Squaring up rough cut oak boards

[gmason]

Hello, I致e got 5 10' x 8" white oak boards that i've surfaced planed then to thickness, and not I致e trying to figure the best way to get one good straight edge in order to put it on my table saw and get another good edge to biscuit join them together for a large desktop I知 building.

I've got a small joiner that would be too small for these ten footers. I've almost settled on just getting a sheet of OBS and making a jig of some sort.

Anyone else gone this route?

Most of the youtube videos are only dealing with 18"-24" long pieces of wood.

thanks
gary

 

[Dozernut]

Do you have a circular saw or a router? Get a piece of channel steel or aluminum 10' long and clamp it at both ends. Offset the guide to allow for the distance from the frame of your saw or router to the blade or bit, then run your saw or router against the guide to get your square edge.

 

[gmason]

Yes, i've got most power tools. Table Saw, Router, jigsaw,circluar saw, joiner...

i've got some steal, but not sure how stright it is. some of my edges don't look even a 1/4" off over the 10', but one is off by ~1.5".

gary

 

[beenthere]

If you can fasten some temporary supports to your small jointer, ahead of and behind it, that has worked for me. I've made tables for support from 2x6 lumber with a 2x6 leg to adjust the ends away from the jointer.

Or if you find a straight edge 10' long (either wood or steel) that can be clamped to the rough board for a guide to the electric hand saw. Sometimes width of the material is limiting this approach.

I've seen it done where a long bench (in your case it would have to be a bit over 20') was fitted with a straight fence the full length, then a router mounted vertical midway along the fence. The board would lay flat on the bench and pushed along the fence. Saved trying to hold a board on edge to keep it square with the jointer head. Fence would have a shim the thickness of the "depth of cut" set on the router bit. Such a long table would allow you to have two surfaced edges for gluing.

You will figure a way, and hope you let us know how it works.

 

[gmason]

well after looking around a little i found a 10' piece of Hardiboard 3/4x6" that we had leftover from another project. it had a pretty straight edge and so i clapped it 5" from the edge and ran my power circuler saw down and the edges mached up pretty nice, next to the table saw and we'll see.
thanks
gary

 

[Steve C]

well after looking around a little i found a 10' piece of Hardiboard 3/4x6" that we had leftover from another project. it had a pretty straight edge and so i clapped it 5" from the edge and ran my power circuler saw down and the edges mached up pretty nice, next to the table saw and we'll see.
thanks
gary

If you have a router and a straight cut bit it will give you a straighter and much smoother edge than using a circular saw.

Spiral end mill bits work very well for that application. Just use the same straight board as a guide.

 

[/pine]

All good suggestions...I will second the router idea...with a straight cutting bit it will give you a very clean edge....

 

[EddieWalker]

I didn't know that about a router, and never thought to try it.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[kennyd]

These work OK also, and you can do everything on the table saw.

Joint'R Clamp from WoodCraft

Joint'R Clamp from Rockler

 

[Steve C]

I didn't know that about a router, and never thought to try it.

Thanks,
Eddie

I had 9 of these that I bought as junk for $6 each.
After I fixed them I had to scratch my head come up with ways to use them.
I no longer have that problem There 5 of them in the second photo

 

[beenthere]

Steve C
That is a very sad picture there. Turns my stomach to look at it, and what it represents. Hope your outcome was just a bit fair to you in recovering some of your things.

 

[texbaylea]

I use Forrest blades on my table saw and circular saw for special cuts. I get cuts that only need sanding whether rip or cross cut. You must tune your saw to be sure that the fence or guide edge is absolutely parallel to the blade. It is easy to get heel burn with these blades.

Vernon

 

[schmism]

there are commercial jigs for this but you can also build one.

its basically a straight edge sled that you run against the fence with the non-straight board clamped to it.

this creates one straight edge that you can then run against the fence to create a parallel second edge.

 

[kennyd]

I use Forrest blades on my table saw and circular saw for special cuts. I get cuts that only need sanding whether rip or cross cut. You must tune your saw to be sure that the fence or guide edge is absolutely parallel to the blade. It is easy to get heel burn with these blades.

Vernon

I have been using Forrest blades for years in my table saw and my SCMS-very happy customer here!

 

[kennyd]

there are commercial jigs for this but you can also build one.

its basically a straight edge sled that you run against the fence with the non-straight board clamped to it.

this creates one straight edge that you can then run against the fence to create a parallel second edge.

I linked to the "commercially available" ones in my previous post.

 

[RRILEY]

Snap a chalk line and use your circular saw. screw a straight board onto your fence on the table saw, approx 8'. run the edge you just cut against the fence turn over (adjust fence for min. waste) cut other edge, flip over and clean up hand cut edge. You may not want to waste much on the joiner. Another way would be to screw straight guides into the lumber to run against the fence but you may not want to damage the face of the lumber for finished furniture with screw holes.

 

[RRILEY]

If they are not that warped since you ran them through the planer put the extension on the fence of the table saw like I mentioned in the previous post and use a feather board to keep the board against the fence through the cut, after the saw blade. get a square small enough and double check the saw blade to be 90 degrees from the surface with out touching the teeth.
Sounds harder than it actually is.

 

[Egon]

I'd try Steves method. I've use it with a bandsaw and log more than once.

 

[WayneB]

Last year I had a bunch of old growth pine boards that I wanted to plane. Ended up taking them to a sawmill around here that planed them and all four sides. I am not sure just how much it cost but it was cheap and very quick.

You could also check with your local high school heck they might have a large joiner and could do the job quickly for you. They might also have a thickness planer and do all four sides. Just a thought!