Ever make hardwood flooring?
#21
(01-08-2019, 06:19 PM)dg152 Wrote: Peter, I'm just thinking out loud and wonder if one couldn't pre-finish the boards much like those I bought from Lumber Liquidators to install in my house.

This idea of making flooring from scratch is intriguing. The OP has all the white oak for the project but, as others have pointed out, he will need a shaper. This might also be the opportunity to buy a drum sander.

Before starting, I'd want to figure out which steps to proceed to ensure that all boards are consistent with each other. Could be a fun and satisfying - if not exhausting - project.

A molder is preferable to a shaper here. You can usually set them up with multiple cutters (profiles) at once. Less setup/tear-down, cut more molding per hour. Dust collection is usually better too. All the moving parts are shrouded too - I think that's safer especially as operator fatigue sets in.

Material-handling is probably the biggest issue: need enough 'swing space' for all the material through the milling phases. And a strong-back/weak mind to pick up-feed-offload-restack/rinse and repeat umpteen times.

No reason the OP couldn't pre-finish, but he won't get factory-finish tough. Factory finish usually includes UV-cured aluminum-oxide.

The benefit of finishing after installation is he can sand after installation which will give him nice level floors. But its a hassle....

-Mark
If I had a signature, this wouldn't be it.
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#22
Unless you really want to be part of the process, I'd suggest find a local shop with a moulder, as others have said, and let them rip/stick the wood to flooring. You could work with them on the profile design, etc. Many shops with have tooling for standard flooring patterns. I wouldn't end-match unless you're expecting a lot of short length planks. Tackling that much footage on a shaper sounds incredibly slow and much less likely to have a widerl range of dimensional tolerance.  Good luck.
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#23
One advantage I see in making the flooring yourself or having it milled is that maybe you can have thicker boards - more material above the t&g so that the flooring can hold up to one or two more sandings down the road.
Nonetheless I’d pay someone to mill it and spend that time in the shop on something fun to make.
As one who has refinished floors, im not a fan of factory finishes. Yes they are more durable and theoretically tougher to scratch, but when the need arises to refinish, recoat, or just repair it’s a b****
IMHO it’s better to go with a commercial grade finish like Bona Traffic and the like.
Ray
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#24
(01-07-2019, 04:08 PM)2beast Wrote: I may need a lot of flooring and I have thousands of BF of white oak lumber.

Well, since noone else yet said it... 
[Image: bill-murray-you-suck.jpg]
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#25
Yes I have made my flooring, mostly. I cleared a building site (4 years ago) for our new house, heavily wooded with mature red oak. I cut the trees down, cut  logs 8 to 10 feet long, drug them to a nearby clearing, hired a sawyer with a band saw mill, and with the help from my brother we  sawed 2000 feet 1-1/8 X 5-1/4. I decided not to mill them myself. I took them to a mill where they were kiln dried and milled to 4" wide T & Ged, & back relived, no end match. For a cost of about $1000.00. Brought them home and ran them through my drum sander, installed them, sanded them with a rented floor sander with non existent dust collection, finished the floor with 3 coats of  Bona Traffic.
 The floors are beautiful. The amount of work & time was huge, Handling each board many times, but very rewarding.
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#26
I know everyone uses super-tough floor finishes these days, but a friend recently finished a new floor with tung oil for ease of repair. Beautiful, easy to repair spots (if needed), and will age naturally and gracefully. I like that idea.
Lumber Logs, domestic hardwoods at wholesale prices: http://www.woodfinder.com/listings/012869.php

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#27
I have made thousands of feet of flooring and paneling with 3 hp grizzly shaper. Would advise to get a good heavy duty powerfeeder. I have grizzly's 1 hp now but have used their smaller one
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#28
Shaper and power feeder make short work of it once set up. The REAL trick is getting all of the pieces the exact same width.

I used to make a LOT of flooring using my Woodmaster. Run on edge with guides it controlled the part width as it cut the t&g. Thefastest and most accurate way to make flooring without a 5 head molder.
Ralph Bagnall
www.woodcademy.com
Watch Woodcademy TV free on our website.
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#29
(01-08-2019, 04:58 PM)Peter Tremblay Wrote: I obviously haven't done it, Greg.

But I think the issue isn't so much the milling of the stock it is the finishing of the floor.

Factory finishes are more durable than anything that is commonly used for woodworking.

It would be the finish quality/durability that I'd consider to be a stumbling block.

I've laid a number of floors, some with factory finish, some I finished with polyurethane (some "floor finish" one part moisture curing PU, some two part PU).  Observations for you about the oldest of these:
  • With a 50 year guarantee, the factory finish is intact on all those.  One that is home to a very large Rottweiler shows quite a few depressed scratches, although the finish remains intact.  
  • Despite the 50 year guarantee and the intact finish, the wood beneath the finish is visibly bleaching out after 5 or so years.  It appears that these factory coatings have little or no uv protection.
  • The one part PU "floor finish" shows visible wear and needs attention after about 5 years.  Slight bleaching of the wood, so there's at least some uv protection.  Light sanding and recoating restores things very nicely.  
  • The two part PU was chosen for high UV protection and high abrasion resistance.  Really touchy stuff to apply.  Usually spread a light dusting of fumed silica for non-slip on the wet top coat, because the stuff is so smooth and slick that I worried about slip and fall issues.  Works a charm.  My oldest is now 9 years old and can still pass inspection but you can find the high wear areas if you really look for it.  I've advised the owner to consider a top coat in another two or three years.  
Even white oak will bleach under the sun through windows.  Dyed or stained wood will bleach, too.  I've not been very impressed with factory finishes so far, no matter how "durable" they are.
Fair winds and following seas,
Jim Waldron
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#30
(02-02-2019, 06:57 AM)Phancy Wrote: Yes I have made my flooring, mostly. I cleared a building site (4 years ago) for our new house, heavily wooded with mature red oak. I cut the trees down, cut  logs 8 to 10 feet long, drug them to a nearby clearing, hired a sawyer with a band saw mill, and with the help from my brother we  sawed 2000 feet 1-1/8 X 5-1/4. I decided not to mill them myself. I took them to a mill where they were kiln dried and milled to 4" wide T & Ged, & back relived, no end match. For a cost of about $1000.00. Brought them home and ran them through my drum sander, installed them, sanded them with a rented floor sander with non existent dust collection, finished the floor with 3 coats of  Bona Traffic.
 The floors are beautiful. The amount of work & time was huge, Handling each board many times, but very rewarding.

Just for clarification, does "no end match" mean no T&G on the ends?

Doug

Who installed and finished ~2,500 sq. ft. of 3 1/4" rift and QS white oak in his home addition/remodel (bought it all). Very rewarding to enjoy and walk on this floor every day! Greg, if I had the wood, time and tools as you seem to have, I'd definitely take this one on - it's worth it. Pics please!!!
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