Posted by JLabaree on March 30, 2005 at 14:22:24 from 207.5.234.19 user JLabaree.
In Reply to: Re: Mary Anne - Construction posted by Jon on March 30, 2005 at 13:14:22:
John,
Presumably, your plank isn't 10" for its entire length, but just at the widest spot. Also, presumably, the rest of your planks will not be 10" (are you talking about the garboard?). You're doing this after you have spiled your plank, right?
I have done what you describe using a table saw. You make two cuts, one from each side (making sure that the same side of the plank rests against the table saw fence so that the cuts line up). You end up with an un-cut portion in the middle. For that, you have to haul out your trusty hand saw and do that bit by hand (heaven forbid!). But, since your planks get narrower toward both ends, you shouldn't have too much hand sawing to do. And, with those large existing cuts, the hand saw follows its correct path without worry.
When you’ve split the board, you run both planks through the thickness planer to get them to your desired end specification. It's impossible to start with a 1" thick plank and end up with 2 1/2" planks. In addition to loosing the thickness of the table saw blade, it's basically impossible to get the two sides exactly the same and even so, you have cut marks you need to remove. I did this planking a boat with 3/8" Atlantic white cedar, a MUCH more forgiving material, I seem to remember, rough 4 quarter boards.
Mind you, this isn't exactly easy - you'll want to have at least one assistant helping guide the plank through the table saw while you concentrate on keeping it firmly against the fence. You could fashion a higher fence to make the job easier.
Jon's idea of a local school shop is a good one - all this work is so much easier (and safer!) with the right (i.e. beefy) tools.