What should I use to trim off the T&G from T&G flooring?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
I picked up some 3/4" oak unfinished T&G flooring.
lengths range from about a foot to about 6.5 feet and the pieces are 2 1/4" wide.
I want to trim off the T&G and sqaure up the stock for another use besides flooring.
If I had a jointer, I guess we wouldn't be having this discusssion, right? ;)

I do have a router table and also a table saw.
The planer - DeWalt 734 is still awaiting assembly, and given that it's too cold in the garage right now to put it together, it's out also.

I was leaning towards using the router table, with a 1/2" straight bit.
I need to do about 40 pieces.

[Bill White]

Table saw with a thin kerf rip blade. Don't complicate matters.
Bill:D

[Doug Sewell]

Iv'e always used the tablesaw. Guess you could clean it up with the router if you feel the need.

[Chris Padilla]

Table saw and a ripping blade and a quality push stick to keep all your fingers intact.

With a nice, sharp 24 or 30 tooth ripping blade and a well-tuned TS, it may be ready for edge-gluing off the TS.

If necessary, you can stand several boards on their edge and run them through your planer to clean them up further.

[Rob Cooper]

+1 on Tablesaw with thin kerf blade. I just cleaned up some reclaimed maple flooring strips from a Habitat Store. Use a push stick and blade guard the tongue waste always wants to shoot back at you.

[Lee Schierer]

Yep, table saw. A well aligned saw will do this much faster than a router. Use a dedicated rip blade though.

[Chris Padilla]

I'm curious that two of you advocate a thin-kerf blade. Why is that?

[Rob Cooper]

Chris,

I squared about 30 boards at a time. Thin kerf was mainly for speed (contractors saw):( Also, even with the thin kerf I could only yield about 1 3/4" wide boards after removing tongue and groove. You 3hp cabinet saw guys could probably use an 80tooth blade:eek:

[Chris Padilla]

Ah, okay, I can understand the need for thin-kerf blade with an underpowered saw.

[Jason White]

Tablesaw.

Just rip it off.

JW


Hello,
I picked up some 3/4" oak unfinished T&G flooring.
lengths range from about a foot to about 6.5 feet and the pieces are 2 1/4" wide.
I want to trim off the T&G and sqaure up the stock for another use besides flooring.
If I had a jointer, I guess we wouldn't be having this discusssion, right? ;)

I do have a router table and also a table saw.
The planer - DeWalt 734 is still awaiting assembly, and given that it's too cold in the garage right now to put it together, it's out also.

I was leaning towards using the router table, with a 1/2" straight bit.
I need to do about 40 pieces.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
I guess the table saw is it!
Thanks!

[John Gregory]

as far as the cut goes, a thin kerf would not matter. The extra 1/32" of blade would be in the waste.
I have an older Contractors saw, a Ridgid TS242 (modifed fence and wings, not motor) it spins regular kerf blades with no problems. Maybe a glue edge rip blade from Freud would be a good choice to get a clean edge without a jointer.

[John Towns]

I also have used the table saw with no problems.

[Frank Drew]

I'm with everyone else, use a table saw with a combination or ripping blade. A thin kerf blade won't increase the final yield since you're only ripping off the portion you don't want.

If the pieces, particularly the longer pieces, aren't straight, a pass or two through a jointer would help.

[Chip Lindley]

As MOST here agree, seems the TS is a no-brainer for this task. DUHH! Rip off all the tongues, then reset the fence to rip off all the grooves.

I guess some woodworkers just need a little extra *attention* on long cold winter nights!!