DIY rough sawn to PAR

[O'Chippy]

I have No6 box sash window sills to replaced. Original sills are oak and I'm going to use sapele as the replacements.
I can't find anything locally, or afar, to match the original profile and dimensions so the plan is to purchase rough sawn stock from a local yard and machine myself as required.
However I'm a carpenter and dont have much workshop/joinery machinery.
In theory I believe that I can produce the required profile with a tablesaw and electric plane, the plane has zero clearance on one side so should be able to clean up the bevelled/inclined surfaces fully.
I suppose success will depend on how regular the rough sawn stock is but just wondering if any other member has managed to produce similar profiles with basic tools?

I'm happy to buy a bench top thicknesser if it would help but again I think it may not offer anything extra should the stock dimensions be cocked.

 

[O'Chippy]

BUMP

Anyone able to give me a sanity check on above?
Really don't want to buy a load of sawn timber and then struggle to machine it to a reasonable condition!

 

[opener]

Have you got a local joinery shop who can prepare the cills for you? It’ll cost extra of course but will save a lot of aggro. You’ll get enough of the aggro when fitting the cills to your windows

 

[O'Chippy]

Have you got a local joinery shop who can prepare the cills for you? It’ll cost extra of course but will save a lot of aggro. You’ll get enough of the aggro when fitting the cills to your windows

Ah sure the aggro is what keeps it interesting!
There is a local joinery but I'm trying to figure out/justify having the ability to do basic machining myself.
Plus experience has unfortunately demonstrated that the less things you ask others to do for you the less disappointed you will be.

 

[Amplidyne]

It's going to depend on how rough the sawn timber is in the first place, and how much wind and bend it's got.
I've planed up some stuff bigger than my machine before now by hand, using both a jack, and a planer, but it's a bit of a job
Acquaintance of mine has one of those benchtop thicknessers, and I was impressed, but it's not much good for taking out any warping.
Haven't worked with sapele, are these square edged sawn with the wane removed. That's a good start.
I agree about being less disappointed with your own work though.

 

[Fitzroy]

I recently made sash window sills from rough saw stock. I used a surface planer and thicknesser to machine straight at square, then a table saw and hand plane to add the sill profiles. You could take the sawn stock to flat and square with had tools but it would be some work.

You can use a thicknesser as a surface planer by using a long flat board as a sled. Search YT to see videos. You’d still need to use hand tools to put a perpendicular edge on. You can then use the table saw and thicknesser to finish square and to size.

 

[O'Chippy]

It's going to depend on how rough the sawn timber is in the first place, and how much wind and bend it's got.
I've planed up some stuff bigger than my machine before now by hand, using both a jack, and a planer, but it's a bit of a job
Acquaintance of mine has one of those benchtop thicknessers, and I was impressed, but it's not much good for taking out any warping.
Haven't worked with sapele, are these square edged sawn with the wane removed. That's a good start.
I agree about being less disappointed with your own work though.

They will be square edged sawn, I've also asked the yard if they machine to PAR, I believe they will so I've asked for a quote.
Dimensioned PAR would be a great head start (vs sawn) and then cutting the bevels and upstands would be a lot easier.

 

[O'Chippy]

I recently made sash window sills from rough saw stock. I used a surface planer and thicknesser to machine straight at square, then a table saw and hand plane to add the sill profiles. You could take the sawn stock to flat and square with had tools but it would be some work.

You can use a thicknesser as a surface planer by using a long flat board as a sled. Search YT to see videos. You’d still need to use hand tools to put a perpendicular edge on. You can then use the table saw and thicknesser to finish square and to size.

I'm actually now considering purchasing the P/T the Metabo HC260C.
I'd still have to cut/finish the weathering bevel on the table saw/electrical hand plane but I'll just have to suffer that, the wife would hit the roof if a palleted tilting head spindle moulder lands on the driveway.
She complains I'm more time researching and buying tools than actually using them, and she's right!

 

[HamsterJam]

As per @Fitzroy ’s suggestion, I recently flattened some warped boards by feeding them through my bench top thicknesser on a sled.
Although I’ve not tried it, it should be possible to put a bevel/chamfer/slope along the length of a piece of wood using the same technique.

 

[O'Chippy]

As per @Fitzroy ’s suggestion, I recently flattened some warped boards by feeding them through my bench top thicknesser on a sled.
Although I’ve not tried it, it should be possible to put a bevel/chamfer/slope along the length of a piece of wood using the same technique.

I think a regular bevel could be machined on the thicknesser however I want to machine in a 10mm upstand at the upper side of the sill, I don't think that the thicknesser would allow that.

I seen joiners typically using a tilting head spindle moulder to machine this particular profile detail.

 

[Fitzroy]

I did it in three steps:
1- with the sill flat on the table saw a cut to the depth of the 'upstand' between lower and upper sill slopes
2 - table saw bevel cut to remove lower sill material.
3 - table saw bevel cut to remove upper sill material

The depth of cut on my table saw was not sufficient to cut the depth of each slope:
- For the lower slope i repeated step 1 to remove enough material that my second cut reached the first cut. The sill below the upstand was a little uneven due to the multiple side by side saw cuts so it was left fractionally proud.
- for the upper slope I had a piece of material still attached.
A hand plane and shoulder plane were used to plane these two areas flush with the slope on each section of the sill.

Each of these cuts requires removal of the riving knife and blade guard, I used shaw guard equivalents to support/pressure the work-piece thorough the cut and keep my soft fleshy bits away from the sharp spinning bit.

Regards

Fitz

First Cut

Second Cut

Third Cut

Material remaining to plane off.

 

[HamsterJam]

I think a regular bevel could be machined on the thicknesser however I want to machine in a 10mm upstand at the upper side of the sill, I don't think that the thicknesser would allow that.

I seen joiners typically using a tilting head spindle moulder to machine this particular profile detail.

Ah - yes, an upstand at the back poses a problem for a thicknesser unless you glue the upstand on afterwards. Appreciate that is not the best solution though.

 

[O'Chippy]

@Fitzroy thanks for sketching out what you did.
That sequence is pretty much what I had in my head also.
One point that your sketch illustrates that I hadn't considered is that my fence is probably too short (height wise) to support the cill on edge, however I can easily bolt in a 6" plywood lining piece.

My blade is 254mm dia so should make cutting depth in a single pass

 

[llywmog]

They will be square edged sawn, I've also asked the yard if they machine to PAR, I believe they will so I've asked for a quote.
Dimensioned PAR would be a great head start (vs sawn) and then cutting the bevels and upstands would be a lot easier.

Agree with this. PAR obviously more expensive but imo the time it saves you is worth it, especially seeing as you don't have the best tools for sizing the rough sawn timber.

 

[Doug71]

Get yourself that planer thicknesser, it will make life a whole lot easier, I don't know how people manage without one!

 

[Amplidyne]

Get yourself that planer thicknesser, it will make life a whole lot easier, I don't know how people manage without one!

Certainly for any serious wood type working like this project.
You can get around most of the rest, but a table saw and planer thicknesser are almost essential if you will be working with sawn timber.