Need tips

[JP McKee]

Hey there everyone. I just found this forum and am exited about expanding my knowledge base of woodworking. I am am an archaeologist and have a strong interest in old ways of working wood, specifically house construction. I used to work as a carpenter. I enjoyed that work and am fairly good at it, but I have just recently become interested in building smaller things. This has presented some new problems for me because it seems like the details I have to be concerned with now are on a nearly miscroscopic level compared to what I have experience with.

I have started a new project that I need some tips on. I have begun constructing some Woodduck houses for myself and to sell. The material Im using is 1x12 rough cut cypress that I got from a local guy. I got the wood green and let it sit stacked to dry for about a month and then made a couple of houses. The wood distorted on these houses making them out of square and not very pretty up close, but still functional. I let the wood dry some more (it is inside a metal building) and tried it again. This time I found that some of the boards had started to bow lengthwise which made trying to fit them even more difficult.

I have also been cutting them with a Dewalt circular saw and am having trouble making the cuts as precise as I would like. I mark them from both sides with a swanson speed square and cut the line as precise as I can, but somehow it always seems to be a little off. I have a brand new Dewalt miter saw but it will only cut half way through the width of the boards and when I have to flip them to cut them, the results dont seem to be any better than the hand saw. I guess my main problem in a nutshell is keeping things square and it seems that no matter how hard I try, nothing fits as good as I would like. If I was just doing it for my own use it wouldnt bother me as bad, but I want them to look good to sell. Its getting really discouraging.

Any tips to improve my work?

[Joe Unni]

JP,

First - welcome to 'the Creek'!

Getting things square...

First, I'd be willing to bet that the green cypress is part of the problem. Though I've not dried any lumber myself, it is my understanding that air dried lumber even when stickered properly takes a year or more to dry out.

Let's say you have properly dried lumber and all you have is a circular saw to cut it with. Without starting an F vs. EZ war (stick around a while and you'll know what I mean) you need a guide of some type for your saw. You certainly can look into purchasing one, but I got on for quite a while with just a simple saw board.

You can make them different lengths so the following process is the same. Find yourself the straightest piece of would you can find. In this case for cutting 1 x 12, use a piece that is about 16" long by about 2" wide and 1/2 to 3/4 thick. As long as one edge is straight (your reference edge), it doesn't matter what the other edge looks like.

Next get your self a piece of 1/4" plywood and rip it to about 8" wide by 16" long.
Then, glue, nail, or screw the 2" board to the ply along one edge keeping your reference edge facing the remaining 6" of ply.
Once dry (if glued), clamp your sawboard to your bench with the ply overhanging the bench.
Then run your saw's foot along your reference edge and cut off any remaining ply.

This new edge will now be your reference edge. Now to cut something square just align your new reference edge with your cut line, clamp and cut. Just be careful to make sure your work is supported and the cut line is clear.

That's it! I used this method for a long time before I purchase a guide and it really works well.

I hope that's helpful.

Good luck,
-joe

[Don Baer]

I have also been cutting them with a Dewalt circular saw and am having trouble making the cuts as precise as I would like. I mark them from both sides with a swanson speed square and cut the line as precise as I can, but somehow it always seems to be a little off.

What kind of a quide are you using with your circ saw. Before I owned a table saw I used an extruded piece of Aluminum as a quide and could rip very accuate cuts even in pieces of 3/4 plywood 8 feet long. They sell saw quides at the local borg for as little as $20 or if you want you can opt for one of the more expensive saw quides that many here have.

In terms of the bowing after stickering, how far apart are the stickers when you stack the wood, how much weight are you applying to the boards when drying?

PS welcome to the creek and whats a duckhouse ?

[JP McKee]

PS welcome to the creek and whats a duckhouse ?

Tree or post-mounted nest boxes for woodducks.

Thanks for the replies folks. Maybe this will help me establish a smoothe running system for making these houses.