Using Woodmaster to make heart pine tongue and groove

[Christopher Shockley]

I'm renovating my 1890s New Orleans Victorian shotgun house and I'm going to need some 1" heart pine floors. I'm pulling up and salvaging most of it, but I'll need a couple hundred sq ft more when I go to reinstall it. I'm also adding a camelback addition and I would like to make about 700 sq ft of 3/4 for that and I plan on matching the molding upstairs with the rest of the house. Because I'm removing a section of the roof and opening up all the walls, I'll have plenty enough wood to make what I need. The house is one of the most significant types of New Orleans bracketed shotgun architecture in the neighborhood, so I feel an obligation to maintain and reproduce as many original elements as I can. And there is something in me that just want's to keep as much original wood with the house as I can.

So the cost of making all this stuff, the fact that most millworks wont use my old wood, and my lack of satisfaction paying someone to do things like this has led me purchasing a Woodmaster. I've found a great deal on an 18" WM with almost every accessory made. I'm pretty handy and have renovated many properties over the years, but I've never done this particular work before, so I'm looking for advice on the process of turning this stuff into what I need. After many hours of research, here is how I think the process will go. Please feel free to pick my plans apart and tell me where I'll run into issues of if there is a better way.

1. Remove all nails
2. Run full stock through the planer to get 2 flat sides. (The boards are relatively strait, but some slightly twisted. I've seen people taping shims to the bottom to get it flat though the planer. Is that necessary?)
3. Use a track saw to get a strait edge off the flat edge. (I do not have a jointer and I was hoping to do long 12' lengths)
4. Use the bandsaw to rip the width of the board to 1 1/8 and 7/8. (is this the best way?)
5. Rip the stock down to width. (starting with 2x6, need 4 1/4)
6. Run stock through WM to plane to depth and cut T&G with 3 sided moulder.

The floor in the house is 16' boards I believe, so I'd prefer to use as long of boards as I can. Most of the material I'll have is 10-14 ft. I know it will be more difficult to work with, but I'm planning on trying to somehow create infeed and outfeed surfaces for the bandsaw and woodmaster. Any tips on that?

If you could provide any help or advice, it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, Chris

[Warren Lake]

machines I use for that are jointer flat, planer parrellel, jointer an edge, table saw width or cut your width and tongue and or groove on the shaper if they are pretty close width, or rip width table saw then shaper tongue and groove, stroke sander or some other sander. You can remove the nails but will still get some knife damage from the residual rust around the nails if there is rust. your tongue and groove is best cut from the side not from the top,

Id have to see the material before I decided what I did to it, maybe reason to not reduce it too much and keep more character. Dust collection will enter into it as well, Realize you have diff equipment but im telling you stuff I would use, not what you have, part of doing things is having the right machinery. Ive had to mcgiver lots of stuff but the machines ive said are the basic machines. You can also rip to width slot your boards and use a tongue not needing a shaper. table saws can do lots. 14 to 16 feet is more difficult to work with but having proper support each side and some feel and its doable.

[Richard Coers]

Ignoring the twist when machining will likely lead to issues with resawing, tongue and groove alignment, and increased gaps or sanding issues after the install. A track saw for 12' strips isn't going to be really accurate either. I'd make a relief cut on the back side with the Woodmaster too. Don't ignore insect holes in recycled lumber. You might just be bringing in powder post beetles into the living space.

[Lisa Starr]

Don't let this scare you. I did something very similar to produce our kitchen flooring.

1) Remove all nails, check again and still assume you'll ding a cutter/blade somewhere along the line.
2) Joint 1 edge. I didn't own a jointer, so did it with a circular saw and straight edge.
3) Using a sled, joint 1 side flat with the planer.
4) If necessary, reduce thickness with bandsaw, leaving stock to plane.
5) Rip 2nd edge on table saw to width, allowing for tongue
6) Plane to finished thickness
7) Mill grooves. (I found I had the best results setting up a very narrow, stiff table and using a handheld router! If you own two routers, leave one set up for this op)
8) Mill tongues. (Ditto above)
9) Run thru drum sander.
10) If your ends are to be tongue/groove also, just use the setup routers to add these as you install the flooring.

[Warren Lake]

yeah what Richard said, relief cuts bottom do that as well, forgot but always do that. called breaking the back and will take some of the want to move away.

[Christopher Shockley]

Ignoring the twist when machining will likely lead to issues with resawing, tongue and groove alignment, and increased gaps or sanding issues after the install. A track saw for 12' strips isn't going to be really accurate either. I'd make a relief cut on the back side with the Woodmaster too. Don't ignore insect holes in recycled lumber. You might just be bringing in powder post beetles into the living space.


Thanks for the tips. How would you suggest addressing the twisting? Is leveling it out with shims an ok solution in your opinion?

[Christopher Shockley]

Don't let this scare you. I did something very similar to produce our kitchen flooring.

1) Remove all nails, check again and still assume you'll ding a cutter/blade somewhere along the line.
2) Joint 1 edge. I didn't own a jointer, so did it with a circular saw and straight edge.
3) Using a sled, joint 1 side flat with the planer.
4) If necessary, reduce thickness with bandsaw, leaving stock to plane.
5) Rip 2nd edge on table saw to width, allowing for tongue
6) Plane to finished thickness
7) Mill grooves. (I found I had the best results setting up a very narrow, stiff table and using a handheld router! If you own two routers, leave one set up for this op)
8) Mill tongues. (Ditto above)
9) Run thru drum sander.
10) If your ends are to be tongue/groove also, just use the setup routers to add these as you install the flooring.

Thanks for your reply! Luckily with the woodmaster, you can install 2 routers and the the tounge / groove is cut in a jig on the outfeed side, so you can shape 3 sides at once. I was wondering about cutting the t&g on the ends. I'm not really understanding how you did it. How did you keep them strait?

[Tom M King]

There are companies that make it. Google can find them. For that job, you won't save any money having to buy the equipment, even if your time is worth nothing. I bought some 20' long with no nail holes, and very few small knots. I inlaid the 3/4" flooring into the tops of some 1-1/2" flooring in an 1828 house to replace some rotten parts.

http://historic-house-restoration.com/images/ElamsHouse_Oct._2012_052.JPG

[Dave Sabo]

What are you doing for dust collection ? You're going to make tons of shavings to deal with.

[Christopher Shockley]

There are companies that make it. Google can find them. For that job, you won't save any money having to buy the equipment, even if your time is worth nothing. I bought some 20' long with no nail holes, and very few small knots. I inlaid the 3/4" flooring into the tops of some 1-1/2" flooring in an 1828 house to replace some rotten parts.

http://historic-house-restoration.com/images/ElamsHouse_Oct._2012_052.JPG

The vintage lumber I have has no knots and was milled at the same sawmill as everything else in the house. It's all stamped with Wesson Lumber Co. This wood does not exist anymore unless it's salvaged. Salvaged and remilled it costs about $10/ sqft for 1" and $6 for 3/4. I need about $10000 of flooring. I'm getting the equipment for $3700 and I originally looked into it to recreate the fluted molding throughout the lower floor for upstairs. So it will get lots more use, plus I have a million other things I want to build with it.

None of what I'm planning on doing is about cutting costs or saving money. It all comes out of a genuine love of my city, it's architecture, my house and my desire for the satisfaction that can only come a maker making something.

[Christopher Shockley]

I'll be buying some sort of dust collector, just haven't decided on one yet.

[Jim Becker]

Due to the nature of the actual material, I'm kinda in favor of you doing what you propose, despite the need for more tools (LOL) and quite a bit of effort to process it. As you indicate, material like that no longer is available on the market as "new". (unless someone discovers a hidden stash of it somewhere)

[Lisa Starr]

Chris, I made a little jig that I could support the router with as I milled across the ends of the boards. I'll locate it or photos of it when I'm home later today.

It is great that you'll be milling 3 sides at once, but the basic steps of jointing an edge and a face prior to any other milling will go the furthest in assuring easy milling of the grooves and a quality floor once laid. Look at videos of a planer sled and then figure out the best way to make a one as long as your stock. It took time, but laid the ground work for all the rest of the steps.

[Lisa Starr]

Chris,

Jig is gone, and I haven't located any photos yet. Basically, I made a U shaped jig. One leg of the U had a tongue along the inside edge and the other had a groove. The bottom of U was just a scrap pocket screwed into the legs. I would slip the legs over the mating tongue/groove on the piece of flooring and clamp it leaving room for the router bit at the bottom of the U. I just ran the hand held router using a bearing on the bit to mill the tongue or groove. The jig helped support the router.