Making Cedar Strips

[Jim Dodd]

First off, The Disclaimer. I want to emphasize ! Safety First ! Read and follow the instructions provide by the power tools makers for thier tools.
Protect your eyes, lungs, limbs, and hearing. And in that order of importance.
This is how I cut my strips, I take no responsibility for the actions of others, if they choose my methods.
Over the years, I've preached the benefits of cutting your own strips, using the skilsaw method. Here are some tips, and precautions, when cutting your own strips
It's getting closer to Spring, and the time of year, I traditionally cut strips. I still do it in the Spring. And Outside,to keep as much dust out of my shop, as I can.

A saw of choice? Anything in good condition, with 13 amps or more. 15 amps is better, they cut faster, and smoother.
A good power cord. I use a 12 gauge 25 ft. 14 gauge is OK, but nothing lighter.

I clamp a fence, made from a piece of 1/2" x 3/4" aluminum angle, about 16" long, to the base of the saw. The 1/2" side of the fence runs against the side of the plank. The reason for the the 1/2" ? When cutting a thin plank, the fence might bump the cleats, that the plank rests on, causing a bad cut.
I fasten this fence, with a small C- clamp in the back, and a small Vise grip on the front. The Vise grip makes a nice handle, and keeps your hand away from the blade.

The real beauty of the skilsaw system, other than being economical, is how accurately it can cut strips ! If you take the time to accurately set your fence, there is absolutely NO NEED to run your strips through a planer ! Saving money, time, and tool costs !

When setting the fence, be sure the saw is unplugged, when ever making adjustments. Lower the blade to its deepest cutting position, and while clamping the fence to the saw base, use a caliper to measure distances, front and back, between the fence and blade. Make them equal, and at the desired thickness. And you are half way there.

A good 24 tooth blade is all you need. Blades with more teeth, drag more and really don't make a smoother cut. Use a good quality blade. Anything made by Freud is fine.

A 5 gal bucket makes a fine saw stand. It keeps the saw out of the dirt and handy. No bending all the way over to pick up the saw. Always be careful of the saw blade, as cutting such thin strips, makes the blade guard ineffective.

Use your strongback, that you are going to build your canoe on, as a work table to hold your plank while cutting strips. The second best thing to use that strongback for !

Note the sacrificial cleats on the strongback. They are placed about every foot, and save the strongback from damage.

More later. on choosing, and cutting planks.


Jim

 

[latremorej]

Jim, have you ever considered drilling and taping some holes on the saw plate to mount your fence? Actually, tap the fence and the bolt would pass through the base plate. I ask because I am the type to bump the fence out of alignment half way through the project and not realize it!
Jason

 

[dogbrain]

I'll attest to the method described by Jim. It got me through what I thought would be one of the tougher parts of making a strip canoe. It was downright easy. The only thing I did different was that I planed a piece of wood to exactly 1/4" and used it as a blank to set the thickness of the fence. My strips came out exact and I would occasionally do a quick check to make sure nothing moved. The fence never moved while cutting over 2k feet of strips. Thanks again Jim for putting this out there.

Mark

 

[Jim Dodd]

Jason.
That would be a good idea ! But this was fast, and effective.
You would want to slot the fence to allow for some adjustment The Makita saw you see in the pic, is set for 3/8" strips. I use this to cut my Ash Gunnels.

Jim
​

 

[Jim Dodd]

Mark
Many people balk at building a canoe when they think of all the work, and tools needed to complete the task. They stop dead in their tracks. They imagine how hard it must be to make the strips. I know it baffled me, until I learned the method from the Minnesota Canoe Association's Builders book.

Most people believe you cut them on a big expensive table saw. They re amazed when you tell them you cut the strips with a Skilsaw !

I'm glad you saw the light !!

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

Back to tips.

I'm still learning, it seems every time I cut strips, I learn something new ! The 5 gal bucket trick just came to mind on the last strip cutting session.


Another recent trick. Is to Hot melt glue the ends of the planks to cleats to keep them from moving as you cut. Remember a little dab will do ya ! (Sorry Brill Cream) ! I used to use a couple brads, very close to the far edge of the plank I'm cutting.

When cutting down to the last few inches of width of the plank, the saw will tend to rock, and varying the thickness of the bottom edge. That's when you lay another plank next to the one you are cutting. For support. I usually buy a 1"x4" that serves this purpose.

A safety tip, is I throw the cord over my shoulder, away from the saw, as I walk along cutting the strips. This keeps me from walking on it, and the cord away from the blade.

For now, I'll leave this thread to others to add, and hopefully new builders will pick this up, and enjoy building their First Cedar Stripper !

And when someone asks them. How did you cut All those strips. They can grin and say, "With a Skilsaw !"

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

OK! A video, not a good one, but hopefully it will give you an idea.
[video]http://vid1272.photobucket.com/albums/y390/JimDodd/MVI_0284_zpskmizdf9v.mp4[/video]


Jim

 

[dogbrain]

The other tip shown in your pictures, but you didn't mention, is the makeshift shelf underneath to hold the strips. It saves time not having to fiddle with each strip as you cut it. You just drop it below, and move on to cut the next one.

 

[Cruiser]

Couple points on this:
- larger saws (Table, Radial) have long wood guides, which is good for short pieces of wood, IMO bad for strips. If there is any warp in a 16'+ piece of lumber you will get inconsistent strips and a lot of waste, on a BIG saw, while the Skil will just follow the curve/warp. This also means that your source lumber selection doesn't have to be as picky, you can pick that perfect board that has a warp in it, knowing that you can cut perfectly good strips from it. Once cut, the strips are so flexible, warpage is not a consideration
- as Jim points out less teeth is better, I use the thin kerf Freud blade, I believe 18 ... the thicker the wood, the less number of teeth you should use. Since I almost always end up with rough 2X material, the fewer teeth is important, As the thickness gets less, the importance for less teeth gets less
- the thin kerf blade can get quite a few extra strips from your source lumber, if you don't have the thin kerf blade, it is likely worthwhile buying one, they are not expensive for a skilsaw
- with the whole strongback top available, I found the easiest way to handle strips once cut, is to clamp a lumber stop on the opposite side of the strongback and just slide the strips over as you cut them (less handling and no up/down)
- you definitely want to be outside, you will be making a lot of sawdust
- it is quite likely that whatever you clamp on as a guide will interfere with the saw guard fully covering the blade when not cutting. This means when you set the saw down the blade can be exposed ... if you are not careful, you may ruin the blade and create a new saw trail in your drive (fortunately the blades aren't too expensive). So the 5 gallon bucket (or whatever you want/have) as a rest for the saw is definitely a good idea, both for safety and convenience


Brian

 

[Trevor Paetkau]

I've been attracted to this method but never used it partly because the table saw was always there and handy, a partly thinking that I wouldn't be able to achieve acceptable tolerances. This provides me the confidence to have a go at it, however. I wonder if it might not be even easier and quicker if one were to use one of the newer lightweight cordless saws. Hmmmm ....

 

[dogbrain]

I've been attracted to this method but never used it partly because the table saw was always there and handy, a partly thinking that I wouldn't be able to achieve acceptable tolerances. This provides me the confidence to have a go at it, however. I wonder if it might not be even easier and quicker if one were to use one of the newer lightweight cordless saws. Hmmmm ....

A cordless saw might not have enough power, but maybe yours does. May as well give it a shot and let us know what you use.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Trevor
It sure won't hurt to try it ! An extra battery, or two might do the trick. I'm used to the cord. But there is always room for improvement !

One thing I'd like to do, is reduce the spring tension on the saw trigger. I alternate fingers, as one gets tired ! Gloves help a lot.

I picked up a Delta 7 1/2" , 15 amp. with a Magnesium base. It cuts cedar like it is butter ! But the mounting system is not solid enough. It flexes, and so I don't use it for strips.

I have thought about attaching a Teflon base to a saw, and see how it works.

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

Good points Cruiser !
I have an off breed blade that was an Ultra thin kerf. I'll have to dig it out, but I believe it was a 40T. It cut OK, but seemed to drag more. I went to a Diablo, which cuts fine.
Any method of strip cutting, throws a lot of wood away ! When I cut 1/8" strips, I'm sure I swept up half the plank off the floor.

Yeah the blade guard is pretty useless, on anything less than 3/8". Kind of like a gun. Mind the direction it's pointed all the time !

By the way, I still have all my fingers and extremites, they just aren't as good as they once were.i

Thanks Brian !

Jim

 

[stripperguy]

While I prefer a band saw for strip cutting, I can see one clear advantage with your method, Jim.
I need a minimum of 2x the plank length plus some...for a 14 ft board I need about 30 ft of work space. In warmer weather, no problem. But when the heat is on my boat shop, and the temps outside hover around 10F, I can't fit my cutting within the heated area. (Garage is 28 x 40, but the heated portion is 16 x 28)

With your Skilsaw method, I could stay within the bounds of my heated shop!!

 

[wingnut]

That looks like a really simple way to cut strips. I'm sure it does a good job but out of curiosity what kind of tolerances can you expect? Stripperguy , what kind of fence do you use with your bandsaw. I have thought of using mine because the blade is so thin but it has a small table with no fence set up at all. Also would you use a 3/4 " blade.

 

[Cruiser]

Hi Wingnut .. I build my first boat with strips done up on a radial arm saw and they were OK, but I had some problems with consistency, which I blame on the long wood guide not adapting to the slight curve in the source wood.

I belong to another forum (where Jim also posted the method) and after much soul searching, bit the bullet and did the strips for my second boat using my skilsaw ... much faster, much more uniform and I used the strips on that boat with few issues .... they were better than I feel a fixed base saw can produce.

On the 3rd boat I didn't even think about it, I went straight to the Skilsaw and made the strips slightly over size this time, and finished them exactly to 0.25" using the new planer I treated myself to ... I would say these strips were the best ... but TBH, the ones directly from the Skilsaw are perfectly viable.

What I have found is important with this method is to take your time and let the saw do the work, don't push it .. just concentrate on keeping the guide in place and you will be amazed at the quality and consistency of the strips.

Brian

 

[Trevor Paetkau]

Trevor
It sure won't hurt to try it ! An extra battery, or two might do the trick. I'm used to the cord. But there is always room for improvement !

The two biggest challenges in my shop are dust management and CORDS!
If I hang them from the ceiling and I'm always walking off and unplugging something. If I plug them into wall sockets I'm inevitably twisting them around something, including my legs. And I swear, I've cut or knicked a half dozen by accident in the last 12 months alone.

 

[stripperguy]

That looks like a really simple way to cut strips. I'm sure it does a good job but out of curiosity what kind of tolerances can you expect? Stripperguy , what kind of fence do you use with your bandsaw. I have thought of using mine because the blade is so thin but it has a small table with no fence set up at all. Also would you use a 3/4 " blade.

I have an ancient 14" Grizzly and I clamp a piece of planed maple to the table using a couple quick grip clamps. Table is maybe 16" x 16"?
I use a 1/2" wide 4 pitch skipped tooth raker...it has a kerf of about .040 inch. Cuts extremely fast and free, as fast as you can feed the wood. Never binds!

 

[Jim Dodd]

Using a band saw, you really want the blade tension,and guides set proper. I like using my band saw to cut scarfs on my Ash gunnels., I've recut them a time or two, because of blade wonder. I'll take the blame !

Jim

 

[wingnut]

I was just curious how close the strips ended up in thickness to your target. The fact that you wouldn't need an 18' in feed and out feed table is a huge plus. When I cut strips for my tandem with a table saw I checked the thickness with digital calipers from time to time to make sure things were still working like they should. They stayed within .010" which is a lot closer than it needs to be for sure. On my solo I got over confident and careless and they varied to about .045". That only caused a problem feeding the strip under a feather board when I cut the bead and Cove.