Rip

It's been a busy couple of weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday but I found a little time to dedicate to the kayak Sunday after my family gathering.  My original plan was to scarf the boards together before ripping them into strips but I ended up ripping the boards first instead.

I wanted the scarf joints to be an 8:1 ratio to maximize the glue surface for making a strong joint.  This meant that for a ¾” board I would need to taper the ends 6”.  That’s pretty difficult without proper woodworking tools but I gave it a go.  I tried a band saw but the blade wandered too much.  I tried hand planing but it was inaccurate and labor intensive.   I built a dedicated miter box but the tapered ends were getting damaged.  Wood chisels and a hammer gouged too much and sanding on a belt sander was, well, just a silly and desperate idea.  I needed a better solution.

I turned to the Blue Heron kayak builders forum for advice and got a great deal of positive feedback.  The general consensus was to rip the boards then scarf as needed.  I was also told to not get too lost in the details about the length of the joint as a simple butt joint would suffice.  Some of the builders even leave their strips short then create joints as they apply the strips to the forms.  I had fallen into the trap so many novices do in unfamiliar territory.  I made an assumption that the standard construction method is to use long strips then I set about that course without considering alternatives.  There is always another way to do just about anything so keep your mind open and find what works best in a given situation.

Armed with this knowledge I ripped about a third of the lumber this past Sunday.  To do this I used a 10” Skill cabinet table saw with a Freud Diablo Ultra Finish blade (D0760X).  Any sturdy table saw is powerful enough to cut the strips but the blade is important.  The Diablo is a thin kerf 7.25” blade which helps minimize waste.  I picked this blade because it was recommended by other builders and for $20 I felt it was well worth the price.

 This is the Diablo D0760X 7.25” 60T blade with my magnetic Rigid feathboard.

I marked the ends of each board with two orientation lines prior to ripping.  One line was horizontal and one diagonal.  This helped me keep them in order after they came off of the table.  The only reason to do this step is if you want to matchbook the grain but it’s not necessary. 

I then fed the lumber through the saw cutting each strip proud of ¼”.  The plan was to get close with a little room for error.  Unfortunately the table saw top was aluminum rendering my magnetic featherboard useless.  This forced me to push the board both from the end and the side so that it would stay against the saw’s fence.  I don’t recommend doing this as you can quickly end up with shorter fingers.  Ultimately I ended up with a pile of strips that were slightly variable in thickness.  A few passes through the planer will take care of this problem but using a featherboard would safely yield much more consistent strips without this extra step.  I plan to do it anyway to get rid of saw marks and make a smooth surface on the strips.

 I’ve abandoned the blue painters tape in favor of plastic wrap for keeping the strips organized.  The tape wasn’t sticky enough.

 

I hope to have some time this coming Sunday to plane the strips.  December is going to be every bit as hectic as November and spare time will be a rare commodity!