Used WRC - resawing for strips

**labr@** · 31st January 2010, 10:31 PM

This is in the miscellaneous boat section as it involves timber, tools , boats and technique

Long term plan is to build a strip canoe or kayak (not even decided on a design yet) using mainly Paulownia but with some feature using other timbers. Today I obtained some preused WRC boards for what is a reasonable price but the dimensions give rise to some issues re wastage and usability.

It is in the form of tongue and groove and with the edges disregarded each piece measures 205 x 9 x 3 cm. This is probably shorter than most people would choose for strips but use will be mainly for deck/features and joining will be necessary anyway so I don’t have any concerns about that.

However, given that strips are usually 19mm wide I am unsure which way to jump – split all the strips straight off and use all 13mm or try to use the full 30mm as much as possible with splitting only where needed.

The other issue is wastage and the resaw process. I know someone with a table saw but I would have to buy a thin kerf blade and the saw would be set up specially for my job so it would all have to be ripped at once. I am thinking of buying a cheap circular saw/thin blade and doing it myself as this would allow sawing stock as required and I could change the width if I want to. It would also be handy for other projects. Having never owned a circular saw I have no idea if this is a viable option and what the pitfalls may be.

A search on thin kerf blades showed an enormous variation in price and I wonder if a sub $10 blade is as good as the $80 plus versions (and why).

All advice/opinions on circular saws, thin blades, ripping strips and strip width welcome.

**whitewood** · 1st February 2010, 08:12 AM

Bob.

I'm far from an expert when it comes to tools and equipment so I won't comment in that area. My thought is that you RS the timber into 30mm wide strips and dress them down to 6 mm. As you are using the timber mainly on the deck the curves are not great and you would most probably do what you want with the wider 30mm instead of the regular 19 mm. It should be a lot easier to cut (RS) strips 10 -12 mm wide down the 30 mm depth than to split the 30 mm down 900 mm and then resaw the 900 mm into 25 mm so you can dress them down to 19 mm.

I am not sure if you can understand what I have suggested or if it really makes sense. The crux of my suggestion is that if it is easier for you to make 30 mm wide strips then they should work for the decking. Allan Newhouse may come into this thread and offer come comment. He is an expert in both producing strips and the designing and building Kayaks.

John

**labr@** · 1st February 2010, 11:39 PM

Thanks John,

Yes it makes sense - although I did have to read it twice - and I think you're right. Maybe I should just get it all cut into the 30mm wide strips and then only slit these as/if necessary.

Thread: Used WRC - resawing for strips

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Used WRC - resawing for strips

WRC Strips

Similar Threads

Resawing rig...

Jap saw for resawing timber

Resawing

Resawing no problems...

resawing help

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions