Hi All.
I’ve got about 20 feet of cedar stock that I need to make into a long window sill with about a 10 to 15 degree bevel. What’s the best way to cut the bevel? Shim it and stuff it through a thickness planer? Resaw on a band saw? Freehand with a chainsaw? (lol).
Thanks,
Scott.
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.â€
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Replies
I've done those on a table saw.... Of course I don't have all that other cool stuff available to me...
something that long can be a pain to run through the TS. Have you considered a router with a bevel bit? That way you're not wrestling such a long piece, even with help can be difficult to keep stable through a TS. They make bits all sorts of angles.
Well Scott you're not going to like my suggestion. If you need to have it be one 20' long piece I would use a draw knife and a power plane. You can do it all with a Bosch power plane but a draw knife speeds things up.
We do sills routinely on a jobsite table saw, then clean it up with a palm sander. I had to do a bunch of long ones out of 6/4 meranti recently. Thought it would kill the saw. Cedar is pretty soft so you shouldn't have any problems. You'll want someone to help catch something that long.
Instead of a palm sander, ever used a jack plane? If it is sharp it will remove saw marks faster.
I'd use a power plane, hand held. Just make sure you have two layout lines, width and depth. Deep hogging cuts at first, then creep up with the final passes.
I think hogging w/drawknife is fine IF the stock is perfectly knot free, but not much is. At the knots you can have a lot of grain blowout.
Also agree with a jointer plane or jackplane, if the bench/trestle is stout enough. Planing on a woobly set of horses is twice the work for half the gain.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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Power plane. Mark the top and edge of your bevel and pane it down. There are a lot of decent suggestions here, but the power plane is the simplest.
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shim it and run it through the thickness planner, works grrrrrrrrrate!
Power saw and plane
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Me?
I would run it through a table saw and finish it out on a jointer.
With both tools I would be using roller stands to keep things aligned to the tables.
That would be my choice too...if I had access to the tools LOL! Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
2nd choice: skil saw with a straight edge and either a power plane or a jointing plane.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Festo
Shim and run through a thickness planer. Fast & Foolproof!
Ya know? Everytime I say "foolproof" some fool, proves me wrong.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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Holy smokes, what a bewildering array of advice. I'm tempted to try the shim/planer approach because it sounds easy. It almost sounds TOO easy though, and I have a feeling that something is going to grenade. Perhaps a test piece is in order.Failing that I'll do the TS routine, although depth of cut might be an issue.Anyway, thanks all!Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Ah, you make a good point! "almost" foolproof maybe??
how do you shim it?
I was wondering the same thing. Long strips of lath perhaps? I figure you could also rip strips from 2X lumber and hold in place with double sided tape.Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Just cut a strip of wood and tack it to the underside of the side you want to bevel and run it through the planer.
I am picturing his stock to be 2" or less thick, so it wouldn't be hard to do.
Anyway, that's what I'd do...but I've got a choice of planers.
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Table saw and make it 15 degrees. There's a mark on the saw and an indent on the chop saw. Plus it sheds water better.
You mean that there is a job out there that the Multi-Master isn't the perfect tool for!!?? Say it ain't so Joe....
How wide is the bevel to be? Are you taking 2x stock and beveling the outer part of the top surface 3"?
I would be inclined to set the fence on my 3" planer to 15° and run multiple passes until it gets to where you want it.
By the way, 15° sounds pretty steep. 5° is very noticeable and enough for water to run off.
Here's a drawing of 15° vs 5° on 2x6 with 2" un-beveled on top surface.
I believe 15 is a pretty well accepted standard for drip caps and sills in most architectural mill work and raised panel bevels, but I could be mistaken. Unless dictated otherwise, thats what I use.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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I usually see 10 degrees as the 'norm' around here. But do see 15 once in awhile too.View Image
Actually after I posted that, I remembered seeing a threshold this past winter that was less than ten. And I recall at least one sill at 12 somewhere on a window I was matching. So just maybe there is no standard.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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Yup, could be. I just know that when I get loose sill stock for ganging bays it always seems to be 10 degrees. But like you said, I've definitely seen a range of other angles in various places. Never measured a door threshold myself though.View Image
I think I've built all my slopes at 13 to 15 degrees but I wouldn't whine if someone built me a 10 degree slope. I think the major window companies would probably have more invested than anyone. What are they using on their window sills? Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
My partner just made the back door sill while I was making the front.
He made his ten and I fifteen, have to say his looked better.
Not that it really mattered but mine was a little steep.
Thanks for that. Ten degrees is probably fine; I'm really just trying to keep the inspector happy. With a 3' overhang directly above this glazing, the likelihood of any water shedding is pretty remote.The project involves making sills and stops for some fixed glass panels in a log truss gable. The sill is what the bevel is for, two pieces about 8 to 10 feet long. I don't trust my skill or judgment to to it freehand with a small planer, so the TS is probably the way to go.Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
It will be interesting to see what the finished product looks like, if you can post some pics.
BruceT
Hahaha.... now you're putting pressure on me to get going.... OK. Will do.Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”