Has anyone found a reasonably priced shaper cutter for making finger joints
in "planking" for strip built boats? Thanks in advance
Dave

I used my 3hp router mounted on a table set on a portable work bench and a
$50 Amana finger jointing bit. Stacked a batch of the strips on sawhorses
set at the same level as the table and cut one end of each strip. Then I
moved the router to the other end of the stack and cut that end. Took about
2 days to cut fingers on both ends of 400 16' strips with minimum material
handling.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Dave W" wrote in message
...
Has anyone found a reasonably priced shaper cutter for making finger
joints in "planking" for strip built boats? Thanks in advance
Dave

Glenn-
Would it save time to cut the finger joint on the ends of the planks, before
ripping the strips?
You'd have to be more careful handling them.


"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:xrSSg.10853$rg1.8349@dukeread01...
I used my 3hp router mounted on a table set on a portable work bench and a
$50 Amana finger jointing bit. Stacked a batch of the strips on sawhorses
set at the same level as the table and cut one end of each strip. Then I
moved the router to the other end of the stack and cut that end. Took
about
2 days to cut fingers on both ends of 400 16' strips with minimum material
handling.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Dave W" wrote in message
...
Has anyone found a reasonably priced shaper cutter for making finger
joints in "planking" for strip built boats? Thanks in advance
Dave

I don't think so. I have finger jointed some baseboard for a "honey do"
project and the wider the board the easier it is to screw up. With my 1
3/4" wide strips you just make sure you are flat on the table and don't feed
to deep or to fast on each pass. Once to depth just roll the strip to the
other end of the sawhorses and grab the next one. The time consuming part
was manipulating the 16' strips. Once I had the sawhorses loaded up I could
run through a batch rather quickly.

You do end up with a LOT of chips. My lab loved to lay in the pile under
the router and after I finished a batch he would be completely covered.
With all that white cedar bedding he didn't have a flea all summer. :-)

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Jim Conlin" wrote in message
. ..
Glenn-
Would it save time to cut the finger joint on the ends of the planks,
before
ripping the strips?
You'd have to be more careful handling them.


"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:xrSSg.10853$rg1.8349@dukeread01...
I used my 3hp router mounted on a table set on a portable work bench and
a
$50 Amana finger jointing bit. Stacked a batch of the strips on
sawhorses
set at the same level as the table and cut one end of each strip. Then I
moved the router to the other end of the stack and cut that end. Took
about
2 days to cut fingers on both ends of 400 16' strips with minimum
material
handling.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Dave W" wrote in message
...
Has anyone found a reasonably priced shaper cutter for making finger
joints in "planking" for strip built boats? Thanks in advance
Dave

I should add that had I to do it over again I would look seriously at
pre-cut strips or Duracore. It was rather distressing to watch as over the
process my beautiful white cedar logs were gradually reduced to piles of
sawdust, planer chips, and router dust. From green log to finished strip I
would guess I lost 70% of the weight.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

Glen,
Thanks for the responses. A couple of questions arise. How did you make
the router behave while doing the end grain of the strips? You also
mentioned that you stacked the strips before routing. Were they stacked one
on top of another? I don't have the picture. Thanks for the help.
Dave
"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:l5YSg.11169$rg1.1096@dukeread01...
I should add that had I to do it over again I would look seriously at
pre-cut strips or Duracore. It was rather distressing to watch as over the
process my beautiful white cedar logs were gradually reduced to piles of
sawdust, planer chips, and router dust. From green log to finished strip I
would guess I lost 70% of the weight.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

Dave W wrote:
Has anyone found a reasonably priced shaper cutter for making finger joints
in "planking" for strip built boats? Thanks in advance
Dave

Freight Harbor tools (in Pensacola, FL) has a "Chicago" brand finger
router for 39.95. I purchased a 3" X 21" belt sander for $29.95 and it
works like a charm. Purchased a 2 year trade-in warranty for $10 if it
does have a short life.

Mike, Pensacola, FL

Not stacked, piled. :-) It was more of a materials handling problem than a
milling problem. The situation was I was working in a space 54' long and
about 8' between the wall and the station moulds. At one end is a stack of
400 very bendy 1&1/8 x 1&3/4 strips 16' long and I could only handle about 5
strips at a time safely. I set up a Shopmate bench with the router table on
it at the end of the pile. Then about 5' further on a pair of long
sawhorses about 6' apart. The spacing kept the strips reasonably straight
without sagging to much between the supports. They are going to sag some
but you want the ends to meet the table as level as possible.

I would load up a pile of 40 to 50 strips at the wall end of the saw horses,
grab one and kind of flip it into the middle even with the router. After
cutting the fingers I rolled the strip to the other end of the saw horses.
When I made it through that batch I moved the router to the mould end and
move the router to the other end of the sawhorses and repeated the process
rolling each strip to the wall end . When the batch was finished I piled
them up at the other end of the shop. The idea was to move all the strips
the minimum number of times.

I chose the Amana 2 wing finger joint bit because it cut the deepest fingers
I could find. The fingers are almost 3/4" deep and a bit thicker than
others I looked at. That was ideal for the thickness I had but if you are
working with thinner strips you will probably do better with a shallower cut
and thinner fingers like the CMT or Whiteside. Do not go with a cheap
finger joint bit. The quality of the carbide controls the sharpness and
wear. You will be cutting across the grain so anything less than very sharp
will rip big splinters from the edge as it comes out of the strip. A good
bit is going to set you back $70 to $80. It took a bit of fiddling to set
the bit at just the right height so that I had half a finger on one side and
half a groove on the other. That way I could cut both ends without
adjusting the bit.

The key to control is to feed the strip from the side and against the
rotation of the bit. Press down and forward so the strip stays flat on the
table. Take a little less than a quarter inch at a time and make 3 or 4
passes. Last pass should be very light to take care of any tear out. Tear
out should not be a problem if you keep the passes shallow enough and the
wood is not to dry. I kept a piece of strip about a foot long close to the
table in case a strip started to tear out on the first pass and used it as a
backing block for the rest of the passes. If all the strips start tearing
out it is time to take the bit to the sharpening shop. Other than a quick
pass with a very fine hone across the face of the cutters don't try to
sharpen a carbide finger bit yourself. You will only screw up an $80 bit.



--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Dave W" wrote in message
...
Glen,
Thanks for the responses. A couple of questions arise. How did you make
the router behave while doing the end grain of the strips? You also
mentioned that you stacked the strips before routing. Were they stacked
one on top of another? I don't have the picture. Thanks for the help.
Dave
"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:l5YSg.11169$rg1.1096@dukeread01...
I should add that had I to do it over again I would look seriously at
pre-cut strips or Duracore. It was rather distressing to watch as over
the process my beautiful white cedar logs were gradually reduced to piles
of sawdust, planer chips, and router dust. From green log to finished
strip I would guess I lost 70% of the weight.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

Glenn,
Thanks for the explanation, I think I have the picture. My strips will
be 3/4 by 1 3/8 inches. Did you guide the pieces through the cutter using
a miter gage or did you use a fence on the table? I imagine that you used a
miter gage and advanced the pieces for sucessive cuts by eyeball. Is that
it? I have built several boats but have never used strip construction
before; nor have I ever used a router table. The finger joint looks like a
good way to make long strips. Thanks again,
Dave
"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:uVgTg.13610$rg1.7164@dukeread01...
Not stacked, piled. :-) It was more of a materials handling problem than
a milling problem. The situation was I was working in a space 54' long
and about 8' between the wall and the station moulds. At one end is a
stack of 400 very bendy 1&1/8 x 1&3/4 strips 16' long and I could only
handle about 5 strips at a time safely. I set up a Shopmate bench with
the router table on it at the end of the pile. Then about 5' further on a
pair of long sawhorses about 6' apart. The spacing kept the strips
reasonably straight without sagging to much between the supports. They
are going to sag some but you want the ends to meet the table as level as
possible.

I would load up a pile of 40 to 50 strips at the wall end of the saw
horses, grab one and kind of flip it into the middle even with the router.
After cutting the fingers I rolled the strip to the other end of the saw
horses. When I made it through that batch I moved the router to the mould
end and move the router to the other end of the sawhorses and repeated the
process rolling each strip to the wall end . When the batch was finished
I piled them up at the other end of the shop. The idea was to move all
the strips the minimum number of times.

I chose the Amana 2 wing finger joint bit because it cut the deepest
fingers I could find. The fingers are almost 3/4" deep and a bit thicker
than others I looked at. That was ideal for the thickness I had but if
you are working with thinner strips you will probably do better with a
shallower cut and thinner fingers like the CMT or Whiteside. Do not go
with a cheap finger joint bit. The quality of the carbide controls the
sharpness and wear. You will be cutting across the grain so anything less
than very sharp will rip big splinters from the edge as it comes out of
the strip. A good bit is going to set you back $70 to $80. It took a
bit of fiddling to set the bit at just the right height so that I had half
a finger on one side and half a groove on the other. That way I could cut
both ends without adjusting the bit.

The key to control is to feed the strip from the side and against the
rotation of the bit. Press down and forward so the strip stays flat on
the table. Take a little less than a quarter inch at a time and make 3 or
4 passes. Last pass should be very light to take care of any tear out.
Tear out should not be a problem if you keep the passes shallow enough and
the wood is not to dry. I kept a piece of strip about a foot long close
to the table in case a strip started to tear out on the first pass and
used it as a backing block for the rest of the passes. If all the strips
start tearing out it is time to take the bit to the sharpening shop.
Other than a quick pass with a very fine hone across the face of the
cutters don't try to sharpen a carbide finger bit yourself. You will only
screw up an $80 bit.



--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Dave W" wrote in message
...
Glen,
Thanks for the responses. A couple of questions arise. How did you
make the router behave while doing the end grain of the strips? You also
mentioned that you stacked the strips before routing. Were they stacked
one on top of another? I don't have the picture. Thanks for the help.
Dave
"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:l5YSg.11169$rg1.1096@dukeread01...
I should add that had I to do it over again I would look seriously at
pre-cut strips or Duracore. It was rather distressing to watch as over
the process my beautiful white cedar logs were gradually reduced to piles
of sawdust, planer chips, and router dust. From green log to finished
strip I would guess I lost 70% of the weight.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

You can use a miter gage but there is no need to and it actually works
against you because it makes you drag along 10 or 12' of strip that is
hanging off the table. As long as the ends are cut square to start and you
are approximately square to the strips the bit can't do anything but cut
correctly. The uncut ends of the fingers bottom out on the arbor which
controls the depth so as long as the ends were square to start with the
fingers will be square.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Dave W" wrote in message
...
Glenn,
Thanks for the explanation, I think I have the picture. My strips will
be 3/4 by 1 3/8 inches. Did you guide the pieces through the cutter using
a miter gage or did you use a fence on the table? I imagine that you used
a miter gage and advanced the pieces for sucessive cuts by eyeball. Is
that it? I have built several boats but have never used strip
construction before; nor have I ever used a router table. The finger
joint looks like a good way to make long strips. Thanks again,