Thread: Thicknesser for doing bulk decking boards

Don't do it. It is not worth the effort.

It's a big job, but it can be done. My 70 year old Uncle has not so long ago milled all of the flooring, wall cladding and structural members for his house from timber that he cut on his own property. He has an old jointer and a small portable thicknesser. They can usually take a bit over 1mm at a pass (mine can easily).

BUT

He stickered the timber up and air-dried it for at least a couple of years before attempting to dress it. I doubt running green timber through a thicknesser is going to be a very rewarding experience and it is going to shrink and warp (most likely) as it dries.

I would not touch it for at least a year after sawing.

Then you will most likely need to run one face and edge over a jointer, then rip it to width on a saw and plane the other face with the thicknesser. You could skip the saw and run it on edge through the thicknesser, but if the boards spring badly, it will take several passes to get it straight.

If you're not worried about spring and intend to deal with that when you nail the boards down, you could probably get away without jointing and ripping, but I still think you'll need to plane both faces because you'll most likely get some cupping too.

If you try and do it green, I think you'll be disappointed in a year or so. Unless you're after the rustic look

So you're going to spend $1,000 to $2,000 on another thicknesser. What would it cost in comparison to buy the decking timber??

I agree with silentC.

To put on a bevel using a router table I think you would be fighting it all the way. I would bevel using a router free hand

The word from the old hands at our local hardwood mill say that if you dress green timber it will go all over the place. If you were to dress one side only the result would be a load of decking timber bound for your fire!
The way to have good stable timber is to get it to dry uniformly. Thats why the rule of thumb for air drying is one year for every inch of thickness. Its a tried and tested method that is still valid today. Kiln drying is quicker of course but its a scientific process that is not as easy to carry out by the untrained
A deck that has been down for sometime that has uniform gaps between the boards that are straight is a very nice sight. Uneven gaps, non uniform width of boards is something you won't want to own up to

Rustic is ok we are on a rural property and the deck goes all the way around both houses.

To buy the decking we are looking in excess of $10 000 for cheap decking and it is not as thick as I would like.

Given that the timber we are using is already standing on the property and I have a lucas mill and time but very little money it makes sense to try and do it myself.

I have built the whole house to date and the existing house it joins to has pine decking which is stuffed so it needs to be replaced as well.

I agree green is not ideal but it is how they used to do it in the old days , I figure if I screw the decking down at worst I may need to use a floor sander on it in years to come to get a smooth surface again.

it is how they used to do it in the old days

No doubt they did but I bet it was straight off the saw. I seem to remember reading that it was laid wet with no gaps and it would then shrink, leaving a gap between each board.

The problem with planing wet timber is that the chips will clump together and clog everything up. You will be stopping to clear the ejection chute frequently and it will be hard on your thicknesser because it is going to be working very hard, especially if you want to try and do it in one pass.

OOPS just check the current price of decking boards from AST and it comes to over $18 500 for kiln dried boards

It's definitely worth doing it yourself given the price of hardwood these days. I paid about $3.50 per lm for Merbau 6 years ago when I built my place but it has doubled since then I think.

I just think you will get much better results if you let it air dry for at least a few months - the longer the better.

If you try and do it green, they are going to be some very furry and up-and-down decking boards. Someone will trip over them for sure

Originally Posted by silentC

No doubt they did but I bet it was straight off the saw. I seem to remember reading that it was laid wet with no gaps and it would then shrink, leaving a gap between each board.

The problem with planing wet timber is that the chips will clump together and clog everything up. You will be stopping to clear the ejection chute frequently and it will be hard on your thicknesser because it is going to be working very hard, especially if you want to try and do it in one pass.

I was going to do it straight off the saw as well - or within a couple of days and then lay it straight away , before going back to sawing some more etc.

I might try and do it with what I have to start with and just keep passing trhough the machine until I get it to the right thickness. I was planning on using 130x30 boards.
Possibly put a digital depth guage on the machine to try and maintain consistancy.

Originally Posted by silentC

It's definitely worth doing it yourself given the price of hardwood these days. I paid about $3.50 per lm for Merbau 6 years ago when I built my place but it has doubled since then I think.

I just think you will get much better results if you let it air dry for at least a few months - the longer the better.

If you try and do it green, they are going to be some very furry and up-and-down decking boards. Someone will trip over them for sure

Drying for a few months wont be a issue , a year may get the missus offside a bit though.

I put some 160 x 30 boards that I milled a few months ago ,while doing the 200x200 posts for the house , through the thicknesser slowly this morning , next to no cup in them at this stage - they were stickered when cut.

Slow process though with the current thicknesser combo, just looking for a better option and the bonus is I get a new toy for the workshop for my efforts.

I just put a small amount (150lm of 150x28mm) of green redgum that was milled about 1 month ago through my 15" triton thicknesser took 2 passes to do the one side only came up beaut just the look I was after didnt come up furry just nice and smooth used a No4 plane (razor sharp) to take the arris off
I laid them wet with no gaps screwed down every 600mm with 2 14g bugle screws so should be interesting to see how they develop over time

Decking boards, you'd really want a four side planer moulder to dress them consistently. That's one expensive machine, a good used one would cost more than buying the decking.

I'd be looking at local mills and seeing what they'd charge to dress the boards to size, than make a rod for your own back and try doing it yourself with tools that aren't up to the task.

Fubar - that came out looking real nice

I think everyone has lost the concept , I am not building a show home in Sydney that has perfect decking , I am building a house to live in a rural setting , the boards come off the lucas mill dimensionally good and straight , they dont need to be milled on 4 sides to get a product that looks mickey mouse to sell , I only want to thickness them really to get a 100% consistant thickness , I am planning on having a 2mm gap plus between each board so that the huge rainfall we get on the coast goes straight through , if I could get the boards withing 1/4mm off the saw I would put them down rough sawn just chamfer the edges to stop splinters .

I just need some advise on a thicknesser that is going to be able to cope with a 4m board 130mm wide and take up to 1-2mm off on a pass and be a single phase machine.

has anyone had experience with the Hafco T20


Attached is a pic below of where I have got to so far with the build

Hi Berrigan,

This is a job for a multi head moulder in a dry mill. A moulder will dress all four sides plus the pencil rounds and any ribbing you want in one pass at about 30m per minute. You will have to air dry the timber for at least a year or you are going to get a lot of distortion on drying that you cannot recover. I wouldn't try to make weather exposed decking with a smooth top surface unless you are going into training for the ice skating at the next Olympics.

Cheers Old Pete