Straightening the edge of very long boards?

[heathicus]

Suppose someone had a several hundred rough cut pine boards of 1" thick, mostly 8" wide, and between 12ft and 18ft in length. And suppose he wanted to mill this lumber down for wall paneling.

How would you suggest handling and milling this lumber? How would you go about getting that first smooth face and straight/square edge on a board of that size?

["Wild Bad Bob"]

When I buy unsurfaced/edged boards, I dont surface/edge them until I have them rough cut to the length I need. Otherwise, exp; I buy an 8ft board that I need 2, 4' pieces, if the edge or surface is bowed, twisted ,cupped ect, if left in the long length I would have to joint and plane much more wood off to get a straight edge and or get the surface flat and parallel to the other side.

[dusty]

Suppose someone had a several hundred rough cut pine boards of 1" thick, mostly 8" wide, and between 12ft and 18ft in length. And suppose he wanted to mill this lumber down for wall paneling.

How would you suggest handling and milling this lumber? How would you go about getting that first smooth face and straight/square edge on a board of that size?

Is the wood dry and how long is it going to be until you need it finished?

I think those are critical questions that need to be answered first.

I would wait as long as possible and I would not joint the timber until it has been cut to roughly finished length.

[SDSSmith]

I would rough cut to length and then either use a circular saw with a guide/track. Or I would use a straight guide (plywood, etc.) tacked to the back side to use as a guide against my rip fence on the table saw.

[heathicus]

Is the wood dry and how long is it going to be until you need it finished?

I think those are critical questions that need to be answered first.

I would wait as long as possible and I would not joint the timber until it has been cut to roughly finished length.

Good questions. The wood is not dry and has recently been cut. How long before being used? Whenever my dad gets around to it. He's about to start getting busy with cutting hay and worming cows and mending fences. It might be sometime this summer. Might be this fall. Might be later. It will be whenever he decides that's the thing he's going to do next! Not much of an answer, but the best I can give.

As for cutting to rough length as the first step, I mentioned that to him already. But he's still going to have some pretty long spans. Even with an 8' long 1"x8" board, while one edge could be straightened with a circular saw and some sort of guide, how would you get one face of it flat so it could be run through a planer to get the opposing side flat? My jointer is only 6".

As a tangential question... The 2" thick lumber being cut is being stacked standing up and leaning against a horizontal support about 8' high alternating which side of the support the boards are on. So it makes a big row of boards stood up in sort of an "X" type formation. I told him I wasn't sure about that stacking method, but he swore that was the best way to do it. His 1" thick lumber is being stacked and stickered flat in the method I'm familiar with. Is that big "upright X" stacking method OK? In all my research of cutting your own lumber and stacking and drying, I've never encountered that before.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Good questions. The wood is not dry and has recently been cut. How long before being used? Whenever my dad gets around to it. He's about to start getting busy with cutting hay and worming cows and mending fences. It might be sometime this summer. Might be this fall. Might be later. It will be whenever he decides that's the thing he's going to do next! Not much of an answer, but the best I can give.

As for cutting to rough length as the first step, I mentioned that to him already. But he's still going to have some pretty long spans. Even with an 8' long 1"x8" board, while one edge could be straightened with a circular saw and some sort of guide, how would you get one face of it flat so it could be run through a planer to get the opposing side flat? My jointer is only 6".

As a tangential question... The 2" thick lumber being cut is being stacked standing up and leaning against a horizontal support about 8' high alternating which side of the support the boards are on. So it makes a big row of boards stood up in sort of an "X" type formation. I told him I wasn't sure about that stacking method, but he swore that was the best way to do it. His 1" thick lumber is being stacked and stickered flat in the method I'm familiar with. Is that big "upright X" stacking method OK? In all my research of cutting your own lumber and stacking and drying, I've never encountered that before.

I read about vertical lumber drying at this site. Check out Step 8 for this guy's opinion. There is a bit more info about the "L-shaped stickers" at the top of the same page.

[WmZiggy]

Good questions. The wood is not dry and has recently been cut. How long before being used? Whenever my dad gets around to it. He's about to start getting busy with cutting hay and worming cows and mending fences. It might be sometime this summer. Might be this fall. Might be later. It will be whenever he decides that's the thing he's going to do next! Not much of an answer, but the best I can give.

As for cutting to rough length as the first step, I mentioned that to him already. But he's still going to have some pretty long spans. Even with an 8' long 1"x8" board, while one edge could be straightened with a circular saw and some sort of guide, how would you get one face of it flat so it could be run through a planer to get the opposing side flat? My jointer is only 6".

As a tangential question... The 2" thick lumber being cut is being stacked standing up and leaning against a horizontal support about 8' high alternating which side of the support the boards are on. So it makes a big row of boards stood up in sort of an "X" type formation. I told him I wasn't sure about that stacking method, but he swore that was the best way to do it. His 1" thick lumber is being stacked and stickered flat in the method I'm familiar with. Is that big "upright X" stacking method OK? In all my research of cutting your own lumber and stacking and drying, I've never encountered that before.

Rule of thumb is 1 year for every inch of thickness to air dry.

I would not joint an edge until you estimated the lengths a project is going to require. Anything more than 10 feet is difficult to handle in the small shop.

I would sticker the wood flat. Standing it at an angle will bow the wood. At the hardwood supplier I use, everything is stickered flat regardless of thickness. I figure the wood dealer knows what he is doing.

[Ed in Tampa]

Good questions. The wood is not dry and has recently been cut. How long before being used? Whenever my dad gets around to it. He's about to start getting busy with cutting hay and worming cows and mending fences. It might be sometime this summer. Might be this fall. Might be later. It will be whenever he decides that's the thing he's going to do next! Not much of an answer, but the best I can give.

As for cutting to rough length as the first step, I mentioned that to him already. But he's still going to have some pretty long spans. Even with an 8' long 1"x8" board, while one edge could be straightened with a circular saw and some sort of guide, how would you get one face of it flat so it could be run through a planer to get the opposing side flat? My jointer is only 6".

As a tangential question... The 2" thick lumber being cut is being stacked standing up and leaning against a horizontal support about 8' high alternating which side of the support the boards are on. So it makes a big row of boards stood up in sort of an "X" type formation. I told him I wasn't sure about that stacking method, but he swore that was the best way to do it. His 1" thick lumber is being stacked and stickered flat in the method I'm familiar with. Is that big "upright X" stacking method OK? In all my research of cutting your own lumber and stacking and drying, I've never encountered that before.

Heath
I know I have said this before as have others, trying to work with boards that are 8 inches wide is a disaster waiting to happen especially with boards that haven't been kilned dried. A board that wide will tend to split, curl, warp, twist or other wise wreak the project they are used in.

That said, unless you have a jointer that will handle the width there is only one other way to joint one side flat and that is using a hand plane and winding sticks. Good luck!

As far as the vertical drying, I have never seen this done, how about letting us know how it works out.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Heath
I know I have said this before as have others, trying to work with boards that are 8 inches wide is a disaster waiting to happen especially with boards that haven't been kilned dried. A board that wide will tend to split, curl, warp, twist or other wise wreak the project they are used in.

That said, unless you have a jointer that will handle the width there is only one other way to joint one side flat and that is using a hand plane and winding sticks. Good luck!

As far as the vertical drying, I have never seen this done, how about letting us know how it works out.

Actually, I've been getting excellent results with a planer sled, using hot glue on strips of masking tape for easily-removable, instant self-forming shims.

I've done this on 12" wide glue-ups, no problem, quick and easy. For the sled, in this case, I used a piece of half-inch thick Corian countertop that I had lying around. The glue makes a temporary sandwich of the sled and the workpiece, and said sandwich is much more rigid than either piece alone. Just make sure that the sled piece is laying on a nice flat surface when you make the sandwich.

["Wild Bad Bob"]

Ed,
right on, talked to a custom table maker, sez everyone wants as wide as possible boards in there table tops when they talk to him, he uses nothing over 4" wide for finished stability of the table top.