| In
This Article:
Multiple saw cuts are made in
the back side of a badly-cupped cedar 1x8 to make it flexible
enough to lay flat. |
Related
Articles:
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| Skill Level:
3 (Intermediate) |
Time Taken:
About 15 Minutes |
By
Bruce W. Maki,
Editor
Start:
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The top board on this stack of cedar 1x8's
was badly cupped.
I knew this degree of warpage would make it difficult
to force the board flat when it came time to install
this piece of lumber on the porch trim I was repairing. |
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Note that these boards all have a narrow strip of wood attached
to one edge. To match the existing material on the century-old
house, I needed boards just slightly wider than the 7¼" width
of a standard 1x8, so I tacked a strip of cedar to one edge on each
piece of 1x8.
I could have simply bought 1x12 cedar boards and ripped them to
the desired 7¾" width, but we couldn't find decent-quality
1x12's at Home Depot or Lowe's.
| First I removed the blade
guard/splitter on my table saw.
Then I adjusted the height of the blade so it would
cut about half of the way through the board.
Since rough-sawn cedar is about 7/8 inch thick, I set
the blade height at about 7/16 inch. |
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|
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I set up the fence so the first cut would
be about 2½ inches from the edge of the board.
Most of the curvature seemed to be near the
mid-section of the board, so I didn't see a need to make
saw cuts in the outer flat strip of wood. |
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| After cutting the first saw kerf (red
arrow), I moved the fence over one-half inch and made
another cut. |
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|
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After I made each cut I moved the table
saw fence another ½ inch farther away, and ran the
board through again. |
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| After cutting 8 saw kerfs the back side of
the board looked like this. |
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|
 |
I could press on the board and force it
almost flat against the saw table.
This made me confident that I could force this board
to lay flat when I fastened it. |
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Caution: Be careful
when using a table saw without the blade guard and splitter.
Obviously it's important to keep your hands away from the unguarded
blade. Without the splitter and the attached anti-kickback pawls
there is a possibility that the board could bind in the blade and be
kicked backwards. If your hand is near the blade when that happens
your hand might suddenly come in contact with the blade. Keep
your hands away from the blade area.
More Info:
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Tools
Used:
- Table
Saw
- Roller
Stands
- Ruler or
Tape Measure
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Materials
Used:
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