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What's Your Process for Making Flooring?

Started by DR_Buck, July 08, 2018, 09:16:18 PM

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DR_Buck

In the very near future I am going to start making flooring for my new addition and renovation.   This will be a first for me.   I have the Woodmaster 718 (18") molder planer with the 3 sided attachment that uses a pair of 3.5 hp  Milwaukee routers for the tongue and groove.   

What I don't know is the sequence of steps.     I want to end up with 3/4" thick boards that are 4"-6" wide.   I assume I should rip then all to width first, yes?  

Would it be better to rip width on the table saw or set up the Woodmaster gang saw?   My rough cut lumber is all 6-7 inches wide.   Should I joint one edge first? 

Do I plane the kiln dried boards to a specific thickness first, then do the back relief cut?    

When I do the pass for the tongue and groove should I also be planning the top side to the finish thickness at the same time?

Any suggestions or details on the sequence I should be doing this is appreciated.    I will be needing several thousand square feet of finished flooring.   Part of it will be ash and the rest will be red & white oak. 
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

pineywoods

I would definitely plane at least one side first, prefer both sides, then do the tongue and groove to make sure the tongue and groove are centered. You definitely want to rip the feed stock to close to the finished size before doing anything. I have one of those planers in my shop for re-build. The owner tried to hog off over 1/2 inch of board width in one pass, making flooring. Them milwaukee routers are tough, but not that tough. Smoked both routers and did some other damage as well, like smoked the feed speed box and maybe the feed motor. Especially with ash, I would want the feed stock to be no more than 1/8 inch over width..Keep the lengths short, like no more than 8 ft...For that much flooring, I would assume you are using 3/4 inch shank carbide router bits... Biscuit joint /tongue and groove the ends ?   I don't..except on really wide planks...Couple of my flooring projects, water oak. All the dust is from sanding,



 

 
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

rjwoelk

Lt15 palax wood processor,3020 JD 7120 CIH 36x72 hay shed for workshop coop tractor with a duetz for power plant

Southside

Guess I am kinda spoiled, I just run the dry lumber through my edger to straight line both edges at the same time then pass the blanks through my 4 head moulder, and flooring comes out the other side.

Happens in a sort of  "chickens go in, pies come out" kind of way.  ;D
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

bigred1951

Somebody been watching chicken run a few to many times haha

Southside

Loved that movie!! :D It's all in me head!
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

DR_Buck

So far I gather that I need to dimension my boards first to make this all work.  If I understand these are the basic steps: 

1 - Straight line rip the boards to pre-tongue & groove width.

2 - Mill lose to the target thickness with planer.

3 - Mill back relief cut and tongue & groove in same pass through 3-sided molding process.

Did I get this right?


Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

Southside

When you straight line be sure to allow for the material you will remove when creating the tongue and groove. Also, don't forget the tongue will remove  1/4" of face width. I allow 1/8" for side removal as well. So I oversized by 3/8" over my target show face width. 
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

DR_Buck

Well I have had a SIGNIFICANT change of plans.    I had not yet collected enough logs to do the all of the required flooring and the wife and I made a trip to a building material auction.    We ended up coming home with 1900 square feet of 5" wide, random length, pre-finished oak for less than what finishing our own milled lumber would have cost.      8)      Yea, it's not that same as saying "I made those floors".  But it will be done and we will be using the new part of the house way sooner.  8)

Now I need to figure out what I am going to do with all of the 1x6 I have cut and dried.   Probably will end up window and door casings.   ;D
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

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