How to use DeWalt Planer to make clapboards taper more?

[michael langman]

Maybe if you had some extra clapboard siding like what is on the house you could reverse it so it has the angled side set onto the angled side on the house. Then the flat side of the many pieces of siding you have added could be attached to a flat 2x . Just a wild thought..

[Ken Higginbotham]

i agree with the scribe a line on a trim board idea, that plus some foam from a door/window sealing kit should make a good seal.

ditto - sounds good

[Eric Schmid]

The only reason I could see for attaching anything between the 2x studs and the exterior of the house is if you are going to be using the house wall as the back wall of your shed. From your description it sounds like you are adding T-111 over the 2x studs which will act as the back wall for your shed. If that is correct, why does the air space between the back wall of the shed and the house side need to be sealed?

As you mention the proper way to do this is to cut the siding and integrate the framing (or just build a freestanding shed). If you are attaching over the siding instead, the less wood to wood contact the better, at least for minimizing rot between the siding and studs. The studs should be painted on all sides before installed.

How are you going to seal the roof of the shed where it meets the house wall? Or are you going to make the shed roof independent of the house's exterior wall?

[Doug Hobkirk]

EDIT - This is all wrong. It's out of order with later posts.
So I retract everything I asked here.

A simple taper jig for the planer will do this for you (as described by Jeff Duncan above). Maybe a picture will help:

Attachment 326351

Run a length of clapboard through, then cut into lengths as needed. You will find, though , that planing painted (or primed) material is very hard on planer knives---the paint generates a lot of heat and dulls the knives. If you can remove the paint from the surface to be planed, you'll be better off.

The graphic is really helpful. Thanks for the time and effort.

BUT IT'S WRONG, isn't it?

I had planned something like that, feeding the clapboard pieces in crosswise (unless I am misunderstanding the illustration).

But then I realized that I'd probably have lots of with the knives cutting into the grain, so I started building a similar sled that's 4' long and cuts a long piece of clapboard before I chop it into 6.5" wide pieces.

My proposed sled is 48" long, 12" wide, shimmed up on one side 1.5" (subject to testing), And I planned to trim the bottom 2" off the clapboards to eliminate unnecessary sawdust.

[Doug Hobkirk]

+1 Or tape a piece of plastic to the clapboard wider than your wall, build your wall, then use spray foam in between the gaps and use a knife to trim the foam and plastic even with the new temporary wall. It trims easily. (You could also pull up the plastic on one side, tape it to the wall, and spray in the foam from the opposite side.) Then you can paint it. It would be a better seal and not stick to your clapboard siding.

I like this! This might just happen. Depending on how complicated and effective the sled is. And it'd be nice to return most of the clapboard and get $40 back.

[Doug Hobkirk]

i agree with the scribe a line on a trim board idea, that plus some foam from a door/window sealing kit should make a good seal.

Yeah, yeah, yeah!
Written with a smile.

This still might happen. I really liked the idea of solving the problem with my clapboard idea, but it's not working out as easy or cheap as I was hoping.

[Jeff Duncan]

Graphic is pretty much what I'm talking about. Here's a couple, (crappy cell phone) pics I took of my jig, end view first…you can just see the strip on the bottom which provides the angled cut. This is the out feed end of the jig, the infeed is where you place your cleat to keep the planer from feeding the jig through.


then a side view….you can see where stock has been removed for roller/cutterhead clearance.


Hopefully it makes a bit mores sense now? You simply pop the jig down on your planer bed and run your stock through lengthwise as normal. Then you cut to length. This particular jig is what I use to make beveled glass stops for interior doors. But you can configure it to run different widths/angles of stock.

good luck,
JeffD

[Doug Hobkirk]

Graphic is pretty much what I'm talking about. Here's a couple, (crappy cell phone) pics I took of my jig, end view first…you can just see the strip on the bottom which provides the angled cut. This is the out feed end of the jig, the infeed is where you place your cleat to keep the planer from feeding the jig through.

Hopefully it makes a bit mores sense now? You simply pop the jig down on your planer bed and run your stock through lengthwise as normal. Then you cut to length. This particular jig is what I use to make beveled glass stops for interior doors. But you can configure it to run different widths/angles of stock.

good luck,
JeffD

Thank you, now I comprehend.

I was thinking "sled" that I would feed through with the clapboard adhered to it. Your idea is reconfigure the base of the planer so I just feed the stock through.

Interesting. That might be safer. Or more dangerous. I need to think and maybe experiment.

[Jeff Duncan]

Safer….if done correctly

The key thing is making sure the feed rollers are in full contact with the stock and not the jig! As long as that detail is maintained it's as safe as running stock through the planer normally. I've probably run several thousand feet of material this way over the years and never had an incident. Most of it having been run through a small Delta 12-1/2" planer I used to keep around just for this application. I should also mention that a little wax on the jig helps keep stock moving through easily.

good luck,
JeffD

[Jason Roehl]

If you're looking to attach a stud to an exterior wall, I'd cut back the siding on that exterior wall to allow the stud to sit flat. And, if you don't intend to remove the siding, then I'd at least try to slip some 15# felt strips behind the siding and folded around the inside corner you've created. Trim the siding back far enough to either slip the T1-11 siding into the gap between the end of the siding and the stud, or insert a trim piece.