Oak Flooring

[Mike Hill]

Your drying conditions are likely better than mine? I had them outside undercover for a year strapped down. In the cellar stacked for a year and a half and then inside after that.

 

Be aware that long planks without joins might give you a visual " bowling alley" effect. 

 

I had originally intended to lay the floor with planks 16-20" wide. However it just didnt look right and without a super high ceiling it never would. So I ripped them in half as well as cutting some " shorts" to break it up a bit. It suits the room that its laid in because of the roofing angles being that your eye is always " busy" anyhow.

[Mike Hill]

I squared the edges with a length of angle iron clamped to the board and a skillsaw. Nothing fancey and it worked well. 

[ucoulddoit]

46 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

I installed 28mm white wood T&G flooring earlier this year. So the Oak will be going on top of that. I could bond the oak to the 28mm I guess? Id need to clean the wax off though. 

 

Just a hunch as I've not seen this done. But I think I'd lay the oak at 90 degrees to the whitewood and secret nail through the tongues. Or, if the planks need to run parallel to the whitewood, I'd think about putting ply between the whitewood and oak and again secret nail through the tongues through the ply and into the whitewood below. Either way, as the oak will be fully supported it could be thinner, say 20mm?

 

Andrew

[Dbikeguy]

Most solid flooring is done in much shorter lengths, any movement on a 5m length will show up massively. hence why parquet flooring was popular, small bits move less, bonded down too.
Any natural wood even left to acclimatise will move with the seasons unless you are in a super modern sealed type passive house?

[trigger_andy]

1 hour ago, ucoulddoit said:

Just a hunch as I've not seen this done. But I think I'd lay the oak at 90 degrees to the whitewood and secret nail through the tongues. Or, if the planks need to run parallel to the whitewood, I'd think about putting ply between the whitewood and oak and again secret nail through the tongues through the ply and into the whitewood below. Either way, as the oak will be fully supported it could be thinner, say 20mm?

 

Andrew

I was planning on running them 90 degrees to the white wood, which is obviously 90 degrees to the joists below that. But if 5.5m lengths are gonna move to much then I might be better off going parallel to the white wood and then they’re 4-4.5m long instead. 
 

Decisions decisions. 

[Squaredy]

3 hours ago, trigger_andy said:

Not sure how Id put one dead straight edge on a board other than passing it over the planner then through the thicknesser.

Yeah this is a good plan up to about 6 feet long (unless the bed of your planer is really long).  I used to operate a 5ft bed surface planer and it was a real challenge to get eight foot boards straight.

[Squaredy]

3 hours ago, trigger_andy said:

Do you not rate the Scheppach HF-33 Spindle Moulder I have then?

Ah, I was assuming you didn't have a spindle moulder.  I don't know the particular one you have, but if it is half decent it should be OK, but always the longer the board the trickier it will be to get a good result.  I wouldn't fancy doing tongue and grove on boards longer than about eight feet unless you have an enormous infeed and outfeed table.  Having said that, a lot depends on how good the power feed is.  A heavy industrial spindle moulder with hefty power feed would probably be OK.

[trigger_andy]

2 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

Yeah this is a good plan up to about 6 feet long (unless the bed of your planer is really long).  I used to operate a 5ft bed surface planer and it was a real challenge to get eight foot boards straight.

I can see this becoming more of a reality.  

 

CH3 Multi-Head Planer | LOGOSOL

WWW.LOGOSOL.CO.UK

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<p>The Logosol CH3 Multi-Head Planer is the next-generation planer/moulder, developed and manufactured in Härnösand...

 

[Squaredy]

2 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

I can see this becoming more of a reality.  

 

CH3 Multi-Head Planer | LOGOSOL

WWW.LOGOSOL.CO.UK

---

<p>The Logosol CH3 Multi-Head Planer is the next-generation planer/moulder, developed and manufactured in Härnösand...

 

I am not sure that would solve the problem either.  I have never used that machine, but I suspect the boards would have to be pretty straight before moulding.

 

I am not being negative but when you mill an 18ft board in Oak and then leave it to dry, by the time it is thoroughly dry it will be a long way from straight.  It is always a challenge then to straighten it at that length.  Of course to an extent you can straighten the boards as you fit them by bending, but only a bit.

[trigger_andy]

Just now, Squaredy said:

I am not sure that would solve the problem either.  I have never used that machine, but I suspect the boards would have to be pretty straight before moulding.

 

I am not being negative but when you mill an 18ft board in Oak and then leave it to dry, by the time it is thoroughly dry it will be a long way from straight.  It is always a challenge then to straighten it at that length.  Of course to an extent you can straighten the boards as you fit them by bending, but only a bit.

I appreciate the input. Its good to get a reality check on how to go about this. 

 

I guess I'll have to scrap the full length board idea then. I'll speak with Logosol and see what they say as regards to what the machine can handle. Ive a whole house to do, so need floorings, skirting and other mouldings. 

 

Ive a bunch of 6" x 1" oak boards that have been drying for two years now. They are still straight, but a bit cupped as can be expected. 

 

If I do shorter lengths then Id have to figure out how to do the T&G on the ends.