Quick shaper question with making flooring

[steve joly]

I'm starting the tongue and groove on my flooring project tomorrow. I just wanted to make sure I was thinking of this in the correct way. I was going to put the cutter on the shaper so that the bottom of the flooring is down when passing through the shaper. This should ensure that the bottoms of each board are perfectly in contact with the floor and the tops will be sanded after instillation. If I were to flip it the bottoms may be off by a small amount and there would be gaps between the flooring and sub flooring. I'm sorry if this sounds like a stupid question I've got a ton invested in this project and this is the final step so it would be reassuring to have my plan confirmed. As always thank you for your help

steve

[Mel Fulks]

Since it is flooring (and not a cabinet door) I would shape them bottom down . They will fit together well ,and as you noted ,the sanding will take make top surface flush.

[Erik Christensen]

Steve - I have not done flooring with my shaper but if I did I would do it as you plan - the reference face goes against the table and for unfinished flooring that will be sanded post installation the reference face is the underside

BTW- from the sounds of it you are not doing just a few boards - hope you have a power feeder and good dust collection :)

[Mark Wooden]

Ayup, You're doing it right.

[Peter Quinn]

Thats the way I'd do it, face up, and I've done plenty. Good luck with it!

[steve joly]

Steve - I have not done flooring with my shaper but if I did I would do it as you plan - the reference face goes against the table and for unfinished flooring that will be sanded post installation the reference face is the underside

BTW- from the sounds of it you are not doing just a few boards - hope you have a power feeder and good dust collection :)

thanks for the confirmation. I got the shaper set up for the first width last night and as soon as I finish my morning coffee I will be out running boards through the shaper.

Erik, you are right I'm doing quite a bit. I've been working on this for a while now but I'm making around 1500 square feet of flooring to do the main level of my house. I'm breaking ground in March so this is in preparation. I'm making three sizes of oak, 2.25, 3.25, and 4. And I'm making two sizes of black walnut 1.75 and 2.25. The walnut will be borders throughout the house. All the oak is from my land the trees I cut to clear for the house and the walnut is from a huge tree taken down by hurricane sandy.

I've already rough ripped the boards on the bandsaw, face jointed, planed 3 times, and edge jointed. Funny I'm about half done since I have to do tongue, groove, end match, and relief cuts but I feel like I'm in the home stretch. This project has thought me a lot about tool setup and especially about the importance of power feeders, I have a 1/4 hp and a 1 hp and they are essential.

Steve

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Steve, I would suggest that for the final pas (forming the tongue) you use an outboard fence and profile and dimension in one pass.

That way your pieces will all be the same width..................Regards, Rod.

[Richard McComas]

Hi Steve, I would suggest that for the final pas (forming the tongue) you use an outboard fence and profile and dimension in one pass.

That way your pieces will all be the same width..................Regards, Rod.How do you make/setup an outboard fence. Photos or a link would be great.

[jack forsberg]

How do you make/setup an outboard fence. Photos or a link would be great.


I like face down for wide and warped wood and here a out board fence on a setup i did last summer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xv9wEZ2azI

[Jeff Duncan]

An outboard fence is as simple as clamping a straight board to your shaper table across from the cutter. Obviously this can only be done with a power feeder and the feeder should be canted towards the fence…..or away from the cutter;) It's great both for it's simplicity and that it ensures all your stock is the exact same beginning to end.

Jack, I love that you take the time to make videos showing how you work. It's great to see how guys do things differently! Question….is there any reason for working from the back of the shaper? I've never seen that before? Also must be great to work outdoors! I could never do that in my area……I'm happy just opening the shops doors in the summer:D

JeffD

[jack forsberg]

jeff less table to reach over to hold the wood to the fence before the feeder takes it. not something you can do with the shaper up tight to a wall. My small spindle molder here as it was easy to take out side. i do plan on taking the big wadkin out side in the mill shop that will have a front porch level with the shop floor for the pump cart. Man it was hot that summer.

[J.R. Rutter]

How do you make/setup an outboard fence. Photos or a link would be great.

Here is a very basic setup. I used spacer blocks for fast changeovers.

http://home.nas.com/harmonic/NewShop/sticking%20spacer.jpg

I have also threaded bolt holes into tables and used slots in the fence to allow adjustment.

[Richard McComas]

Here is a very basic setup. I used spacer blocks for fast changeovers.

http://home.nas.com/harmonic/NewShop/sticking%20spacer.jpg

I have also threaded bolt holes into tables and used slots in the fence to allow adjustment. OK, let me ask. Do you set up the shaper cutter and shaper fence as you normally would if you were not using an outboard fence and then ad the outboard fence? When you ad the outboard fence is there any play between the two fences. For example if your stiles and rails are 2 1/4 do you set the outboard fence at exactly 2 1/4 from the shaper fence or do leave a little room/play?

[Jeff Duncan]

Your outboard fence is the one that is set 2-1/4" from the cutter. Your shaper fence is not set to anything necessarily precise, (you don't even need to have a shaper fence for this cut), you just need it pushed back from the cutter a bit to allow clearance for the stock to go through. So if your milling the 2-1/4" stock from say 2-3/8" stock, you'll need at least 2-1/2" between the fences…..though I usually leave a bit more than 1/4". You don't want the shaper fence too far back as you don't want to compromise your dust collection;)

good luck,
JeffD

[Richard McComas]

Thanks Jack, Jr and Jeff. I think I got it.

[J.R. Rutter]

Yeah, the fence was just there for dust collection and a reference point for the spacer blocks.

[Peter Quinn]

thanks for the confirmation. I got the shaper set up for the first width last night and as soon as I finish my morning coffee I will be out running boards through the shaper.

Erik, you are right I'm doing quite a bit. I've been working on this for a while now but I'm making around 1500 square feet of flooring to do the main level of my house. I'm breaking ground in March so this is in preparation. I'm making three sizes of oak, 2.25, 3.25, and 4. And I'm making two sizes of black walnut 1.75 and 2.25. The walnut will be borders throughout the house. All the oak is from my land the trees I cut to clear for the house and the walnut is from a huge tree taken down by hurricane sandy.

I've already rough ripped the boards on the bandsaw, face jointed, planed 3 times, and edge jointed. Funny I'm about half done since I have to do tongue, groove, end match, and relief cuts but I feel like I'm in the home stretch. This project has thought me a lot about tool setup and especially about the importance of power feeders, I have a 1/4 hp and a 1 hp and they are essential.

Steve


Just a thought, the end matching does little for this process on those widths unless you are running a pattern like herringbone or chevron where the but ends need to be held captive. You will stagger all joints on a decent custom flooring job by at least 18", so every butt end will be held tight on both sides. THey aren't going anywhere, thats a lot of ends to groove for little gain. We have an end matcher at work and the boss still tries to talk people out of it in cases where its of little value, which is most cases expect wide plank or parquet. If you have a few borders that need end grooves its easy enough to slot those on install.

On the back fence/hood issue I've seen set ups with a pressure bar attached to the regular fences pushing back toward the back fence with some sort of springs, I have a set up like that at work for relatively narrow parts that are more likely to wander and need the extra support, for wider more rigid stiff its of little concern. If you take a close look at the weaver set ups or some of the Aigner stuff they both have a spring action device holding the stock to the back fence via the main fence. I mention it less because its needed for flooring but as a reference point for further research.

[Rod Sheridan]

J.R, I smiled when I read the note on your hood, having failed to do that once...............Rod