Ripping Sapele Wood For Window Frames

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I am hoping to make a number of window frames in the near future and am thinking of buying sawn sapele wood instead of planed.

I am seeking advice on the type/make of table saw that would relatively easily rip sapele wood approx 2.5 inches thick. Would a Ryobi 1425 be up to the job?

Thanks
 
Hi Badger,

Welcome to the forum. :D

The saw you mention should be able to cut 2.5 " sapele as the max cut is quoted as 3". I have no idea how good the saw is as I have never used a Rybobi, I had a similar sized saw from B&Q which would have done the job but you needed to take care setting it up. The fence did not always lock square to the table so I used to check it before cutting. :x

To make the window frames you will still need to plane the wood after you have sawn it slightly over size to get a good finnish on it. Are you going to do this with hand planes or do you have a planer and thicknesser?

Please let us know how you get on with making your frames.
 
Thanks DaveL

I have recently made a router table (for Trend T9 router) and hope to use this for the rebates and prepare the wood with a long straight router bit ( I appreciate that the fence will need to be stepped)

I will also be making a mortice jig to speed up the process.
 
Hi Badger, welcome.
As Dave has mentioned let us know how you get on and maybe a picture or 2? Your R/Table too?

Noel
 
Badger... sapele was my first taste of working with proper hardwoods (as opposed to using off the shelf sizes). My saw was and is nothing fancy; cheap and nasty Ferm equipped (then) with the stock ripping blade. It was crude but effective, the need for care coming when I worked the rough cut blanks into shape on the router table.
You'll need to ensure that your cutters are in excellent shape and take very light passes; this stuff's real friable with a strong tendency to split and create some wicked splinters when given half a chance. Even slightly dull cutters can cause it to burn a little.
That said, its looks are rewarding enough to put up with its friability, and it has a mild slightly spicy scent when fresh cut... not unpleasant by any means...

Sharp cutters, light passes and you'll be alright...
 
Ive made a few windows of late, and have cut all of the rebates using a hand held circular saw (with a twin locking rip fence), after using a bandsaw then planer to make the stock. I find this the quickest, and most accurate way by far given the tools I have (router table included).

You'll find you need rebates of around 45mm x 20mm deep minimum for DG sealed units to fit ( at current regs standard). Also if you need "stormproof" profile sashes you'll need a rebate on both sides of the sash as well as one side of the frame. All in all thats a hell of a lot of wood to remove, so get a saw setup that'll let you cut out the rebates. The waste from the rebate cut is than the correct dims for the beading to hold the glass, and not sackfulls of dust!

If you need any standard dims for the profiles give us a post. cheers
 
Thank you for all the advice so far.

I hadn't considered cutting the rebates and using the cutouts for the beading - saves wasting wood. I take it that I should be able to do this with a table saw?

I've telephoned a number of timber merchants today - sounds as if I'll be having to rip 3 inch thickness instead of 2.5.

Does anyone have any info on Ryobi table saws and whether they are up to the job of ripping 3 inch thickness of hardwood without struggling to much?
 
Badger, the 1425 has only got about 75mm depth of cut and you'd need near 90mm to be on the safe side. If you're set on Ryobi the RTS 2285 would suit, not sure it would even have enough grunt to rip 3" stock. Although I had a similar type saw (Delta brush motor model) if I were in your position and funds permitted I'd try and find a good bench top TS (think E Beckum, Schepach etc) or even the Sip / Fox cabinet type saw (I think about £400 odd). And budget for a proper rip blade, Freud, CMT, Trend.

Noel
 
I dont have a TS myself, preferring a circ saw, bandsaw, planer approach to the work I do, so cant advise re cutting the rebates this way. The only note of caution I'd give here is ensure the fence is solid since if the waste material traps at the blade it can come flying out of the TS at some speed :eek: . For the same reason ensure the fence is square. Anyone else advise?

If you do cut the rebates out you will either need to use a fine cut blade and a well set-up fence, or be prepared for some planing/sanding to remove the fine saw marks. I use a £10 boot-fair stanley rebate plane for this. It takes few seconds per run.

Another tip, if you use an ultrathin blade and overcut one of the rebate cuts it will give you a slot into which to bed the draught seal into the frame. I have used a thin smear of brown sillicone to hold the seal into the groove. This saves around £60 on buying an pukka seal slot cutter :!:
 
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