What's the best / safest way to do this?

[Little Ern]

What I'm planning to do is to make some decorative screening panels for the garden. (approx 1.8m sq)
What's in my mind at the moment is to buy some 150x25mm tannalised timber, rip it down to 6mm strips and create a woven trellis attached to a frame.
I'm a table saw novice so am a bit apprehensive about how to tackle this.

Any suggestions on set-ups, jigs etc would be most welcome.

If you think it's a barmy idea I'd rather someone say so now before I make a start.

Thanks in advance.

 

[DaveL]

Hi Ern,

The tannalised timber is not the best if stuff to rip up like this. The cut faces will have little protection as the treatment does not go all the way though the timber, also the saw dust is a bit on the nasty side due to the chemicals used.

I have made so trellis and just used sawn timber, ripping it to size and treating it with one of the garden wood preservers before assembling it. Its been up 18 months and still looks OK.

 

[jasonB]

Don't see much wrong with the idea except that most tanalized timber has a fair few knots in it, once ripped down to 25x6 there will be a high risk of the strips snapping.

Ideally you should keep the main bulk of the timber between the fence and the blade which will mean having to reset the blade quite a bit. Best to set fence to 141mm rip all lengths from your 150mm stock then set to 132mm (assume 3mm kerf) and rip them all again and so on until you have used upp all the timber. Setting the gap between blade & fence to 6mm may seem quicker but there is a high risk of the 6mm strips being kicked back at the end of the cut.

If you do use tanalized weave it straight away as it is usually a bit wet so will bend easier.

If you have a narrow kerf blade this will reduce waste (about 1/3 of your board will be sawdust with a 3mm kerf) or if you have a bandsaw this well give an even thinner kerf.

Jason

 

[Mcluma]

yep you can do that, but like they say, the tanalized stuff doesn't go that deep into the wood (but I wouldn't be all that worried about that - if you use a good preservative it will hold)

McLuma

Ps only get the first grade pine or wood, without the nots in it. otherwise your 6mm square wood will brake on the nots (this is really serious)

 

[jonny boy]

Hi L.E,

As long as you have the riving knife fitted to your saw and fix a feather board just in front of the blade, you should have no trouble ripping the 6 mm widths that you want. You should also have a roller stand or outfeed table to take the thin lengths or else as others have pointed out, the strips will tend to snap at the knots or any other weak areas. (and don't forget to use a thin push stick at the end of the cut).

cheers,
jonny.

 

[Little Ern]

Thanks for the replies. Comments duly noted.
I think I'll forget the tannalised timber and use non-treated stuff.

This opens another option and by using smaller section material I suppose I could just cut once/twice and reduce the amount of sawdust produced.

The bandsaw option has provoked a few thoughts. Maybe it's about time I bought one. I've watched Norm using them to great effect on veneer strips etc.

Thanks again,

 

[jonny boy]

I've just returned an Electra Beckum bas 316. I'd steer clear of them when you decide to buy one. Poor.

cheers,
jonny.

 

[Mcluma]

yeah a bandsaw is an option, it will reduce the amount of sawdust considerably (also the waste of wood), but get a proper saw and with a proper resaw blade in it!!!!!! this is very important, otherwize the saw will start to wander.

McLuma

 

[Steve Maskery]

I'd rip the stuff first, then take it back to the timberyard for tannalising before assembly.
S

 

[Woodythepecker]

Little Ern, have you thought about using "Willow" as a panel? I know that it isn't actually woodworking but you can make some amazing living structures out of willow rods, such as fences/dividers, arbours, and tunnels to name but a few.
All you have to do is push the ends of the rods into the ground and within a short space of time they will start to root, and not long after that you will see your first leaves.

It is not all that expensive either and you can buy enough rods to make a 30ft fence for around £25 or £30.

Regards

Woody

 

[Little Ern]

Some interesting stuff.

Interested to hear that that the Electra Bekum was disappointing (Jonny Boy). I must admit that this is one brand I would be considering when I buy. What was up with it?

Woodythepecker - The willow idea will be excellent for another job I have soon but not for this one. This time I am screening the backside of an existing fence alongside a path.

 

[jonny boy]

Hello L.E,

I first decided on the 316 after working at a joiners shop that had one of the old models, vitually the same but green and an extruded aluminum table. Firstly on opening the box I saw this cast iron table fall out and could have honestly used it for a cheese grater, the surface was terrible. After setting the saw up, I noticed that there was far too much vibration in the machine and on checking the top wheel I found that it was actually bent and had a runout of about 5-6 mm. After arguing the toss with Machine Mart I called E/B to speak to an engineer who told me that the problem is caused by ME not setting the blade bearing guides correct.
The guy knew as much about a bandsaw as I did about brain surgery.
He then proceded to tell me that "oh well the green old machine was far better than these blue ones, these are made to tight budgets in China as opposed to Germany" which really cheered me up. Some people may disagree but if you want a poorly made saw with a workforce to go with it then the 316 is for you, otherwise put a few extra quid to and you can get a really nice machine.

cheers,
jonny.

 

[Little Ern]

That's a good enough set of reasons jonny boy.

Thanks.