Red Maple

[Doctor Dave]

It's about what you would expect. I know a guy in MA who milled red maple for his kitchen cabinets and cherry for the floor. Fit well with the rustic look of his home built house. He also milled hemlock and white pine for the house; all the trees except for the cherry were off of his 40 acres. The cherry he snagged off of a neighbor's firewood pile, at the price for stove wood

 

[woodshop]

It's about what you would expect. I know a guy in MA who milled red maple for his kitchen cabinets and cherry for the floor. Fit well with the rustic look of his home built house. He also milled hemlock and white pine for the house; all the trees except for the cherry were off of his 40 acres. The cherry he snagged off of a neighbor's firewood pile, at the price for stove wood

Interesting... he started with firewood sized chunks of cherry, and made flooring out of it. I'd be interested in knowing how he did that, what size pieces he milled out of it etc. Sounds like a neat idea if you can make it work. Maybe the cherry was in larger chunks than I'm imagining?

 

[Doctor Dave]

Interesting... he started with firewood sized chunks of cherry, and made flooring out of it. I'd be interested in knowing how he did that, what size pieces he milled out of it etc. Sounds like a neat idea if you can make it work. Maybe the cherry was in larger chunks than I'm imagining?

Uh, yea. His neighbor had some log lengths in his firewood pile. It wasn't actually cut into rounds yet--he rescued it just in time.

 

[Adkpk]

[QUOTE=CaseyForrest Wanted 1.75", ended up with 1.75" on one edge and 2" on the other. Apparently I didnt tighten the depth adjustment enough, but just on one side

Been there, done that.

 

[woodshop]

Uh, yea. His neighbor had some log lengths in his firewood pile. It wasn't actually cut into rounds yet--he rescued it just in time.

I have seen flooring laid out in 6x18 inch small planks laid together so they overlap in patterns... thought this is maybe what he did. Just seemed like a lot of work doing that from small chunks of wood. Possible, but impractical, which is why I asked.

 

[bookerdog]

me to

thats why planers are so great.

 

[Adkpk]

I've never used my planer for a that use. Only to take out the ridges from milling. I usually cut down the side of the board to get smaller boards to use for something later, like a fire. :rockn: :jester:

 

[Doctor Dave]

I have seen flooring laid out in 6x18 inch small planks laid together so they overlap in patterns... thought this is maybe what he did. Just seemed like a lot of work doing that from small chunks of wood. Possible, but impractical, which is why I asked.

Do you mean a parque flooring? The good stuff is tongue&groove full thickness, not thin faced ply. Seems like short pieces would need to be T&G for stability. If you had the equipment, you could crank out the stuff from short chunks no one thinks of milling.

 

[dustytools]

I have seen flooring laid out in 6x18 inch small planks laid together so they overlap in patterns... thought this is maybe what he did. Just seemed like a lot of work doing that from small chunks of wood. Possible, but impractical, which is why I asked.

Sounds a lot like a herringbone pattern to me.

 

[woodshop]

Do you mean a parque flooring? The good stuff is tongue&groove full thickness, not thin faced ply. Seems like short pieces would need to be T&G for stability. If you had the equipment, you could crank out the stuff from short chunks no one thinks of milling.

Don't know what it was called, but yes it was tongue and grooved to keep them attached to one another and in place. I still think although possible to make the pieces out of short sections of wood like 18 inch firewood size, it would be piecemeal, and tedious. One of those "labor of love"' kinda things. A whole days futzing around in the shop and you may end up with a small pile of flooring sections. On the other hand, take longer S3S or S4S boards, run them through the shaper for your tongue and groove and then cut them to size would go a whole lot faster I think. You would also get more uniform pieces that would fit better to one another when you lay the floor.

 

[Doctor Dave]

Don't know what it was called, but yes it was tongue and grooved to keep them attached to one another and in place. I still think although possible to make the pieces out of short sections of wood like 18 inch firewood size, it would be piecemeal, and tedious. One of those "labor of love"' kinda things. A whole days futzing around in the shop and you may end up with a small pile of flooring sections. On the other hand, take longer S3S or S4S boards, run them through the shaper for your tongue and groove and then cut them to size would go a whole lot faster I think. You would also get more uniform pieces that would fit better to one another when you lay the floor.

Yea, probably how parque flooring is made. It's in short chunks so that you can lay interesting interlocking patterns. With the movement to spiff-up old houses in once high-end urban neighborhoods, I would think that there is increasing interest in it.