Cutting shingles from hardwood planks

[JAW911]

I need to cut some roofing shingles from hardwood planks (reclaimed flooring etc) for a logstore roof. I have a rough idea of a sliding jig set up for my workshop bandsaw once they are cut to length as they need to taper. Anyone ever done this please - any suggestions? Thanks

 

[MikeG.]

Cut shingles aren't a great plan. Ideally they should be riven.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Cut shingles aren't a great plan. Ideally they should be riven.

And referred to as 'shakes' :wink:

 

[JAW911]

Shakes are usually very thick shingles - as I understand it you can usually cut two shingles from a shake. I understand that tradition says you should use a froe to split a shingle and then use a draw knife to create a tapered shingle. I was hoping to bypass that by simply splitting a plank with a tapered cut / re-saw using my bandsaw.

 

[AJB Temple]

I cut enough cedar shingles to do a roof over my outdoor kitchen, which has a plan area of about 5m by 3m and 45 degree pitch. No idea how many shingles it was as I just kept going until I had enough but it was a lot. Mine are quite thick and I did them all on my bandsaw as I found splitting produced a lot of wastage (I was not skilled).

 

[custard]

Many of the better timber yards sell Cedar boards ready sawn to 15mm especially for shingles. As the saying goes, life’s too short for peeling grapes, but also for DIY shingles!

 

[Bm101]

Just come across this video,remembered your thread... might be of interest. It's full of good practical experience.

[youtube]UZA1J8RHltY[/youtube]

Cheers
Chris

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Shakes are usually very thick shingles - as I understand it you can usually cut two shingles from a shake. I understand that tradition says you should use a froe to split a shingle and then use a draw knife to create a tapered shingle. I was hoping to bypass that by simply splitting a plank with a tapered cut / re-saw using my bandsaw.

My understanding (from Ben Law) of the distinction is that shakes are riven/split and shingles are sawn (hence my tongue-in-cheek comment). The former tending to be more durable and more 'rustic' looking, but obviously a lot more work.

You can buy shakes, but the price reflects the effort involved (and the fact that you can usually only get a few good ones from each 'round' of timber so there's a fair amount of material diverted to firewood): https://ben-law.co.uk/product/chestnut-shakes/

I think that there are at least two grades of WRC shingles - primarily red label and blue label - durability depending partly on where the timber grew (slower-grown being more durable with a tighter grain structure). Shingles made from UK-grown WRC are possibly on the less durable end of the spectrum although more "sustainable".

Cheers, W2S