Thread: This may be a dumb question......

It Depends on a couple of things. the biggest being what you plan on using it for.

The other being the fact that being oregon it will be BackSawn (meaning that the growth rings run somewhat parallel to the longer dimension), Thus when you resaw it you will in effect be quarter sawing it. This may or may not be suitable for your desired application.

As Travis said

Luddite ,
what are you going to mill this beam with , and how nail free is it under all that paint ?

Thanks for the responses.

Answers to your questions / clarification:

1) I intend to make strips about 30-40mm wide, 8 mm thick for a surfboard. They will go through my thicknesser and then be jointed and glued together with Paulownia to make the top and bottom decks;
2) The timber has been denailed. I have a metal detector and it is telling me the timber is clean, hope it is right;
3) I intend to run it through the table saw.

I don't think it would be a problem if it is 1/4 sawn, but would appreciate your opinion. The timber will be bent slightly to conform to the shape of the board, then fibreglassed when shaped.

Anthony

probably better to be QS in that situation, much more stable timber then and you're not 'fixing' through it, so Yeah I'd go with what you'd suggested

Thanks Alan,

I like the idea of 1/4 sawn. It looks great in my opinion, and since it will be stable I will have a go.

A will post some pictures when its finished.

All the best,

Anthony

Originally Posted by Luddite

Thanks for the responses.

Answers to your questions / clarification:

1) I intend to make strips about 30-40mm wide, 8 mm thick for a surfboard. They will go through my thicknesser and then be jointed and glued together with Paulownia to make the top and bottom decks;
2) The timber has been denailed. I have a metal detector and it is telling me the timber is clean, hope it is right;
3) I intend to run it through the table saw.

I don't think it would be a problem if it is 1/4 sawn, but would appreciate your opinion. The timber will be bent slightly to conform to the shape of the board, then fibreglassed when shaped.

Anthony

If you plan on bending it to shape you would be better off back sawing it. I am assuming it is already VERY dry and you will find that if you try to bend it quarter sawn it will break. to do this slice the 170 mm board into 30 to 40 mm (or for strip planking 20 to 25mm,) wide boards then turn them 90 degrees and slice them into "strip planks." most strip planking is done between 16 and 25 mm wide strips approx 6 mm thick. If you use a fine enough blade in your table saw you will not need to use a thicknesser.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Travis,

Yes, I will be making it into strips, around 25 by 8mm.I can manage to do that on the table saw.....I will have a crack that way first. I have to admit I was worried if it would bend without cracking when quarter sawn.

Anthony

G'day Anthony.

Are the strips for deck and hulls? If so, I'd go a lot thinner. I'm with Justin—about 4-4.5mm is fine if you glass appropriately (I use 1 layer of 2oz glass inside and out. Most folks use one layer of 4 on the outside, which isn't quite as strong).

If the strips are for Jensen style edges thought, then you should be right.

Weather you back or quarter saw it, use plenty of steam when bending to help prevent cracks. I won't disagree with Travis, but I would suggest for the kinds of bends you're doing and if you use steam cracking shouldn't be an issue.