Which saw for production ripping

[steve joly]

Good morning I am a couple months from starting a hardwood flooring project. I have milled all the oak on my land and have ended up with over 5000 bf of lumber. My question is for ripping the lumber to width after it has been jointed would you rather use a unisaw or a 20 inch band saw. Either one will be set up with a power feeder on the back side of the blade. And part 2 of my question is what blade would you recommend for your preference. My standard blades are a Freud glue line rip thin kerf in the table saw and a 3/4 inch wood slicer in the band saw. But I plan to buy new blade /blades before I start the project.

one note is my uni saw is an old model with a 3 phase bullet motor run off a phase converter. It is slightly under powered hence the thin kerf blade. I have also considered running a smaller diameter blade to help with the power.

Either saw will be set up with indeed and out feed tables and both saws have vsctools fences.

thanks for your feed back
steve

[Mike Heidrick]

A couple questions before I say bandsaw (given your choices)

How are you going to produce the cuts to turn it into flooring?? If a shaper maybe you have other processing that will make the final width exact.

Also do you have a real bandsaw feeder or are your retro fitting a 1hp traditional feeder to your band saw? How will you manage table size requirements for those on a bandsaw?

[scott spencer]

The Unisaw should leave glue ready edges in one step with a decent blade. A BS will be a two step process to remove the blade marks.

[Richard Coers]

Production ripping? A straight line rip saw. But our definitions of production ripping seems to be two different things. Unisaws are good, but not for an 8 hour day without shutting off.

[David Kumm]

I agree that we need more info as to final processing. Will the edges be shaped? How will you relieve the bottom and what other steps are to be taken. A feeder on an old unisaw can overpower both the saw and the thin kerf blade and more appropriate for a larger saw. A steel bandsaw blade won't last long under those conditions and when dull will start to wander with a feeder. With 5000 bd ft I'd be tempted to run the whole batch through a molder. The price per foot is usually reasonable when you consider the blades you are buying and the stress on the machine. I run big machines and would still think hard before doing what you suggest unless you also have a large shaper with on outboard fence for the final finishing. Dave

[J.R. Rutter]

Production ripping? A straight line rip saw. But our definitions of production ripping seems to be two different things. Unisaws are good, but not for an 8 hour day without shutting off.

Agree. SLR would let you skip the jointer and still be done with 5000 BF in a week working by yourself.

[steve joly]

Thank you for the replys, after ripping I will be doing the tongue, groove, and bottom reliefs on my shaper, 5hp. For the band saw feeder I have a small 1/4 hp feeder that just fits on the table between the blade and the edge of the table. I have tried this and it seems to work well. I have never tried my 1 hp feeder on the band saw because of the above mentioned size problem. The issues I was concerned with this is the above mentioned blade dulling and blade drift. The edges will be cleaned up by the shaper. I'm not going to be able to afford a straight line rip saw this is the only time I will ever do a run like this. Also I will not be using all 5000 bf of lumber, I'm only making 2000 sq ft of flooring.

The tools I own and will be using for this...
1 hp power feeder
1/4 hp power feeder
uni saw
grizzly 20 inch band saw
16 inch planer
8 inch jointer
grizzly sliding table shaper

as much as I would love to buy a slr I will not have a proper shop until I build the new house, which is what these floors are going in. I am absolutely maxed out for tool space now so I am going to have to work within the constraints of what I have. I feel like the band saw is more up to the task of running all day ripping, however I'm not sure of what blade, if the small feeder is up to it, and the straightness of the cut. I am confident of the straightness, quality, and big feeder on the table saw, however I am not confident in the saws ability to withstand 8 hours under those conditions.

If I were to replace my tablesaw motor with a new 5hp would that be a decision maker to you guys?

[Mike Heidrick]

Production ripping? A straight line rip saw. But our definitions of production ripping seems to be two different things. Unisaws are good, but not for an 8 hour day without shutting off.

Straight line rip saw was not an option :) Sure would be my choice though :)

[Mike Heidrick]

Could you move the shaper close to the bandsaw and use it as a base for the 1hp feeder on the BS?

You unisaw will not blink at 8 hours.

The lite weight here is that tiny feeder with not enough weight.

[Peter Quinn]

On the saws, I'd say take your pick, either should work, I'd probably go with the TS and the larger feeder bolted on, the BS would probably give a faster feed rate but they generally have a smaller table/shorter fence, so thats a negative. Jointer is not my favorite way to straighten floor boards, tough to get the 10' and over stuff straight in any quick fashion. Perhaps a good skill saw with shop made jig/table might be quicker/easier? Outsource would be my first choice on the ripping. No need to buy a SLR, pay for time on somebody else's. Can be a shipping hassle, but if they have a fork lift and you have a trailer, that could cut weeks off this job and result in a more consistent product.

[steve joly]

Could you move the shaper close to the bandsaw and use it as a base for the 1hp feeder on the BS?

You unisaw will not blink at 8 hours.

The lite weight here is that tiny feeder with not enough weight.

that would be a possibility, or I could make an outfeed table that could support it also that would not be that hard.

also regarding the bandsaw fence my bandsaw has a vsctools fence and so does my tablesaw fence, so they are interchangeable which means I could have a long fence on my bandsaw no problem

[Erik Loza]

One question: How much would 2,000' sq. of ready-made oak tongue-and-groove flooring cost you?

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Jason Roehl]

I would think that with the power feeder, you should be able to slow it down to the point where it doesn't bog down your TS. And, I would probably test it with a smaller blade--you may not get good enough tip speed through the wood for a clean cut (though you may get less bogging down).

As for Erik's question--it would cost at least $6k or so, plus deprive him of the satisfaction of doing it himself.

Just make sure it's properly dried and acclimated once complete or the install will be a nightmare. Also, the bottom of the tongue needs to register on the bottom of the groove--that's the critical dimension for keeping the floor tight to the subfloor. Make the groove deeper than the width of the tongue, and the bottom of the groove below the tongue is best slightly narrower than the top (allows for the floor to go down a slight slope, parallel to it, without opening a gap at the top).

[David Kumm]

If you do go the table saw route, put a C clamp or something to stabilize the rear of the rip fence. A feeder can put a lot of stress on it and cause it to open up which screws up your life. Spare bases are usually available reasonably on Ebay to allow for some switching around. Dave

[steve joly]

One question: How much would 2,000' sq. of ready-made oak tongue-and-groove flooring cost you?

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

What fun would that be? I cleared my building lot, turned the trees into lumber, turn that into flooring. I think that is a great thing to do.i would be doing this even if the cost was the same. The savings is only a very small part of my motivation. Wouldn't it be easier to go to Home Depot and buy cabinets? Yep but why would you?

[Dave Cav]

If I were to replace my tablesaw motor with a new 5hp would that be a decision maker to you guys?

I believe that a 3 HP motor is generally considered about the max size for an older Unisaw. Anything bigger and you're going to end up butchering the cabinet to get it to fit.

With the existing setup, I would replace the phase converter with a VFD to get the full rated HP out of the motor you have.

[Peter Quinn]

I've had the misfortune to make flooring for a living at some points, to me it is an onorous repetitive hell best avoided at all costs. That said there can be a wonderful synchronicity to living in a home whose parts are made from the wood lot you cleared, I've seen several like that. You will have control over the lengths and widths and overall character of your floors in a way the home center could never provide. Custom mills could but at no small expense to you. I've long since given up trying to talk people intent on DIY floor milling out of it, but do be aware of its repetitive nature.

[David C. Roseman]

One question: How much would 2,000' sq. of ready-made oak tongue-and-groove flooring cost you?

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Don't you just hate it when someone asks a practical question like Erik's? :) Important question to ask, but it's right up there with "But what would you really use that new tool for?"

Steve, you don't say how the lumber has been processed thus far (e.g. rough slabbed to 4/4 on site, then stickered and air-dried). Since you're doing this all yourself, it's going to be awhile before you can get the finished product nailed in place. I'd be concerned about the wood moving as you step through the next stages, and that could be affected by the way you mill it. Sounds like you're planning to joint it one edge and one side, then rip everything to width before further milling, so I don't think it much matters whether you use your TS or bandsaw. By the time you then run all the narrow, ripped boards through your thickness planer, you'll probably need to re-joint the edges anyway before going to your shaper to T & G them.

BUT, since you'll be doing the T & G on a shaper, rather than a molder, it will be especially important that the widths of the boards be very uniform before shaping. It would be an extra step, but regardless of how you do it, I'd suggest ripping the boards slightly oversize before thickness planing. Then I'd run them through your Unisaw to get a finished edge at the exact width before shaping. Just my thought.

This sounds like a project that you'll enjoy for many years, every time you walk into the room with your new floors!

David

[Bill Huber]

Well if you have someone to help you this would do it.....:D:D:D

259985

[Jeff Duncan]

You've gotten some good advice, I'll just add my own take. Unisaws are NOT meant to run 8 hour shifts, take it from someone who has actually done it....they're just not. It's a small underpowered saw for the task....but it will get it done. Your going to want to get yourself a good fast rip blade....forget about glue line edges and all that, you want few teeth with large gullets that can rip stock down quickly. You'll want your feeder to feed as fast as it can without bogging the saw down. Feed too fast and your going to overheat the motor quickly, too slow and your going to kill the blade quickly. While your going monitor your motor every so often, if it gets too hot to touch, (and it will!), you'll want to shut it down for an hour or more until it cools. Also make sure you have poly tires on your feeder, they grip much, much better than the stock rubber tires! The rubber ones will glaze over after a while and you don't want to deal with wheels that slip:(

Second I agree that making certain things is not always beneficial. No I'm not going to try to talk you out of it, as if you appreciate it then that's all that matters. However consider that this is going to be a lot of hard labor and very little skill. Essentially a lot of grunt work that at the end of the day is going to look the same as the flooring you could by for maybe $2 a sq. ft. or so. VS buying the flooring...or having a local shop run it through their molder at least, and saving your time to work on things that are noticed like cabinets and furniture. IMHO there's no comparison between flooring and cabinetry or furniture. Flooring all looks the same when done, the others do not. There's a big difference between the quality of custom cabinets and custom furniture to what you can buy off-the-shelf. I have a fairly well equipped shop and when it was time to put flooring in my house...I bought it, there's was just no way I could make it as cheaply as I can buy it, not to mention I get very little satisfaction out of grunt work. Now my cabinets on the other hand are of course all custom:D Again, just want to offer another point of view. If you enjoy that type of work then you have to do what's right for you;)

anyway good luck and keep us posted!
JeffD

[Erik Loza]

What fun would that be? I cleared my building lot, turned the trees into lumber, turn that into flooring. I think that is a great thing to do.i would be doing this even if the cost was the same. The savings is only a very small part of my motivation. Wouldn't it be easier to go to Home Depot and buy cabinets? Yep but why would you?

Steve, I am not picking apart your plans. Please hear me out. The reason I ask is that this project might kill your bandsaw, will require a lot of blades even if it doesn't, may require the purchase of a new feeder, you are already talking about possibly buying a new motor for your TS, and (with respect), it seems like doing flooring is a new thing for you. And as someone else pointed out, the wood may or may not be through moving around. My point being, is it worth asking the question, "Does the energy and money I may spend just to do this one run of flooring outweight the time I could be spending (as you mentioned) doing cabinets/other stuff/etc. instead?". It sounds like you already have the TS and shaper, so cabinets are not really uncharted territory. I hope this makes sense.

The reason I mention all this is that my wife and I recently added a second story to our house and I did some of the work, myself. Yes, I was happy with my own results but to be honest, several of the projects became more of a burden as time went on and I found that I either spent money on tools/supplies I will never use again or more importantly, was 2/3rds of the way through and saying to myself, "I should've just subbed this out, even if it cost twice as much", just because it was (for me) uncharted territory and I actually wanted to be doing other things. And not one word of this may apply to you, just floating some food for thought out there.

Best of luck with it, whatever you decide to do... :)

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[David Nelson1]

Steve, I would stay with the unisaw and a feeder with a WWII 20 tooth blade. I have a craftsman 1.5 horse that blade did the trick for me with the Unifeeder.

Lot of good info here (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?141255-T-G-flooring&highlight=), I even have a clip of the unifeeder running a few board thru. I got it down to where i was feeding and cutting with only a few seconds in between boards with one other person.

259993[259995 Utube clip (http://VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/embed/jDFEz6Hc_Mc?wmode=opaque[/VIDEO]) of Unifeeder

[Stephen Cherry]

I vote for the unisaw, and if you ever plan on upgrading the motor, now would be the time. That said, the only reason to do flooring yourself, in my opinion, is personal satisfaction. Where I am, (mid atlantic), I can buy good red or white oak flooring for 2.20-2.40 per foot, which is less than I can buy the lumber for. Cabinets are a different story though.

[steve joly]

Steve, I am not picking apart your plans. Please hear me out. The reason I ask is that this project might kill your bandsaw, will require a lot of blades even if it doesn't, may require the purchase of a new feeder, you are already talking about possibly buying a new motor for your TS, and (with respect), it seems like doing flooring is a new thing for you. And as someone else pointed out, the wood may or may not be through moving around. My point being, is it worth asking the question, "Does the energy and money I may spend just to do this one run of flooring outweight the time I could be spending (as you mentioned) doing cabinets/other stuff/etc. instead?". It sounds like you already have the TS and shaper, so cabinets are not really uncharted territory. I hope this makes sense.

The reason I mention all this is that my wife and I recently added a second story to our house and I did some of the work, myself. Yes, I was happy with my own results but to be honest, several of the projects became more of a burden as time went on and I found that I either spent money on tools/supplies I will never use again or more importantly, was 2/3rds of the way through and saying to myself, "I should've just subbed this out, even if it cost twice as much", just because it was (for me) uncharted territory and I actually wanted to be doing other things. And not one word of this may apply to you, just floating some food for thought out there.

Best of luck with it, whatever you decide to do... :)

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

How would a project like this kill my band saw? No question I will kill a couple blades. The table saw motor has been on my radar since I bought my saw I paid 200 for a fully restored working 1954 unisaw. The only down side was the phase converter which I attributed the price of a motor into the price of my saw not the price of this project. There is no feeder purchase in my future. I have used my current tools for hundreds of projects but you are right never making flooring. That is why I'm asking for opinions on this. If you would not have satisfaction out of building a home, making the floors, stairs, cabinets, trim... That is you. This has been a lifelong dream for me. I am not worried about the amount of work it is relaxing for me to be in my shop and not at work.

How do people think a carbide bandsaw blade would hold up to the job? With a blade that is 154 inches long that will help combat the heat of long days of running at least for the blade.

[James White]

Steve,

You are doing as I did. However my plan to do all the flooring changed when I realized the severe impracticality of it. Instead I opted to only do our bedroom with the lumber from our lot. Boy was I ever glad that I did that. It is really a lot of time consuming work and that was for a room that was only 15x15. Now I have lots of oak left to make furniture and I didn't loose so much time doing something that nets little personal satisfaction when compared to making furniture.

By the way. Was the lumber kiln dried? That will make a big difference on how it behaves once you start the milling process and the gaps that will result after the first winter.

James

[steve joly]

Steve,

You are doing as I did. However my plan to do all the flooring changed when I realized the severe impracticality of it. Instead I opted to only do our bedroom with the lumber from our lot. Boy was I ever glad that I did that. It is really a lot of time consuming work and that was for a room that was only 15x15. Now I have lots of oak left to make furniture and I didn't loose so much time doing something that nets little personal satisfaction when compared to making furniture.

By the way. Was the lumber kiln dried? That will make a big difference on how it behaves once you start the milling process and the gaps that will result after the first winter.

James

The lumber will be kiln dried in about a month or 2. I'm working to get my tools ready now while I wait for the kiln. I'm working on things like getting my planer/jointer blades sharpened, getting blades for the saws. My goal is to have the flooring made before I break ground on the house so I don't have to do it in the middle of building.

[Erik Loza]

Steve, it sounds like you are determined to do this. Yes, I would definitely use a carbide blade, either Lenox Woodmaster CT or Tri-Master, 1.0". Start with the slowest speed on your feeder. Fence stability/support will be critical. Please report back on how it goes.

Best of luck,

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Michael W. Clark]

Hi Steve,
Since you are having this kiln dried, I would ask them about straight-lining one side and also a few passes over the planer, or all the way to your final thickness. This would save you a LOT of time, work, material handling, and chip disposal and still allow you to do the sizing and running the joints on the equipment you listed.

[Jeff Duncan]

For what your contemplating a carbide blade for the bandsaw is not an option, it's a necessity! A normal steel blade will last you maybe a couple hours at best. With 2000' of material going through you may even dull the carbide blade? Also this is lumber from your property which introduces the potential for destroying blades. Do you have a good metal detector for checking the lumber? Guys who saw there own lumber always have stories of all the stuff they find embedded in trees. If your having it kiln dried by someone with the capability to, it may be worth having them scan it for you.

JeffD

[David Kumm]

If you use the bandsaw, don't get greedy and use too wide a carbide blade. You are not resawing here and tension will help you more than width. I'd do a 1/2" Trimaster or a 3/4" Resaw King to insure you can crank up the blade so it has no tendency to wander. Dave

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I've made flooring at home before, and will be making more this winter.

I straight line rip on the tablesaw, then rip to width on the TS using a stock feeder setup so that the blade is between the first and second wheel, from the infeed side. (I have a 3 wheel feeder) Note that it's OK to cut into the wheel, not so deep however that you cut the metal portion.

After that it's joint one edge and face, plane the other face.

On to the shaper to shape the groove with the jointed edge against the stock fence, using the stock feeder.

Next the tongue side is shaped and the strip machined to width in one shot using an outboard fence and stock feeder.

Relief cuts can be done on the shaper also if desired.

If desired you can also rip to width on the shaper using a rip blade and stock feeder..............Rod.

[Andy Pratt]

I have a full shop and sawmill but would not find it rewarding or economical to do the millwork on my own flooring. To answer your question though, if I had your tool setup and had to do it/wanted to do it I would recommend using the table saw to rip the boards and upgrading the motor on your saw to one you don't have to worry about damaging in the course of this job. A 3hp continuous duty motor from a major manufacturer (baldor, leeson, marathon, dayton) should have no problem doing what you are asking it to in this application, they are meant to run indefinitely at their rated amperage, so if the machine can physically handle it, the motor can. If it is not practical/cost effective to upgrade the motor on that saw, then this job justifies the purchase of a new table saw by the money you will save in doing this yourself. You got a great deal on the unisaw and can of course get your money back on it any time. I don't know how hard it is to upgrade a motor on one so I would let that make the decision for me.

[Mark Bolton]

Steve,
While I too am one who has done small runs of flooring in-house (commercial shop) and would advise you to think long and hard about this, I understand full well your intent so have at it.

Owning a small sawmill and having taken a lot of material from tree to finished product I find myself wondering if you've asked yourself if you'll even have enough material? You said you're property yielded 5000' of lumber. How was that measured? Green? A measure of the green stickered bundles? Log Rule? Is 5000' including shrinkage, any percentage of degrade?

You will have a massive amount of loss to degrade from the kiln, cup, twist, bow, checking, and so on. Every board foot off the mill is not usable once the drying/milling process is complete.

I can only guess at 20% loss to degrade and defects but a post on woodweb's sawing and drying forum would tell you within a few percent of what you can expect. After that you will loose another substantial amount when the material is straight lined. Depending on how much bow/crown you cut out (I always cut out every bit I can with flooring which leaves you with LOTS of shorts) you may lose 1/2" per side, per board, on the straight lining alone. Then when you mill your groove you'll lose a bit more and on the tongue when using a back fence you'll lose even more. Lastly, your 2000 sq' of flooring, when calculating material needed, has to include the tongue.

Considering all this, and 5MBF of material to start with, my fear would be with the degrade, defects, loss to straight lining, and loss to milling, you will likely not make it but it all depends on the quality of the lumber, knowledge of the sawyer, dryer, and miller.

I think the nail was stuck clearly on the head in the post that referenced doing a couple of strategic rooms. To take this a step further, do these rooms first. If you realize your going to fall short, or that you bit off more than you can chew, you will at least have the key rooms incorporating the original concept.

Again, not to rain on your parade, but in reading this thread you have to be at peace with a few things. This floor will cost more than an imported italian marble floor when done. You will go through a good bit of tooling. And this is not an insult, but you will likely not come out with the quality and stability of the material you can purchase.

For me personally I completely agree with your notion of "why not use the wood". I just always find myself wondering what the expected outcome is. If you were going for a rustic face nailed floor with gaps and cracks, and liked that look that's one thing (may be the case). But if your looking for a commercial type strip oak (2 1/4 - 3 1/4 - 5 1-4) floor, you can do it, but it will cost a tremendous amount and you'd better have either copious quantities of free time or hopefully this is the only aspect of the home you'll be handling.

Please please keep up with the updates..

[steve joly]

Steve,
While I too am one who has done small runs of flooring in-house (commercial shop) and would advise you to think long and hard about this, I understand full well your intent so have at it.

Owning a small sawmill and having taken a lot of material from tree to finished product I find myself wondering if you've asked yourself if you'll even have enough material? You said you're property yielded 5000' of lumber. How was that measured? Green? A measure of the green stickered bundles? Log Rule? Is 5000' including shrinkage, any percentage of degrade?

You will have a massive amount of loss to degrade from the kiln, cup, twist, bow, checking, and so on. Every board foot off the mill is not usable once the drying/milling process is complete.

I can only guess at 20% loss to degrade and defects but a post on woodweb's sawing and drying forum would tell you within a few percent of what you can expect. After that you will loose another substantial amount when the material is straight lined. Depending on how much bow/crown you cut out (I always cut out every bit I can with flooring which leaves you with LOTS of shorts) you may lose 1/2" per side, per board, on the straight lining alone. Then when you mill your groove you'll lose a bit more and on the tongue when using a back fence you'll lose even more. Lastly, your 2000 sq' of flooring, when calculating material needed, has to include the tongue.

Considering all this, and 5MBF of material to start with, my fear would be with the degrade, defects, loss to straight lining, and loss to milling, you will likely not make it but it all depends on the quality of the lumber, knowledge of the sawyer, dryer, and miller.

I think the nail was stuck clearly on the head in the post that referenced doing a couple of strategic rooms. To take this a step further, do these rooms first. If you realize your going to fall short, or that you bit off more than you can chew, you will at least have the key rooms incorporating the original concept.

Again, not to rain on your parade, but in reading this thread you have to be at peace with a few things. This floor will cost more than an imported italian marble floor when done. You will go through a good bit of tooling. And this is not an insult, but you will likely not come out with the quality and stability of the material you can purchase.

For me personally I completely agree with your notion of "why not use the wood". I just always find myself wondering what the expected outcome is. If you were going for a rustic face nailed floor with gaps and cracks, and liked that look that's one thing (may be the case). But if your looking for a commercial type strip oak (2 1/4 - 3 1/4 - 5 1-4) floor, you can do it, but it will cost a tremendous amount and you'd better have either copious quantities of free time or hopefully this is the only aspect of the home you'll be handling.

Please please keep up with the updates..

im pretty confident with my quantities of materials, like I said I have approximately 5000 bf of oak, I also have over 2000 bf of black walnut. The walnut is primarily going to be for kitchen cabinets... Hense why it's not been mentioned before, but some will be used in the floors as inlays. I also have 22 logs lined up to be milled in the next couple weeks for the second phase of building (once it is properly dried, minimum 6-8 months air then kiln) I do not claim to be an expert in making flooring, I've never done it, but our home we are building is relatively small around 2000 sq ft. Of that there are 2 bathrooms, a pantry, mud room, and kitchen which will be tile. I install hardwood as part of my second job, we typically do better than 2% waste. Which would mean with 2000 sq ft of flooring I can cover ~1960 sq ft of floor. Then take into account the tile and 2000 sq ft of floor is plenty in fact to much. Now to the milling process we are planning on either 2 or 3 widths flooring in order to maximize materials, and we like the look. So I figure the absolute worst i should do is 50% waste in the milling process. That would mean I would be able to make 2500 sq feet of flooring. I really hope I will be better than 50%.

Sorry I missed your question of how was our board footage answered... My number is not accurate entirely. We measured each layer as we stacked the lumber and rounded down to the nearest 10 for example if a layer in the stack was 4 11inch by 12 foot boards it would be 44 sq feet. We rounded that down to 40 and recorded that. It is also not entirely accurate to say bf, because we made ~5000 sq feet using the above mentioned calculations. And our boards are not 1 inch thick they are 1.125" thick allowing enough for some drying and still having enough to mill. We milled over 70 logs total, some were large enough that my 24 inch bar on the chain saw was not enough to straight cut and I hade to work around the logs a little.

Like I said earlier I am not doing this for cost. But I'm $800 into milling so far and that is over 7000 bf of lumber and by my calculations enough for my floors, and kitchen. That allows for some pretty nice cutters and blades before I will be at that Italian marble.

mark I'm glad you chimed in... I have a question for you since you stated that you have a sawmill. I'm assuming it is a bandsaw mill. In all our milling to date we have gone through 6 blades, one was a nail the rest were dulled and later resharpened. Would you think I need a carbide blade for my bandsaw or would a few steel ones be sufficient. It seems milling is going to be much harder on them than ripping. I'm not sure the length of the band on a mill but my saw is 154.5 inches. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to you and everyone else for contributing.

Steve

[Mark Bolton]

Others here would be of more value with regards to the band saw ripping and blades. I dont break down material with a band saw. We use a large TS with feeder. I would think you would go through several blades/re-sharpenings with this amount of ripping whichever option you use.

I have honestly never accurately tracked my yield with regards to finished material produced from rough. All I know is, at least for me, you go through a LOT more material than you initially assume.

You'll get a feel for how its going to go very quickly. What your yields will be, how account for the different widths, and so on. A lot will depend on what your looking for in a floor as well. Knots, defect, "character" , and the like.

With regards to my Italian Marble pun, as Ive said I completely understand your motivation and desire, but I always look at these things with at least a slight eye on business. This means even though personal time can be thought of as "free" I still assign some amount to it and to all the peripherals that go into such an endeavor. The cost of the wear and tear on tools, replacement cost, and so on. Even assigning $5/hr to each man hour, allowing minimal amounts for equipment wear and tear, and so on. The numbers rise very very quickly.

In no way trying to talk you out of it, it will be very rewarding to live on floors you milled yourself.

It would be really interesting to chronicle your progress here or elsewhere and post it here. This topic has come up numerous times. Would be great to see some real data on footage in vs. footage out and so on.