Originally Posted by
Jim German
Lastly, that jointer/planer that you linked has a pretty small table to be jointing 7' boards. Depending on how rough the lumber you get is, you'll also be making a bunch of passes for each board. .
Yes, That was my first thought. How strong are you? This will be a lot of hard work, but you can feel what it's like by this test. Set a 37" long chunk of scrap at the same height as that jointer. This represents that jointer's 37"length. Now take a 7' oak board. Lift it to up and rest 18"of the oak boards face flat on half of the simulated jointer tables. Now push down on that 18" while you support the remaining 66'' that hangs off the table. The 7' of oak is only fully supported by the jointer tables for about 1/3 of it's pass over them. That's why big jointers with long tables are best for this. A planer sled would be less effort.
It might be cheaper and a lot less work to order your oak S4S (surfaced on both faces and both edges).
This flooring can be made with minimal machinery, but it will be slow going. Only you can say if it's worth it. Heck, there's guys here in the neander forum who prepare rough stock with hand tools only!
Last edited by Andrew Joiner; 03-13-2014 at 1:08 PM.
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