Thread: Decking off lucas mill

I have had no problem with this in the past, using straight off the saw. Don't worry about planing one side, this (especially with blackbutt in my experience) will just oxidize black when the green timber comes into contact with the machine beds.

The lucasmill will leave a nice surface on the timber, not too slippery.

When my old man built his veranda he bought pencil planed green tallow from a local mill and laid them butted and when they dry they leave a good gap.They have been there as long as i can remember and is still great.

Berrigan

Is there a particular reason you have opted for 130 x 35, bearing in mind you can cut any size you want if you are milling yourself?

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Berrigan

Is there a particular reason you have opted for 130 x 35, bearing in mind you can cut any size you want if you are milling yourself?

Regards
Paul

No that was just a size that I thought would look right , thicker than normal to limit the cupping - am open to suggestions or others experience.

Bernt - the only reason for planing was to get all the thicknesses the same , there is a small variation of the mill , and the edges need to be knocked off so as not to get splinters , I agree though the finish off the saw is smooth enough for me , the post we have done for the verandah 200x200x6000 are straight off the saw.

It always seems to me that if cupping is a potential problem, which it often is, you would be better off going with a narrower board. The cupping will still occur but it is not so noticeable.

The trend towards wide boards both in flooring and decking may be a retrograde step, albeit a fashionable one. Going back in time narrow boards indicated a quality floor. The 35mm thickness of your boards will really only be neccessary if you have wide joist spacing. Otherwise it will be wasteful.

A side benefit of a narrower board will be better recovery from your logs.

Regards
Paul

As Paul said, narrower would be better. As shrinkage is a percentage, the greater the sectional size, the greater the shrinkage. Green decking laid without gap will dry to an acceptable spacing. Depending on your planer, you may have trouble surfacing due to sticking on the feed. It may be better to go for off the saw, or a Lucas planing attachment. A sawn surface will check less.

Berrigan,
I have used 150 x 25 rough sawn boards off a Lucas for a couple of exposed decks. The tallowood boards were unplaned but I did take the edge off with a "pencil" round router bit. A 45 deg x 3 mm chamfer with a plane would also be ok.
The result after 15 years? It is a tough life in exposed conditions so oiling would be necessary to keep a "timber" finish. Even then it is a battle. I only oiled mine once and as a result it is all silver/black now.
As others have said, cupping is a problem with wide boards. The forces are high enough to break the screws. I used 50mm x 3mm (10g) chipboard screws but many of these broke because of the cupping forces. I would now use 50 or 65 mm long x 6mm galvanised deck screws. The ones with the hex or square drive.
Use only top quality timber - no sap wood. Unless you keep up the oiling the areas sap wood will rot away over time.
Keep your joist crs as close as possible. Say 450 mm.max.
Cheers.
Bill.

Joists are already down at 450 centres , the decking for most of it is coverered with the roof , except for on the north side of the old house.

I am now planning on dropping the board size down to 100x25 and screwing it all down , still not sure if I will lay it rough sawn or dressed on top side with a chanfer ,

I may do the bit that allows immediate access between the houses dressed and see how it performs over the next year before doing the other 300m2

Elsewhere on the forums I have been told this wont work , cant be done unless it is fully dry then resawn and run through a 4 head milling thicknesser.

That's not strictly true. Your original question was regarding a thicknesser to be used to dress green timber, and the advice was that you would go much better if you allowed the timber to dry first. I don't think anyone actually said it won't work. You may have trouble with sap build up on the feed table and blockages in the dust chute etc. if it is very wet.

The 4-head machine suggestion was, I thought, a bit over the top. As I mentioned in the other thread, my 70 year old uncle made all his own floorboards and wall cladding from blackwood, which he milled on site and dressed after seasoning for a year or two. He has nothing more elaborate than an old jointer and a small portable thicknesser.

When I find conflicting information on forums, I find the best thing to do is to try it myself and see what happens

Originally Posted by Berrigan

Joists are already down at 450 centres , the decking for most of it is coverered with the roof , except for on the north side of the old house.

I am now planning on dropping the board size down to 100x25 and screwing it all down , still not sure if I will lay it rough sawn or dressed on top side with a chanfer ,

I may do the bit that allows immediate access between the houses dressed and see how it performs over the next year before doing the other 300m2

I would be wary of using any flooring matrial in the rough sawn state fior the simple reason that people often walk around bare foot. Our climate positively encourages it, but you, your family and your guests are going to have to endure the accompanying splinter problem.

Perhaps you could air dry the boards for a few months ( three to six) and then dress them.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by silentC

When I find conflicting information on forums, I find the best thing to do is to try it myself and see what happens

Exactly right , that is why I have decided to do just the first 40m2 and suck it and see , I have dressed a couple of boards of the mill as a test and have had no issues other than the thicknesser /jointer combo I am using will only take a 0.5mm cut which is tedious , if it works out ok I may buy a jet thicknesser with a helical cuttter which hopefully will take up to a 3mm cut no problems.

I am going to sticker up a heap of boards in the next few weeks to dry - I have some boards I cut a while ago to use to allow us to work around the deck and I have a huge list of jobs to do before decking is required so I expect I will get at least 6 months drying in

Berrigan, I did a 500sqm house up in Gympie all off my 6-18 Lucas, happy to have a yarn with ya anytime you have a few hours spare PM me if ya think you can handle it :O and I'll send you my number. Did a bunch of different 'trial's with the decking - can't say much as to how it's held up, but it held up longer than my marriage

I am going to sticker up a heap of boards in the next few weeks to dry - I have some boards I cut a while ago to use to allow us to work around the deck and I have a huge list of jobs to do before decking is required so I expect I will get at least 6 months drying in [/QUOTE]

This is the correct option. Air dry it for 6 months then machine. I have a weinig 7 header and regularly run decking. Feed stock size is 100x25 minimum. Finished size is 86x19 (the industry standard for hardwood). Machine it to this size and you will have no trouble replacing a few boards in the future if needed.

regards
steve