Dolmetscher007 Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 I bought at least 50 linear feet of 3/4" thick x 4" wide (varied lengths) of solid hardwood white oak flooring cut-offs on Craigslist last year. Each piece is at least 14" long; most of them are closer to 2 1/2 - 3 ft. long. It is really nice looking knot free wood. All flat sawn, of course. It all has tongue and groove edges, since it's flooring, and it also has 4-5 deep grooves carved out along the entire length on one side of the boards. I assume that these grooves work for traction and/or to hold adhesive when the floor boards are nailed in place. My question to you guys is... I have these two big piles of this pretty wood, but I don't know what I should do with it. I can obviously keep it lying around for use here and there... but I'd really appreciate any suggestions for a cohesive project. I will most likely have to saw off the T&G edges which will make them more like 3.25" wide, and unless I turn the groved sides in on each other and glue two boards together to make a 1.5" thick board, I would have to plane off 1/4" to get rid of the grooves... which would make each prepped board only .5" thick. Any ideas guys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 I had some left over from doing the floors in my house that I kept. Over the years I've gradually used it up for small stuff. Mostly for shop projects where I don't care if I have to laminate pieces to make up the thickness needed. Any hardwood is pretty dear around these parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwk5017 Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 hmm, hardwood flooring seems pretty useless to me for most projects. I had some hickory that was 4-5" wide from a bulk auction buy that i used for shelving in the shop. MFT has a shelf on the bottom, router table, table saw area etc. To make an actual project....its just so narrow, short, and skinny. The channels on the bottom are for movement related purposes. Same reason your casing/baseboard has a channel on the back of it. If it were flat, you would deal with air exposure imbalances between the faces which leads to cupping. Ive only installed small sections of flooring, but like standard wood projects, you dont glue it down. Flooring and base are kind of interesting through their manufacturing to deal with seasonal movement, so the end user doesnt have to think about it. I hope you paid next to nothing for this stuf. My vote is for shelving, possible a top for an assembly table, or use it as flooring in the shop. This sounds silly, but i would rather have a chisel hit edge down(they always do) on oak instead of concrete. I have rubber mats around my bench, and ive had a few chisels roll off onto them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonPacific Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 I have a small stack of that same stuff sitting under my assembly table... I use it for shop things, anywhere I need a chunk of hardwood or a short runner. I used the tongue side of a couple boards to make a bunch of table clips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 If it is unfinished; picture frames, small lift-lid boxes, wine bottle stands, magnetic knife holders . . . if you have a scrollsaw, make reindeer. Christmas is coming!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxerjoe04 Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 3 hours ago, gee-dub said: If it is unfinished; picture frames, small lift-lid boxes, wine bottle stands, magnetic knife holders . . . if you have a scrollsaw, make reindeer. Christmas is coming!!!! Those look cool, but also look like hell to sand haha. Happen to have a template or anything on how to make them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Those grooves are to minimize cupping in service. You can mill them out easily enough as well as remove the tongues and grooves. I've made all sorts from boards like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedCarpenter Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 My suggestion is just to hang on to it and let uses present themselves. You'll go nuts trying to find projects to fit small and/or odd shaped lumber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted September 25, 2016 Report Share Posted September 25, 2016 On 9/23/2016 at 2:26 PM, Gixxerjoe04 said: Those look cool, but also look like hell to sand haha. Happen to have a template or anything on how to make them? Spindle sander or small drum on the DP. The design I actually did in Visio on a long-gone PC. If I can find it on a backup somewhere I'll post it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4square Posted September 25, 2016 Report Share Posted September 25, 2016 My brother in-law used hardwood flooring shorts for his work bench top. He laminated 2- 3/4" thick sheets of MDF 24" wide X 72" long then glued the oak flooring on top of the MDF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted September 25, 2016 Report Share Posted September 25, 2016 I have a local floor dealer that lets me go dumspter diving and I can get pieces or even bundles of the stuff: hickory, cherry, oak, maple. I don't use a lot of it but it makes great picture frames and I can resaw to use as inlay. Also handy when I want hardwood for part or all of a jig and don't want to cut a good piece of lumber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted September 25, 2016 Report Share Posted September 25, 2016 Got Kids? Toy box. The T&G would be cut off for pieces at the top and bottom of the sides, but would still be used to join those pieces forming the sides, lid, etc. Leave the "bottom grooves" which will now be on the inside of the box alone, they won't detract from the toy box. Corners joints are your call, but dovetails might look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted September 25, 2016 Report Share Posted September 25, 2016 As I do more repair than building, this kind of thing gets tucked away for pieces that were built without good drawer guides etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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