cguyfish62
Member
I have some 30' 1x12 heart pine boards.I intend on using as flooring without cutting length. How can I make a clean edge (to butt up) without using table saw or joiner?
wide plank flooring
- Thread starter cguyfish62
- Start date
Help Support Flooring Forum - DIY & Professional:
You intend to install 30 foot long, 12"wide boards? 
I assume the boards will be cut to smaller lengths at some point.
Are the boards going to be finish sanded once installed, or going for a rough look? Have the boards been thickness planed or planed at all?
Your climate/location...... damp, dry, or both? Meaning Main, Arizona or Florida?
Is the home heated year round?
Are the boards freshly cut or well seasoned or dried?
One large room or an entire home?
Just curious of your project.
As for cutting the boards straight, First I'd snap a chalk line with white chalk, then temporarily tack or nail on straight edge made up of 4 to 6" wide strips of 3/8 or 1/2" plywood accurately cut using a table saw. Align the strips of plywood to your chalk line, nail them in place with smooth nails or short brads then make the cut with a new blade with your circular saw. For the second side of the board, I'd probably tack on those same plywood guide strips but instead of a chalk line, I'd just measure off of the side you just cut, providing you are sure it's straight and clean enough for your purposes.
I assume the boards will be cut to smaller lengths at some point.
Are the boards going to be finish sanded once installed, or going for a rough look? Have the boards been thickness planed or planed at all?
Your climate/location...... damp, dry, or both? Meaning Main, Arizona or Florida?
Is the home heated year round?
Are the boards freshly cut or well seasoned or dried?
One large room or an entire home?
Just curious of your project.
As for cutting the boards straight, First I'd snap a chalk line with white chalk, then temporarily tack or nail on straight edge made up of 4 to 6" wide strips of 3/8 or 1/2" plywood accurately cut using a table saw. Align the strips of plywood to your chalk line, nail them in place with smooth nails or short brads then make the cut with a new blade with your circular saw. For the second side of the board, I'd probably tack on those same plywood guide strips but instead of a chalk line, I'd just measure off of the side you just cut, providing you are sure it's straight and clean enough for your purposes.
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Track saw is your best bet. This one is good and not to spendy. http://www.toolup.com/DeWalt-DWS520..._d3-VamyrmEo-IGAeoXrHv0P2685SbWhDNxoCeMLw_wcB
cguyfish62
Member
Room is 29 foot and i'm running them the length .going to lightly sand.
s Mississippi.
no.
boards are a little over 100 years.
one large room.
I have just enough to cover. popping a line would waste too much
s Mississippi.
no.
boards are a little over 100 years.
one large room.
I have just enough to cover. popping a line would waste too much
I suppose you could scribe one board to fit the next one and cut with a jig saw.... and so on and so on.
How will summer to winter expansion and be controlled...... those are some w i d e boards.
How will they be fastened?
cguyfish62
Member
I see your point now...thanks
cguyfish62
Member
gonna put them on treated 2x6's.
screws
screws
cguyfish62
Member
how would I get an accurate measurement for chaulk line?
You mean how to decide at what point in the width of that chalk line to use?
One other idea is to place a nail at each end of the long plank as close as you can to the edge and tie some fishing line to those nails........ or tacks. Pull it tight so the line will now be an 1/8 to 1/4 inch above the plank. As it hovers above the wood, look straight down and make a dot directly below the fishing line every two feet or so. When tacking down a plywood saw guide like I mentioned earlier, align the plywood with the dots on the wood. With a dot every 2 feet, you'd have enough dots to average out any inaccuracies you made placing the dots. If you made the marks carefully, they would all align pretty darn close............. and more easy to see than a wide fuzzy chalk line mark.
To make those small pencil dots easier to see, place a 2 inch strip of masking tape every 2 feet under the fishing line first, then place your dots on the tape and it will make them easier to see that drawing on the actual wood surface.
Send me a PM and I'll send you my phone number if my description doesn't come across clearly enough.
Here's how to mark the board accurately with some nylon string, or fishing line and a square ............if the chalk line idea seams too crude. Placing a strip of masking tape every two feet allows you to make a very small, accurate mark instead of making a pencil line or dot directly on a rough wood surface.
Tie the string tight and slowly slide a small square until it just barely touches the fishing line, then make a small dot on the tape, maybe with a ballpoint pen for better accuracy.
In the image here, you see where the cut will actually be. In reality tho............ you need to figure the offset that your saw blade has from it's base, and place the dots at that location. For my Porter Cable circular saw, I'd need to place the string 5 inches away from what I've shown in these drawings. Those dots are the location where I would nail the plywood strips as my saw guide. With a good blade and moving slow, the plywood guide strips should make for a pretty accurate cut.
It doesn't sound like you plan to add a tongue and groove, so I don't know how you plan to keep the plank edges even... especially as they move summer to winter. Maybe 3/8" "micro-bevel" is in order.
Tie the string tight and slowly slide a small square until it just barely touches the fishing line, then make a small dot on the tape, maybe with a ballpoint pen for better accuracy.
In the image here, you see where the cut will actually be. In reality tho............ you need to figure the offset that your saw blade has from it's base, and place the dots at that location. For my Porter Cable circular saw, I'd need to place the string 5 inches away from what I've shown in these drawings. Those dots are the location where I would nail the plywood strips as my saw guide. With a good blade and moving slow, the plywood guide strips should make for a pretty accurate cut.
It doesn't sound like you plan to add a tongue and groove, so I don't know how you plan to keep the plank edges even... especially as they move summer to winter. Maybe 3/8" "micro-bevel" is in order.
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