When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.
Snap a chalkline on either the convex or concave side, use your bandsaw to carefully cut to the line, then clean up the bandsaw cut on your jointer. Just another option assuming you have a bandsaw.
How about an aluminum extrusion. When my solar was put on, I talked the installer into some 21' extrusions they use to rack the panels. Haven't used it for anything yet, but it sure looks straight.
Maybe if you see someone doing an installation, they might have some extra you could get cheep. Cut it to 10'...a few screws......
Rick P
Looks like it worked well, Scott.
This sort of problem reminds me of a trick I saw in the tips section of Fine Woodworking a long time ago. This guy had a piece of aluminum channel about 24' long that he stored above his table saw using some sort of hoist. Within a couple of minutes he was able to lower this real long fence down to the saw, attach it to the actual fence, and then rip wonky material up to 12' long. When he was done, he just lifted it back up to the rafters (or whatever).
Bring the boards to my house as I have both a track saw AND a large jointer.
re: planer snipe
If you maintain a bit of upward pressure when feeding the board, until the board is halfway through, and then maintain a little upward pressure on the outfeed side until the board is finished, you'll find that the vast majority, if not all, of your snipe disappears. A large part of snipe if the board angling into the head slightly when both rollers aren't engaged, or when you have a long board who's weight is significantly fighting the rollers.
Anyhow, personally I would have taken the board to my local mill and had them straight line rip it. Maybe I'd even have them just rip it to final size.
Last edited by John Coloccia; 09-15-2014 at 6:52 PM.
Straight line ripping boards was one of the reasons I bought a slider last winter. Would like to have got a bigger one, but got the 79" stroke slider. Use a clamp to hold one end of the board, and hold the other end as I feed the board through. I can now go directly from the tablesaw to the glue table for panels. Too bad I couldn't get the 8' slider, but it is more than I was willing to spend.
Hi Scott,
Where in Central Oregon are you headed? We love it here in Sisters. Great place to retire!
Ed
Hello Ed,
We're heading to Bend, right down the road from you. We love Central Oregon and are excited to be moving close to our son who is a general contractor in Bend.
Scott Vroom
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
Scott, you will really enjoy Bend. I will tell you, though, that quality used machinery here is tough to come by and that I have either found some items in Portland or have had to buy new. You might want to look hard before you leave CA!
Ed
Ed, I plan to haul what I have now up to Oregon and purchase new for the items I still need.
Yeah, Bend is a great area to retire. We've been vacationing there for 23 years, since the kids were toddlers. It is getting a bit crowded though......when we first visited in 1991 the population was 20K, now it's 80K. And with the State of Oregon unwilling to expand the Urban Growth Area into the surrounding agricultural lands, city housing prices are rising. We're looking at small acreage outside the city limits....most likely MUA10 or EFU zoning (ag).
Scott Vroom
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
If any board is held down on the outfeed table, you can straighten it. If you need to take some off of each end, start the board where you need to past the cutter head, and take off what you need to with however many passes it takes. A lot of times you need to take some off of both ends, so do one end, and turn the board around. Eye it after each pass to see when you have it good enough that a few passes will run the whole edge.
I can't count the hundreds of times we've done this.
Now, I wouldn't do a whole truckload of lumber like this, but say you are doing a stack of a hundred parts that are going to get edge jointed before running through the table saw, where most of them can take a full pass. You sight each piece as you pick it up, and do what you need to with that one piece until you can make a complete pass across the jointer.
Scott Vroom
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.