Wanna make some closet cedar

[dirk martin]

I've got a bunch of 5/4 aromatic cedar.
Thinking about turning a bunch of it into closet lining, for family.
Got some questions:

1) I plan on resawing it. What's the final thickness I should shoot for?

2) Do I tongue and groove it? Or do I just rabbet the edges?

3) If T/G, I'll use my router table. Straight bits? Wedge bits?

4) if rabbet, how deep?

5) If my sisters measures that she needs 100 sq. feet, what should I cut as a typical minimum length? And, is random widths ok? Seems like that could be a nightmare to in stall, as I think it thru in my head.

[Lee Schierer]

1) I plan on resawing it. What's the final thickness I should shoot for? I would shoot for 3/8" thick if you want complete cleanup on the sawn side. However, you could leave the backs rough, do all your machining off the front face and stay closer to 1/2" thick.

2) Do I tongue and groove it? Or do I just rabbet the edges? Most commercial stuff is T&G

3) If T/G, I'll use my router table. Straight bits? Wedge bits? Most manufactured cedar strips have a special T&G edge profile

4) if rabbet, how deep? For 3/8 thick the tonuge should be 1/8 x 3/16

5) If my sisters measures that she needs 100 sq. feet, what should I cut as a typical minimum length? And, is random widths ok? Seems like that could be a nightmare to in stall, as I think it thru in my head. Random widths will work, but you will need to stay with a single width all the way across each run

[Frank Drew]

As Lee suggests, there's no reason to finish plane the backsides, so go for the maximum thickness you can which will be useful for any edge treatments you choose. I'd probably shiplap them, to save time (one setup).

[dirk martin]

5) If my sisters measures that she needs 100 sq. feet, what should I cut as a typical minimum length? And, is random widths ok? Seems like that could be a nightmare to in stall, as I think it thru in my head. Random widths will work, but you will need to stay with a single width all the way across each run


I'm lost on this one. Are you assuming the boards are running lengthwise up and down, or left to right?

[Frank Drew]

I meant to say "go for maximum thickness after resawing".

[Charles Lent]

Commercially available cedar closet lining is only about 1/4" thick. This 5/4 cedar sounds too good to me to be made into mere closet lining, especially if left 3/8 or more thick. It's a waste of good wood since it doesn't need to be that thick to do it's job. Re-sawing, planing, and edge jointing is also a lot of work. It would seem better to line the closet with purchased cedar closet liner and save this 5/4 cedar to make some cedar chests from it.

Just my thoughts.
Charley

[Kent A Bathurst]

As Lee suggests, there's no reason to finish plane the backsides, so go for the maximum thickness you can which will be useful for any edge treatments you choose. I'd probably shiplap them, to save time (one setup).

Bingo - shiplap is much easier to do [especially on the thin stuff - as you will have after resaw], has the same effect, and looks the same as T&G. I would make the shiplap cuts and then one more pass on the TS @ 45* to put a very slight bevel on the exposed edge - or a few fast swipes with a block plane will do the same.

[Lee Schierer]

I'm lost on this one. Are you assuming the boards are running lengthwise up and down, or left to right?

It doesn't matter. Any boards in a single row or single column have to be the same width.