Replies

1. 
   md2453 | Oct 10, 2008 06:57pm | #1

   Kenny66

   Plane it off and buy yourself a new set of planer blades when you're done!

   Be REALLY sure you've gotten all the nails, staples and other metal out before you run it through the planer!!!!

   Madison

2. 
   Lataxe | Oct 10, 2008 10:17pm | #2

   K,

   I reclaim a lot of wood, including floorboards. My best was a load of old rock maple floorboards from a demolished weaving mill in Bolton, Lancashire, England. The hard maple was used there as it supports heavy machinery very well, with little dinging or sagging.

   In the case of that maple the surface was stained with around 150 yers of machine oil and dirt. There were also secret nails holding the tongues & grooves together. First job: get out them nails and clean off enough of the muck to spot any ingrained bits of metal. I didn't have one but I imagine a metal detector wizard would be useful there.

   I elected to plane that maple but I also have a drum sander and I have used that for taking off grimy surfaces from reclaimed timber. The question is: what coats the surface of the wood and how thick is that coating?

   * If the coating is thick and/or sticky stuff, use the planer.
   * If the coating is thin & not-sticky, using the drum sander will take off (and waste) less of the thickness of the wood.

   The planer is also faster and can take out cup, etc.. at the same time as it cleans off the grime. But a drum sander can leave well-behaved and already flat boards ready to use.

   Lataxe

1. 
   kenney66 | Oct 11, 2008 04:37pm | #3

   Thanks a bunch. 

   I assume, if using the drum sander to use the coarsest grit.  Would you recommend that I remove any splits, cracks, and t+g before running through drum sander or after.  My assumption is to do that before.

   Your knowledge is appreciated.

   Kenney

1. 
   Lataxe | Oct 12, 2008 02:47pm | #4

   K,If your floorboards are reasonably flat and straight-edged, take off the T&G with the tablesaw first - after ensuring those secret nails are removed. (Although I have reclaimed old timber with old cut nails in it that are so soft the TS modern carbide teeth will just slice them with no ill effects).If the edges are a bit bent, you could snap a line and use a bandsaw to cut off the T&G. But the T&G doesn't really interfere with flattenng/cleaning of the boards using either the planer or the drum sander.If the boards are basically flat and the surface stuff won't gum-up the sandpaper, I clean them in the drum sander with 150 grit. This takes a couple more passes than it would with, say, 80 grit but leaves a better surface for finishing. No need then to either change the sandpaper from corse to fine. All the grits (even 240) in a drum sander leave zilions of parallel scratch marks but the finer grit marks come out much quicker (with an RO or a scraper) than the troughs from 80 grit.Of the stuff I reclaim about 25% is amenable to drum-sander treatment: it's timber like that from old table-tops (which I re-plank) and other items that are still flat and without a lot of dirt, coating or dings. The rest is better treated by the planer, which can take thick/claggy coatings, dings/scratches and ingrained dirt in one or two light passes. The planer (I should say planer/thicknesser or jointer/planer as you might call it) also flattens/thicknesses the timber, should it need any cup, bump or similar taken out to make a decent plank.Typically the los of thickness from the drum sander treatment is less than 1mm (often only 0.5mm) whilst the planer takes more like 2 - 4mm (depending on how dinged, coated, cupped etc. the timber is).Lataxe

3. 
   IdahoDon | Oct 13, 2008 01:50am | #5

   If the surface is really awful with thick coating of who knows what, you might also consider taking a light layer off with the table saw finishing off the center with a hand held planer.

   I have an electric hand planer just for rough work and a few quick passes with the small carbide blade can help your more expensive larger planer blades or drum sander last much longer.

   Another option is to simply sand off the surface with coarse sandpaper used for floor stripping.  A 12 amp variable speed 7" sander/polisher with floor sanding disks in the 25 to 50 grit range can really strip a lot of finish quickly.  Just take off enough so the planer can finish it up.

   After figuring in planer blade and sandpaper costs, the "free" wood isn't all that free.  I still like to use reclaimed wood, but only if it's pretty clean and free of nails.

    

   Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.

4. 
   Rich14 | Oct 13, 2008 03:06pm | #6

   Kenny,

   In addition to the effort and cost involved in cleaning up old flooring, keep in mind that you will probably end up with boards significantly thinner than 3/4". That's going to limit the usefulness of this "free lumber."

   Standard T&G flooring is recessed on the rear side which contacts the under-layment. The flooring thickness is measured from the face of the wood to the bottom of the "feet" on either side of the recess, running the length of the boards. Not only will you need to take material off the face of the flooring to clean it up, you will need to plane off the feet down to the face of the recess.

   If the flooring is 3/4", you may be left with clean lumber 1/2" or less in thickness.

   Rich

1. 
   Lataxe | Oct 13, 2008 10:19pm | #7

   Rich,I've gotten quite a few packs of that type of modern floorboard you mention. When the trade mark indents and bottom-recesses are planed out it usually ends up around at 5/8" (16mm). Mere dirt on the surface (i.e. with old boards of this type) usually gives 15mm after the extra bit of sanding/planing needed. These thicknesses are limiting to some roles in subsequent furniture-making but one may still do quite a lot with them. I like them for tall-yet-small and elegant bookcases, for example. Thinner boards are just the job for a shiplap or similar back to a bookcase or cabinet. Older floor boards of the 6" wide variety tend to be more like 7/8" thick in Britain. Also, they lack the indented trademarks and other dings but are often slightly cupped or warped. If the reclamation goes well, 3/4" thick boards may result from sanding/planing these.The best old floorboards are them from Victoian or early Edwardian times, as they are often 8" wide and an inch or more thick. There is often some fancy timber in there too. A friend once gave me a medium-sized parcel of such boards made from pitch pine - very nice they were and still flat, albeit a bit thick with queer old varnish!Lataxe

1. 
   Rich14 | Oct 13, 2008 11:08pm | #8

   Lataxe,Yes,"Old" flooring can yield some real finds, both in type and size, but not so much with "modern" stuff. I don't find a whole lot of use for 1/2" stock other than drawer sides, bottoms and like that.Rich

1. 
   IdahoDon | Oct 14, 2008 02:29am | #9

   I don't find a whole lot of use for 1/2" stock other than drawer sides, bottoms and like that.

   Drawer parts about all I use flooring for as well. 

   Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.