I am using tongue and grove fir to finish a gable ceiling with four skylights that are boxed down with mdf. I originally planned to hand insert the top course of fir that overlapped the bottom of the skylight box, mark it with a pencil, take it down and cut out the overlap. Unfortunately, I found it impossible to keep the fir in place, so I decided to nail it in and cut out the overlap in place. Now I’m trying to pick the best method to get a clean cut without damaging the fir or mdf. I’m considering a straight router bit with a pilot bearing, a jig saw or a rotozip. Any thoughts or other recommendations?
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Router will need to be pretty powerful to cut thru 3/4" material in a single pass, probably a 3hp. Those are heavy, bulky units, not much fun to work with on a ladder, and easy to make a mess of the cut working sideways. Sawdust everywhere too. Not impossible, but avoid router if you can for this one.
A flush cut hand saw is desinged for these situations but I'm thinking those will be fairly long rippping cuts - the overhang is along the length of the board, right? Bosch make a flush cut power saw that does essentially the same thing - perhaps you could find a rental place that has one?
What about jigsawing close to the line, maybe stay back 1/8" or so, to avoid marring the mdf. Then sand right to the line. You'd need a detail sander for the corners (or chisel and hand sand) but it would be harder to screw up than router or trying to cut exact with jigsaw first time round.
Wally
What about a Fein Multimaster? Justa thought. Have no idea if it would actually work.
We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.
I don't own one of those so I couldn't say (on the wish list though). I guess if it has a flush cutting blade available it could be a possibility.
There are four skylights. He doesn't say how wide they are, but probably only 1-2 feet each. I'd be tempted to just do each one by hand with a flush cut hand saw - assuming there is well-positioned stable access to each skylight. I have a Stanley that was inexpensive ($15) and it is small enough that I keep it in my finishing box. Surprising how often I use it, it has become my trim saw of choice.
Lignum est bonum.
Edited 9/20/2005 9:39 am ET by slykarma
Seems like it would work but since I don't have one I don't know.
They seem like one of those things that you want and think if you get it you would use it all the time.
I might be concerned about the balancing act you'd have to do on the ladder.
We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.
Yes, hte bulk of the trimming is parallel with the length. I'm working on pipe staging, so I won't be doing a ladder balancing act.