My wainscot test sample

[phil]

I sliced some flooring down. Just tried about 15 lengths to try it

I Cut off the old Tongue and groove, sliced it to make it the same thickness

Split it in two to make it about 1/4” or so.

Then cut one edge at a 45, moved the fence in a bit and cut it twice more to get the pointy shape on the other edge

The samples aren’t sanded and the wood showing is just the back side of the flooring but I flipped the one on the left over to show the nice grain

I’m trying to imitate the look of old wainscot but this way it doubles the material

I could run a shape in it or a v shape in the middle of each one or maybe just leave it like that

Once I get going I should be able to make it a bit thicker

I found that if I flip them the other way the face is perfectly flat and if I put one that’s a bit thicker than the others the joint still fits fine

Phil

[Gothichome]

Phill, it’s a good idea but I see some issues. Being so thin you will need lots of very straight support or the field might turn out wavy. I suppose that could be remedied by fixing the wainscotting to plywood backing. To secure the boards you would need to nail threw both bevels, not a big deal with thin brads, but I think there will be no allowances for the boards to move with changing humidity and temperatures like a proper torque and groove. This may not be a big deal in a small field but it could creat buckling and lifting in larger fields like the wainscotting your planning for you living room.

[phil]

Im going to try some other ideas. I really cant' decide if the issue of wood movement is ok. Its a bit hard to predict how much movement is possible.
I plan to glue them to the existing 5/8 soundproof drywall using PL glue. i think the glue alone should support them well. They cant' get wet and stay wet as they could if it were a floor.

While it will grow and shrink, because wood does that, I dont think it will be significant movement, and there is a little room on the edges so it could move without uncovering the gap.
one issue with the way it is done in the picture is that it requires some face nailing.

Maybe if I apply a bit of finish to both sides that would also help it be more stable as it would help it not "breathe" so easily and change size, but maybe the finish cant' really prevent the wood acclimatizing to the environment , it would just happen more slowly. I could brush on some shellac to both sides after a coat of oil to pop the grain and then apply them.

I'm planning to try a different type of joint which will be a 45 degree bevel and a lap joint.
so each piece will have some area that is half thickness overlapping, like shiplap.

It's too thin for a T and G to work well but I might get away with a lap joint.
Im going to try to set up to make those cuts in one pass with a molding cutter, and Ill see what those results look like. this could also be done by cutting the lap on the saw, and then using a router to make a V or a / shape. I could buy a special router bit to do both in one operation.

I could fit them like shiplap with a tight joint and then run pairs of them through a router bit cutting both sides of the V along the crack where they meet. The any discrepancy in fit wouldn't result in a change to the V that way, but I'd have to keep them in the same sequence.

the width will be slightly narrower if I introduce a lap, but that's ok, it might look better. if I go significantly narrower , I may be able to rid a lot of the old nail holes from the wood. I was trying to decide if I should run a V groove down the middle. If it's a 1/4" narrower than the picture I think that would still be ok visually. I'm not really that bent on how close the V grooves are.

if I resaw the boards ( rip them to thickness) on my bandsaw rather than on the tablesaw the kerf will be narrower so the pieces will be thicker but there will be a more visible saw cut pattern. Those samples were a bit thinner than most that I am getting by ripping with the blades. the blade I have on my bandsaw is quite thin. It will cut with a very thin kerf, but maybe I can try a blade better for ripping.

If I were to go to finishing after the tablesaw the saw marks would still jump out, so it needs sanding or thickness planing, or a trip across the jointer.

I'll have a try at cutting some on the bandsaw and then put them through the thickness planer and see how that seems to work. maybe I can split them and then use the thickness planer to improve the finish and hide the blade marks. Even the planer or jointer leaves it's machine marks so it needs some sanding no matter which way I go.

I can also try mounting two blades in the tablesaw with a spacer so the splitting operation could happen in one pass. There is a limit to how thin a tablesaw blade can be. The one doing the splitting has to be thin. The other doesn't matter as it is simply taking off what's left which is inconsistent and becomes garbage.

I could laminate them to 1/8th MDF and use wood glue, clamp them in a stack to set up, and then run a T and G but because there are so many steps, that would increase the work. I could also do glue ups straight onto MDF and then apply that as a sheet. Id rather not use MDF if it isn't needed.

if I have a lap joint it might be about 3/16 or 1/4" that tucks under and I could then put glue on each one and affix them with an air stapler and the staples would get covered with the next piece. maybe I could also use something like a pad with a weight gizmo that holds the stuff tight to the wall while the PL glue sets up.

I'll try more samples and post pics of my results. once I figure out how best to approach this it will be a long run of lumber and a lot of repetition. repetition will improve my speed and accuracy. Ill tweak some things like guides, hold downs and feather boards so it can't kick back easily or lift away from the fence or saw table as I put them through. Those samples weren't very accurate as it was just a quick mock up to try that idea.

Phil