lap siding

[kcbarnes]

Ok this is my plan, feel free to make suggestions. I will start by milling 4/4 tulip popular 10" wide and air dry it for a year. I will then resaw it on a tilted jig so I get some taper (I won't plane it because I like rough siding) and get 2 pieces from one 4/4 board. next I will treat the back of the board just before I install it with aluminum or stainless nails with a 5" reveal and then put a transparent wood preservative on the outside. If anybody has any other ideas please respond .

[Tom]

That sounds like the ticket to me.  I've never done it before but would consider cutting the original board a little thicker than 4/4 to account for the kerf when I split it.   I guess splitting a 10" board expecting a 5" reveal would take care of the ultra thin top.

You ask for another idea.  How about sawing a 3/4 or 7/8 board, drying it and either cut a dado on the top to form a shiplap or a rounded groove to make novelty siding.  A joiner would make the shiplap and a router or shaper would make the novelty siding.

Woodmizers' shingle/siding jig will cut siding green or you could just tilt the cant back and forth with spacers under first one side and then the other.

Hmmmm how many cats have we skinned so far?

[kcbarnes]

Thanks Tom, I like the idea of the shiplap/novelty siding and do plan on doing that on some future projects. but I like the idea of a rough lap siding because it will be on my garage that won't be far from our log home. And before anybody asks, yes I will price the 8" half-log siding but I know it will be pricey and I wouldn't have the pride of milling my own.

[Tom]

Ah yes, pride.  The bane of the custom sawmiller.  I know exactly what you are talking about.  I've been known to make my own even when somebody else may do it cheaper.

My wife says I'm stubborn but I like to think it is pride.

[kcbarnes]

It's nice to be understood. I'm among my own kind here.

[Tom]

Kc,
Here's some pride and he's not even a sawyer.  He's a junk dealer that retired from the Marine dock building business.
This link was a little before you came and is a reason to peruse some of the old links.
http://www.forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=general&action=display&num=996670313

[kcbarnes]

Good link Tom, as I get time I am going though all the old post. A lot of good info in them.

[Ron Wenrich]

Here's my 2 cents on tulip poplar.

Cutting 1x10's for a 5" reveal seems like overkill.  I have a 4 1/4" reveal on 6" boards.  It seems that you could get away with 8" boards.  Just take some scraps and play with it before hand.

Not planing the boards may be a problem.  You will have some cupping and warping.  If your boards aren't good before you resaw, they won't be afterwards.

You might want to consider cutting your thickness to 5/4.  

You will still have a rough side from the saw you used to split the board.

Another option may be to split green and then dry.  It'll dry a lot quicker and you may skip the planing.

[Don P]

Hi Guys,
We just got back home and are glad to reach out and not hit a wall..in any direction! stayed in the shower till I got bored!
Oh, the thread
The old homeplace here was done in flat poplar about 1/2" thick with a watertable shim to start the first course tip. My house is "dolly varden" cedar, a bevel pattern with a rabbeted back bottom edge (hey didja know, rabbet from the french rebate: to remove). Oh maybe it was rebatir (I sucked at french ) It was planed then resawn. I made a tipped trough out of plywood and 2x4's 16" widex 16'long. Plopped a board in face down rolled stain up that side, turned it over rolled the face, tipped on edge, step aside for refreshment as it drains a sec then off to drying racks of 2x's on horses. The drain off ran to a tray at the lower end of the trough to be recycled back to the roller tray.
Neighbor used 4/4 EWPine boards lapped, we had to pad the trims to account for the buildup thickness.

[woodmills1]

lord knows up here the poplar we cut is really quaking aspen but it cups real bad most of the time.

[Eggsander]

In the case of beveled siding with a rabbet for the overlap, what about the relief cuts on the backside? I believe they are there to relieve cupping stress to help the siding stay flat to the wall. But are they really necessary if your sawing the siding out of dry wood? I wonder if maybe they're just used on the production side to provide consistant performance out of the stuff for the discount lumber marts.
The Peterson has a different setup for sawing beveled siding, but I haven't gotten a chance to play with that part yet. Soon, maybe.  
Pride, whoa man lookout. Hey my justification for buying the mill was that I could use to saw most of what I need for the addition we've been planning for our house. Timber frame, interior walls and ceiling, hardwood floors, siding, ..... heck maybe even the front door!
To be able to build something that people can appreciate is a great feeling, be it a chair, a boat, a house, a toy, or a piece of furniture that borders on art. But take it step further and know that you could walk into the woods with your tools and your knowledge and be able produce those things with what you find there, now that is cool.  
.....Besides, I'm too tight to spend what they want for the crap they sell in the stores.  

[kcbarnes]

Ok this is my NEW plan, all else is the same except that maybe I will cut my boards 4/4 or so and then put them in a taper jig right away to cut the bevel and then I could stack them nested with the two pieces overlapped only about a 1/2" on the narrow side so I would still have air flow all around them and also have a top and bottom side parallel for easy stickering.