bandsaw shingles

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Hello, everyone. I hope you can help. My uncle (who is without a computer) has a 24" bandsaw with a 1" wide blade. He wants to cut shingles from poplar or walnut. It's too expensive to ship them in from elsewhere, and there is no one local who does it. Can anyone help with information, instructions, references, etc? My searches aren't turning up much. He's in southeastern Ohio and I'm in Texas. Please respond to bettay@yahoo.com. He's willing to call you to talk, or I can handle email communications. I've had some feedback from woodworkers who say that poplar & walnut are the wrong kinds of wood and that it's a very labor-intensive project that could be difficult. Has anyone out there cut their own shingles? Thank you!! Bethe, the good niece :-)

-- Bethe Lewis (bettay@yahoo.com), November 18, 2000

Answers

Try going to www.papercrete.com . I recall seeing some information on wood shingles at that site.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 18, 2000.

Hi Bethe, why does he want to use the poplar and walnut? Is it what he has the most of on his property? The poplar is easy to work, but it cracks and checks horribly, and walnut isn't very easy to mess with either. Doesn't he have an abundance of locust trees on his property, most areas here have plenty, they are a "weed" tree around here. Locust splits very easily, its the local fence post tree, and I understand that shingles are split, not cut. I once saw how it was done in the old "Foxfire" series of books, don't remember which one, sorry. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), November 18, 2000.

You are correct, generally shingles are split. There is a tool called a froe (also frow) used for this purpose. It's a sharp blade with a handle affixed at a right angle. You hit the blade with a stick of wood or mallet to split the block of wood. I remember my great-uncle visiting when we were living in New Mexico. He and my dad made shingles from a juniper tree using a sharpened main leaf spring for an old car.

-- 4750556011922452 (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), November 18, 2000.

Wood Mizer and some other bandsaw mills have an attachment that allows one to cut shingles.

-- Phil (phillipbriggs@thenett.com), November 18, 2000.

I believe split shingles were traditionally made from cedar or redwood (perhaps fir) for their lasting power. Some metal roofing not imitates wood to where you can't tell the difference from any distance.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 19, 2000.


I believe it's the very first Foxfire book that describes how to split shingles.

-- Eric in TN (eric_m_stone@yahoo.com), November 20, 2000.

I think even oak has been used for split shingles -- split shingles last longer than sawed ones. Also, they tend to naturally come out tapered (like they should be) where sawed ones will usually be the same thickness on both ends and won't lay the same. Redwood and cedar are by far the best woods to use, as they are not only rot- resistant, but are also easy to split. But other woods can be used. I wouldn't recommend poplar, though, as I think it would rot too quickly. And surely there are better uses for walnut?!? If you have a lot of it, sell it to gunstock and furniture makers and buy some cedar or redwood!!! Or even black locust!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 20, 2000.

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