Proper blade for cutting your own strips for stripper canoe?

[kbobb]

Hi Folks,
For those of you that cut your own strips from planks do you use a special blade on the table saw - ie. thin kerf - to minimize wood loss? It seems you might lose a significant percentage of wood from the blade width.
Thanks for your insight, I really don't have space for a build but now that I'm retired I do have time and have always like the look of these boats.

 

[MyKneesHurt]

Yes, invest in a thin-kerf blade. Also a featherboard.

 

[dogbrain]

Look up Skillsaw method before you proceed. I'm sure Jim Dodd will be along shortly to make the case.

Mark

 

[Jim Dodd]

Cruiser did a great thread, on cutting your own strips.
Here's the link.

cutting strips

The Skilsaw method is great if you cutting strips from planks !
Planks of 6" and wider, are good, with the Skilsaw method !

On this last canoe, I built? I will confess to using a table saw ( Delta Unisaw ) I acquired a bunch of 8' x 1 5/8" wide cut offs .
I set up three Freud Diablo 7 1/4" (24 t ) blades, so I could cut 3/16" thick strips. This worked great. Two passes, and I had 6 strips. It did take a lot of time and shims to set up, but worked fine.

Jim

 

[Gamma1214]

I cut 3/16 inch strips using Jim's method above (except that I bolted the angle iron to the shoe and the circular saw is now a dedicated strip saw) and it worked really well as long as you remember two things: 1) make sure you pull toward you slightly so the guide retains constant contact with the stock or you'll get thick & thin spots in the strip and 2) remember that you've disabled the blade guard. You'll have to sit the saw on a bucket, wait for the blade to stop or carry it back to the starting end & cut another strip. It will gouge a pretty decent chunk out of the plank if you forget and sit it down on your stock (don't ask me how I know that)

As for waste... I doubt it matters whether you turn 1/4 of your lumber into sawdust or someone does it for you; the fact is that roughly 1/4 of the board will wind up in the grass or being swept off the floor. You could probably reduce the ratio if you use a band saw but, IMO, the waste is part of the process. (like visible staple holes but that's another rabbit hole that you can go down if you like)

 

[Roybrew]

I used a circular saw with a thin-kerf blade the cut removes about a 1/16th of an inch
I have also used my old table saw that uses a 10" blade and it wastes about 3/32 of an inch
The top scale of the calipers reads inches, the bottom is metric.

I use the Freud Diablo saw blades.
Roy

 

[kbobb]

Thanks folks - very helpful info here , esp the skillsaw vs tablesaw observations.

 

[stripperguy]

6 pitch skip tooth raker, has a kerf of .040
Cuts as fast as you can feed it

 

[Alan Gage]

I use a skilsaw blade in my tablesaw for the extra thin kerf. A general construction or ripping blade will be fine.

Alan

 

[dogbrain]

There you have it. Three perfectly good ways to cut strips. This short thread has covered the full extent of that topic. Just pick the tool you are most comfortable with and you'll do fine.

Mark

 

[scratchypants]

I used my tablesaw with a Freud Diablo 7 1/4" blade. A point about the table saw method, you need double the space: infeed + outfeed. My wood shop is on the 2nd floor of my garage. I had to move my saw so the blade lined up with my front and rear windows which are thankfully low enough to accommodate the longer pieces. Also, I pulled my fence back so the strip was free as soon as it was cut though.

 

[Jim Dodd]

I used my tablesaw with a Freud Diablo 7 1/4" blade. A point about the table saw method, you need double the space: infeed + outfeed. My wood shop is on the 2nd floor of my garage. I had to move my saw so the blade lined up with my front and rear windows which are thankfully low enough to accommodate the longer pieces. Also, I pulled my fence back so the strip was free as soon as it was cut though.

That's why the Skillsaw method is so good. Use the Strongback as a saw horse. You need little more room than that. A 15 Amp Skilsaw, and the Diablo blade, does a great job. It produces very uniform strips at a minimum cost !

As I look back over the years, I have modified my saw set up, by adding a small vise grip as a clamp and a handle on the front.
A 5 gal. bucket makes a great tool rest, to keep your saw handy, and off the ground.