What would be best for cutting lots of 3/4x1/4 strips?

[Rick Cicciarelli]

Seems to be some argument for the best way of cutting lots of 3/4" x 1/4" strips. If one wanted to take 10ft or 12ft length boards and rips lots of 1/4" strips I would think that a band saw would be best for maximizing your wood. I would think it would be safer than a table saw as well. However, some argue that the cuts you get from a band saw are rougher. Either way, I would plan on running the strips through a planer once cut so that they are all the same thickness. What do you guys think...a table saw with a thin kerf blade, or a band saw for ripping lots of strips?

[Rick Lucrezi]

I am doing just that now. I am ripping 3/4 stock into moulding 1/4 round. I use a thin kerf blade and have no need to plane after they are cut. I am running pine if that makes a difference.

[doug faist]

Rick - you're no doubt going to get arguments on both sides, but for the strips I do there's nothing like a well-tuned bandsaw with a nice, sharp blade. You should get cuts that only need a light touch through a drum sander.

Have fun with your project.

Doug

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Love my bandsaws, but I'd go with the tablesaw. It's more stable for the long pieces, and quicker IMHO. With a couple feather boards or a power feeder, you shouldn't have to clean them up on the planer at all either. Skipping the clean up step is the main reason I'd go with the tablesaw.

[Rick Cicciarelli]

Even with the table saw the strips would still go into the planer just to ensure all were same thickness....

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Rick, I'm probably missing something, so bear with me, but why not just plane the stock to thickness before the ripping? Lots less work to feed one big board, than a bunch of little ones.

[Kyle Kraft]

I would resaw the boards at the bandsaw then run them through the planer so that you end up with your desired 1/4" thickness. Then I would rip the planks into 3/4" strips. Much safer, in my opinion, than trying to rip 1/4" slices off of a 3/4" thick board.

[Dell Littlefield]

I built several canoes which each used around 80 strips 1/4 by 3/4, many up to 18 feet long. I used a Matsushita 7 1/4 36 tooth combination blade (MS71436CB) . The kerf is only about 1/16 inch wide and the small blade on my old Craftsman contractor saw never slowed down when ripping the cedar. Feather boards and long infeed/outfeed tables kept things under control. When I built them, I didn't own a planer but if I was doing it over, I would rip them a little oversize and plane them only to insure consistent thickness, the blade leaves a very smooth surface.

[Rick Cicciarelli]

Dell...this would be a similar project....strip built kayak. Mainly cedar.

[Alan Schwabacher]

I found that a circular saw with a very thin kerf blade did a good job, set up as I described here: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~durgerian/id5.html

When your stock is 10-20' long, it can make sense to take the tool to the stock rather than the other way around. With proper support, edge guide, splitter, and blade, you can get very safe, consistent cuts.

[guy knight]

this works good easy to make one too

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=18056

[Tony Bilello]

and table saws are designed for ripping straight lines. For safety sake, use the proper tool.

I have yet to see a 10' long piece of lumber ripped with a typical shop bandsaw and deviate less than a total of 1/32" on either side of the center line the whole 10' length and then planed smooth without losing any more wood. That is what it would take to be less wasteful than a table saw with a standard 1/8" kerf. With a good table saw and a good blade, you should be able to glue up without planing or joining.

Ripping narrow strips of wood is just inefficient no matter how you do it. That's all part of woodworking.

[Dell Littlefield]

Rick, if you haven't already purchased your bead and cove bits, take a look at MLCS. They have a 5/16 inch set that when used on a 1/4 inch strip, makes tighter fit that requires less sanding. I haven't tried it but it sounds like a good idea.

http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_flute.html

[Peter Quinn]

Take your pick, set it up right, should be fine either way. I'd use a band saw for the cedar personally with two long auxiliary tables and a 30" long stout board as a fence. Planing 1/4" material can get strange, especially something stringy like cedar, so maybe a few test pieces are in order to check the whole procedure before committing to a method.

Given the price of cedar these days I'd want to conserve as much as possible. That said when I rip 1/4" strips for applied cabinet bead I usually use a TS and a few passes through the sander. One quick set up and I can bang out a whole kitchen's worth of molding in just about ten minutes.