scott grandstaff wrote:
> A devise with a sliding track (like a guillotine or miter trimmer) and long
leverage, in "perfect" wood, (like a shake bolt),
> will definitely pop off thin boards one after the other.
> For a cheeze box or shipping container of any kind, these would be ideal.
>
> But the surface will not be very even. Trying to plane them flat and true
would require a much thicker plank be split and much labor.
> A plank close to finish dimension will have too much variance to even try.
> And I have tried.
>
> We have a particularly well mannered wood here, Port Orford cedar, that makes
a delightful plank just as it is (smells divine too).
> 8 to 10' long sometimes, and a foot wide is possible.
>
> Clapboards for early buildings were split this way too. A froe and a brake
were used.
>
> But you can't finish these into a true dimensional board without terrific
labor.
> What at first appears to only be slight variance, turns out to be a nightmare
if you want it actually flat.
>
> Shingles, split off exactly this way except by eye with a froe, and much
thicker, were trued and tapered with a drawknife.
> But only on one side generally and still a matter of considerable labor.
>
> A very sharp frame saw, skill, and regular finish planing would be faster.
>
> A jig to both hold the board and stop the plane at the proper thickness would
be employed.
> You can look to the shoji screen makers of Japan for pictures of this
finishing practice still in use today.

But what if good use can be made of an unfinished piece? There are
crafts where wooden raw materials are used structurally withoyt
being finished - plaster laths, wattle-and-daub, shingles.

If these "veneer boards" are not a show surface in the book binding,
perhaps split is "good enough".

  BugBear
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