Google that.

 

Carl - actually, that may be the most simple solution. Err on the waste side of the line and plane it clean. Sometimes the answer is staring you in the face and is blindingly obvious. I do like that taper jig though - I knew there had to be a tool for this particular job.

 

Thanks all.

Edited January 23, 2009 by Tomska

[carlt]

It's not as pretty as Scotty's but here's some plans for one:

 

Clicky

[Boaty Jo]

If you are leaving an expansion gap then hiding that with some sort of skirting / trim the cut doesn't need to be so tidy in which case a decent blade on a jig-saw should do.

[Kraken]

You can make an angled fence, for a table saw, and clamp it to the parallel fence, though, if you want an excuse to buy a table saw.

 

 

This wouldn't work would it? Can't push the boards through the blade at an angle, hence the reason for the fence always remaining parallel. Sliding jig in your later post looks good though.

[Tomska]

It's not as pretty as Scotty's but here's some plans for one:

 

Oh that's clever. Probably a bit much work for a dozen planks though. Still, gonna bookmark that link as that could come in handy in future.

 

If you are leaving an expansion gap then hiding that with some sort of skirting / trim the cut doesn't need to be so tidy in which case a decent blade on a jig-saw should do.

 

Thanks Jo. Good avatar. I am indeed leaving a gap, but I'd like a tidy finish. As carl said, I can always plane it clean. I'll test on an offcut.

 

Great forum this - never failed to get a solution from you knowledgable chaps. Thanks muchly.

 

While I've got your attention, someone here recommended laying a strip of cork in the expansion gap. This makes good sense to me as it will make it easier to fit the moulding. Does anyone know where I can buy such a thing? I reckon 15mm squared cross-section.

 

Thanks again.

[carlt]

This wouldn't work would it?

 

You're right, of course, I typed before thinking.

 

I use a jigsaw, for such tasks and clean it up on my planer/thicknesser.

 

While I've got your attention, someone here recommended laying a strip of cork in the expansion gap. This makes good sense to me as it will make it easier to fit the moulding. Does anyone know where I can buy such a thing? I reckon 15mm squared cross-section.

Wickes, or anyone who sells that real wood flooring stuff should sell it.

 

Edited to add clicky

Edited January 23, 2009 by carlt

[John Orentas]

An old fashioned 'Rip saw' will do the job and probably much quicker than you might imagine, the set of the teeth will allow you to cut reasonable curves and follow a pencil line.. I would disagree with some others about modern tools some of the modern tipped saws though they may look a bit plastic'y work very well an last for years without sharpening, not much good with nails though.

 

Alternatively an electric hand circular saw will do it very easily, mine will manage a 70mm deep cut if required and when fitted with a tungsten tipped saw it will, like the above one follow curves.. Mine will cut through 1/2" ply at walking speed, dirt cheap these days too.

[Tomska]

Thanks carl - perfect!

 

John - it's not so much the ability of a ripsaw to do the job as my ability to cut straight. Once you start veering off your line, you're a bit stuffed and I'm not all that confident of my ability with my sharp but rather wobbly ripsaw...

 

I'm going to give the jigsaw method a crack and tidy it up with my jack plane.

 

Like I say, legends the lot of you. Cheers.

[David Schweizer]

Johhn Orentas is correct, A proper rip saw will do the job every bit as quickly as a table saw and much quicker than a Jig Saw. The problem is finding one, These people sell them, they are brilliant saws, (I have several older ones in my workshop) but a full size rip saw will set you back about £80 :-

http://www.flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk/acatalog/Pax_Range.html

The alternative is to find a second hand and then you will have to find someone who can sharpen and set it.

 

Rip saws have their teeth cut at a differnt angle to the more common cross cut saw, Here I started to try and explain the difference and got myself in a muddle. Look at this page and scroll down the drawings illustrate the difference very clearly:-

http://www.vintagesaws.com/library/primer/sharp.html

 

Any Saw will rip timber but a cross cut will be very laborious, although some of the modern saws are better, I favour the new range of Irwin JACK saws which have impressed me despite my enthusiasm for rolled cast steel panel saws. The only problem is that I have not been able to find one longer than 22" and you really need a saw at leaast 26" long to rip a heavy timber such as oak.

 

As for keeping a good line, this is comparatively easy with a good panel saw as the depth of blade will hold the line true, provided you apply an even pressure on the down cut. Cutting to a curve is still possible , but requires a degree of sideways pressure on the handle to turn the blade, unfortunately doing this successfully is a matter of experience.

 

Edited to add:- If I was relying on power tools, I would use a Circular saw with a fence, for the straight section, and a jig saw for the curves. Buying two cheap ones will still be cheaper than on decent Rip Saw.

Edited January 23, 2009 by David Schweizer

[Tomska]

Thanks David. Those saws look brilliant.

[dor]

For the amount you have to do, I would use the jig saw. I used mine in a similar situation and even though I used a coarse rip blade, the finish wasn't that bad and easily touched up with a plane, even though the edge wouldn't be seen. Cut through from the reverse side of course.

[carlt]

Cut through from the reverse side of course.

I've taken to using blades with downward pointing teeth. It seems more logical.

[david and julie]

I've taken to using blades with downward pointing teeth. It seems more logical.

Main advantage here is you can see any scribed line easier but you do have to be careful the sole plate doesn't mark the finished surface of the wood. If the sole plates a bit rough I would cover it with masking tape first.

 

I'd also use a handsaw,power tools aren't always better.

[Amicus]

You can do a lot of awkward cuts on a bench saw, remove the fence, good pencil line on the face and with a bit of care, "freehand" it.

[Malarky]

Circular saws are great for cutting long straight lines, and will even handle slight curves as the back of the blade will cut some space, just make certain you'r cutting a convex piece, if you see what I mean, you could even wedge the gap open as you cut to help. Set the blade to the same width as the plank, or a tad less, and avoid clamps getting in the way by wedging the plankagainst something, like you would for chiselling, then by doing the operation at floor level, you can pull it back and stand on it to clamp it for the last few inches.

Hand saws are good for cutting curves as the blade bends to a nice even bow.

[Big Steve]

Johhn Orentas is correct, A proper rip saw will do the job every bit as quickly as a table saw and much quicker than a Jig Saw. The problem is finding one, These people sell them, they are brilliant saws, (I have several older ones in my workshop) but a full size rip saw will set you back about £80 :-

http://www.flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk/acatalog/Pax_Range.html

The alternative is to find a second hand and then you will have to find someone who can sharpen and set it.

 

Rip saws have their teeth cut at a differnt angle to the more common cross cut saw, Here I started to try and explain the difference and got myself in a muddle. Look at this page and scroll down the drawings illustrate the difference very clearly:-

http://www.vintagesaws.com/library/primer/sharp.html

 

Any Saw will rip timber but a cross cut will be very laborious, although some of the modern saws are better, I favour the new range of Irwin JACK saws which have impressed me despite my enthusiasm for rolled cast steel panel saws. The only problem is that I have not been able to find one longer than 22" and you really need a saw at leaast 26" long to rip a heavy timber such as oak.

 

As for keeping a good line, this is comparatively easy with a good panel saw as the depth of blade will hold the line true, provided you apply an even pressure on the down cut. Cutting to a curve is still possible , but requires a degree of sideways pressure on the handle to turn the blade, unfortunately doing this successfully is a matter of experience.

 

Edited to add:- If I was relying on power tools, I would use a Circular saw with a fence, for the straight section, and a jig saw for the curves. Buying two cheap ones will still be cheaper than on decent Rip Saw.

 

I don't know what sort of table saw or jigsaw you've used, but I'd defy anybody to beat someone cutting oak with a decent jigsaw or table saw. Pendulum action a must on the jigsaw of course, TCT blade on the power saw. Or perhaps it's just that I'm totally out of condition and looking at a handsaw brings me out in a sweat.

[david and julie]

I think the bigger isssue Steve is that the OP is talking about following a contour rather than a straight line. I suspect that we can all agree that a table saw is best for a straight cut.

[alan_fincher]

I think the bigger isssue Steve is that the OP is talking about following a contour rather than a straight line. I suspect that we can all agree that a table saw is best for a straight cut.

And it's so easy with a hand saw to follow a drawn line that's marked out with the right curvature.

 

Even with my jigsaw that has a laser thingy on it to help follow a line, there's no way I'll achieve as smooth a curve as with a hand-saw in cases like this.

 

If you are worried about your cutting skills, go very slightly wide, then plane back to the line.

 

Horses for courses.

 

Alan

[Amicus]

The OP rote that the max length was 3feet, how much shape will that have, cut it on the bench saw then use yer N°5

[Richard T]

Why not a band saw - easy to use and safe unlike some practices mentioned above with circular saws. You then clean up using a router, plane or if curved spokeshave or even -if you have access to one - a drum sander. But whatever you do don't use a table saw where there is any chance of the back of the blade catching on the timber other wise things can get very messy and the queues at A&E are not good places to spend time!

Finally an oak floor will expand and contract and needs an expansion gap which can be filled with cork which is easily obtained from DIY shops.