Unidentified Rotating Objects

[Anonymous]

I asked the chap in a tool shop for a cutter for a DW625 that would be suitable for lifting floor boards by routing along the centre line of the joists, and along with some strange looks, he gave me an unidentified object for £9.99. It's straight, fits a 1/4" collet, and the blades are 16 mm in length. All it says on the label is "STRA/T 1/4 6.3 x16". The bottoms of the blades are flat, but they have an edge, so does that mean it's plungeable? And will it be long enough to cut through a 20 mm floorboard (the yellow painted part of the flange that holds the 16 mm cutters is 20 mm)?

I'm looking for a router book. Any suggestions other than "The New Router Handbook" by Patrick Spielman? I've already ordered a DW625, so I don't really need details about other routers, which apparently this book goes into.

Square

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Square

It seems as though you have been sold a 1/4" shank straight cutter with a depth of 16mm.

(STRA/T) Straight - type of cutter
1/4" (6.3mm) Shank
16mm Length of cutter.

It will probably work, depending upon the depth of the plunge that can be achieved once it is fitted into the router and yes, you can plunge with it.

Apologies for grannies and eggs, but when you fit the cutter into the collet you should push it in all the way and then bring it back about 4 or 5mm. Do not overtighten the collet.

I would recommend that you cut in multiple shallow passes, about 5mm at a time.

Please make sure that you do lots of practise cuts on scrap timber until you are confident of using the router. If in any doubt, call in a professional.

Or you could use a floorboard saw. Cheap and safe.

In the future I would recommend that you look here http://www.wealdentool.com/ for your cutters.

I try to avoid 1/4" shank cutters at all costs due to the small amount of steel in the shank. If you get 8mm cutters you will have 60% more steel and a cutter that is a lot less susceptible to breaking. The best bit is that they are normally the same price.

In terms of books I would recommend the following: -
Routing for beginners - Anthony Bailey ISBN 1-86108-101-4
Woodwroking with the Router - Bill Hylton & Fred Matlack ISBN 1-86108-128-6

Both of these are GMC publications and might be on the warehouse clearance list. It is currently in all of the magazines.

All the best
Neil

 

[Anonymous]

I served my 4 year apprenticeship as an electrician, and spent lots of time lifting floorboards. My preferred method was always circular saw, set to cut the depth of a board less about 3mm. Cut across the board, split the feather in the usual manner then butcher the board out gently with a wide bolster. :twisted: The board splits slightly at the bottom, but that is better than cutting pipes or cables.

 

[DaveL]

Square,

I think that using a 1/4" cutter to take up floor boards is a bad idea. You are going to end up with slots in the floor.
Use a floor board saw, you still have a slot but not wide enough to be a problem.
Using any sort of power tool to take up floor boards can be dangerous. As Taz points out there may well be cables and pipe under the floor. I have never cut a pipe but had to help repair one that had been nailed through, made a right mess of the living room ceiling before anyone noticed what had happened.

 

[Dewy]

You missed the perfect tool for this.
On Sunday QVC had a mini circular saw with blades that cut anything except glass as a special value.
Depth could be set from 0-12mm plus a guide rail.
They are sold out now even at the higher price since Monday.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice, Neil - and everyone, and your concern.

I don't really fancy plunging a circular saw as I've never even used one before. I'm pretty sure there are no wire's or pipes under these floor boards, but I got a device yesterday from B&Q which bleeps when it finds wires, pipes, and nails etc.

I'll probably bottle out from using the router, but it was an idea if the first plan of drilling lots of holes and chiselling through them got too tedious or messy. I agree I'd need a good practice with a 1/2" cutter first, before trying to push 2000W through the 1/4" one and the floor. A lot of the boards do need replacing, so if I routed, I'd be discarding one piece, and keeping the piece on the other side of the cut.

I've got a screwfix floorboard saw but its a bit flimsy and I'm not sure if I can use it.

So many choices...so little skill.

The review of "Woodworking with the Router Bill Hylton & Fred Matlack" at woodcentral.com said the following:

"What I like best about this book is that their writing anticipates ignorance,..."

Sayn'more! This'll be the one for me!

Cheers

Square

 

[Dewy]

Square,
A circular saw can be set so it doesn't go right through the floorboards. All it needs to do is cut through the tongue. You will have nails along the centre line of each joist. This is NOT where you should cut. The boards are likely to be approx 20mm so set the saw to a depth of 14mm. this should go through the tongue without hitting any cables or pipes. Once you have sawn through one tongue, the rest of the board can be easily levered up gently. It should only be the first board you have problems with. The nails will usually stay in the joists ready for you to remove with a claw hammer.

 

[Anonymous]

Amen!
If at all in doubt about cutting through floorboards, split the feather along the entire length of the board and lift the whole board out. Alternatively, split the feather back as far as the next joist to the cut in either direction, lever the board up and support it as close to the those joists as is practical, which will leave the full thickness of the floorboard exposed. Cut it with a handsaw.
Sparks cut floorboards with circular saws for speed. No other reason. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

I just wrote some stuff which began with the following:

"Much appreciate the effort fellas, but you might as well be speaking Mongolian. "

But it suddenly occurred to me what Taz *might* be telling me: that I could cut out a piece of board between two joists by sawing flush with the 'inside' edges (i.e. facing each other), and then prise up the remaining pieces from those joists far enough to allow them to be sawn and shortened back to the centre line of the joists. If that's what you meant Taz, you're a genius!

These aren't T&G, btw. Just plain boards.

Cheers

Square

 

[Jake]

Can I ask why you need to cut the board in situ anyway? If they're not T&G can't you just pry them up?

 

[Anonymous]

I'd say this is largely because I'm an idiot. And didn't even think of lifting boards in the unaffected area (a narrow strip parallel with the wall).

There are also some which go under a base unit and probably can't be pried up very far -now I think about it.

But anyway, thanks all - for your patience!



Square.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Square

i think we'd all assumed that they were T&G. :roll:

All the best.

Neil