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Table Saw Advice - Parquet floor project

5K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  vasbyt 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I'm in the UK and new to wood working. I'm looking at a Bosch GTS 10 J table saw. We are about to lay a parquet floor using 100 year old reclamed American Pitch Pine. The bitumen from the original lay has to be removed, so my idea is to set up the table saw at a thickness to just touch the wood, each piece of parquet is (wood excluding the bitumen on the bottom) 20 mm thick by 220 mm long and 70 mm deep. The GTS has a cut depth of 79mm so that will mean I can set up to around 74 mm to just clear the wood. In total I have 1854 blocks to cut. My quesions are as follows, will the GTS be man enough for this? what tooth pitch should I have on the saw blade? I am thinking of having two identical blades to rotate the cutting, What would be the best way to clean the blades and how often?
I will be using a belt sander to clean up the edges and to remove the layer of grundge on the surface of the blocks, and once laid I will then get a floor sander in. I am also thinking of cutting some of the blocks into strips to form a border around the room (I have got 4sqm of spare blocks to play with) I will also be collecting sawdust to mix with resin to fill any cracks/gaps etc.
Any advice will be appriciated
Thank you
 
#2 ·
So if I understand you are using reclaimed parquet flooring with tar on the bottom and want to cut off the tar by running the wood tiles through your tablesaw with the face side against the fence. (?) Sounds good to me.

I have never cut bitumen/tar/pitch/asphalt but I would buy carbide tipped blades for construction which are typically inexpensive. In the states you can buy commercial tar removers for automobiles. I use a citrus degreaser to remove pine pitch from my blades and have also used it to remove road tar from an automobile but it will remove paint if left too long.

Can't tell you if the saw is "man enough" :) but it's presumably the only saw you have so it will have to do.
 
#3 ·
Hi Rick, I'm looking at buying a saw, I have just been looking at the Bosch GTS10 XC which has a 2.1 kw motor, I will also be getting a bench belt sander (any excuse to buy new tools when I can without the good lady complaining:) The advice on cleaning and tips is good and makes sense thank you. I have worked out that by the time I have bought the new saw and sander I will still be several hundred pounds ahead of the game, obviously there is just the time factor, but I get bored easily so it's good.
 
#4 ·
It's not a good idea to try to cut adhesive off the bottom of the boards. Also, 70mm is just over 2-3/4" which is the maximum cut depth of most saws. I am not familiar with that particular saw, so I cannot comment on that.

If you want to cut the adhesive off, it is more advisable to make sure the saw kerf is into the wood and not the adhesive. This can be done with solid wood, but I would advise against it with an engineered product.

Please be careful. The operation you are talking about could be very dangerous.
 
#5 ·
The parquet is solid wood, the cut will be just below the bitumen and the blocks are around 1 3/8" thick so even after cutting they will still be around 1 3/16" thick. The depth of cut on the saw is 3 7/64" whilst the blocks are 2 3/4" so there should be enough cut through. In the picture attched you can see the bitumen it looks thick in reality it is not much more than 3/64" the block underneath gives an idea of some of the grain, I have sanded it roughly to see what it looks like
My background is not wood working but mechanical engineering with lots of time spent on machining so safety is always something I take seriously
Wood Rectangle Metal Gas Hardwood
 

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#6 ·
Feather boards and a push block should get you there. Might want to invest in a cheap blade or two as there will most likely be a lot of crap you will be sawing through that will quickly dull/ruin the blade. Not something you would want to use an expensive blade on.

Cheers,
Brad
 
#14 ·
Thank you all for the advice, I have gone with the band saw as suggested on both here and in the shop I visited. Got the saw home this evening and set it up, it is doing exactly what I want, a few more minor adjustments and it will be all systems go. For the band I have gone with a 4-6 variable TPI. The saw is a "Trade" model designed for heavier work. I have also got a dust extracter moving 840 m3/hr
 
#15 ·
Hey Vasbyt
How did you get on?
It would be super helpful to get your feedback on the project, as I am just about to embark on something very similar.
Cutting 4mm of wood away from the base, clearing the bitumen as well as standardising the sizes of each piece, seems to be a logical and much quicker way.
Perhaps you could share photos too.
Hope you are enjoying it :)
Kind regards
Jez

Thank you all for the advice, I have gone with the band saw as suggested on both here and in the shop I visited. Got the saw home this evening and set it up, it is doing exactly what I want, a few more minor adjustments and it will be all systems go. For the band I have gone with a 4-6 variable TPI. The saw is a "Trade" model designed for heavier work. I have also got a dust extracter moving 840 m3/hr

- vasbyt
 
#17 ·
Following on from the advice given I purchased a decent band saw, it worked well but the bitumen did clog up the teeth on the band, I got about 30 cut before having to clean. I tried various TPI's and found a 3TPI worked best. The next challenge was the rollers, they picked up bitumen residue and required cleaning.
We stopped the project we came to realise that the parquet would not suit the house as we changed our mind on furnishings.

Hope this helps.
 
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