# Need help from Woodmaster owners with making my own tongue and grove flooring



## yellowtruck75 (Jan 1, 2010)

I have a Woodmaster 718 planer/molder and I am going to be picking up the 3 sided molding attachment before the end of the year so that I can make hardwood flooring for our house. I have talked to my local saw mill and I can get packs of cherry from them for very cheap. It will all be the same length but the width will vary and it will be 4/4.

Will I need to joint the edges of all the pieces first or will I be able to use the gang saw piece to get all the pieces to the 3" width?

Will I need to plane all the pieces to 3/4" before cutting the tongue and groove?

Sory if these questions only apply to Woodmaster owners.


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## juicemountain (May 17, 2015)

I have 718 woodmaster and just added the 3 sided system. I am having a hard time setting up the routers and tongue and groove bits. not sure I like the factory guide boards. they are not the same as you see in the videos. every video I have seen shows guide boards with angel iron. just wondering if those are whats neede to make a good tongue and groove panel. I don't think they are available from the factory. the factory ones seem to move. any help or ideas. any help on how toalign and set up the v groove bits would be greatly appreciated, I need some tips/ help


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## saw4fun (Apr 4, 2009)

Have them rip you a fresh straight edge on the sawmill. Then the gang-rip works just fine. I make all my T&G with the knives on the accessory shaft and steel fences I welded up.


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## T0ny (Jun 25, 2019)

Hello All,

Bumping this thread because I'm considering a planer molder purchase but am having some nagging doubts about the best way to run profiles like T&G or decking or even if it's worth the hassle to do so on these machines compared to sending the lumber away to be run.

Is the outfeed router option the best way to go for T&G? I see some people running the boards on edge against guides instead. Could probably run multiple boards simultaneous this way but still have to pass them through up to three times - one for grooves, again for tongues, and again for any back relief grooves needed. So it's probably a wash between that and the outfeed router option? With the route option being probably cheaper and easier to set up, especially for small runs?

Are there any better ways, apart from a 4-sider?

On that note, notwithstanding I haven't the money or space for a 4-sider, I must admit to gravitating to such an option as the best for profiling in general. The thing that bugs me about the planer molder option is a 4-sider can straighten a fair amount in the same pass. Whereas a planer molder can't so we have to factor into the calculations the time and machinery to straighten feed stock. Doing the math it strikes me as a wash whether sending lumber to get machined into T&G or doing it in-house.

Is it just me or has anyone else come to similar conclusions? Maybe I'm missing something? Happy to be proven wrong on this and learn a thing or three in the process, if anyone can spare the time to educate me please?

Thanks all.


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

Making your own T&G flooring or decking is right up there with making your own plywood.

The only reason I'm responding is because I was just thinking how much money I've spent on my tomato garden this year. In the end my tomatoes will cost me probably about 2 to 5 dollars each.  
Good luck with your endeavors.


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## T0ny (Jun 25, 2019)

I hear you Aj. It'll be cheaper to buy our fruit instead of feeding the local wildlife with our fruit trees, etc, but I can't bring myself to buy fruit unless the birds don't leave us any. But that's not a financial decision (or it would be completely reversed) rather a holistic and food-independence decision that feeds the soul and might come in handy one day when SHTF and food supplies dry up as the normal functioning of society we take for granted starts to break down. May never happen but if prepping, like growing tomatoes, doesn't hurt anyone, it's a victimless pastime ;-)

I've got a portable sawmill, have milled a bunch of 1×4 lumber and am at the stage of either sending it off to be run into decking or buying something that will do it not just for this immediate need but for others who are in the same boat. The attraction of the planer molders, apart from budget and space, is it can be useful in my small workshop making various furniture pieces when I have the time. I can sell my lunchbox planer for example and not take up that much more space.

Converting, approximately, to imperial, I've about 4500 feet of 1×4 lumber in around 15' lengths. It's a round trip cost of about US$1300 to have it come back as a finished, ready for sale or installation decking. So, around $0.30 per foot. And that is via the only possible option I have found in a roughly 100 mile radius. Also, that is a single pass on a four-sider, no significant straightening and no straitening or blanking pass.

So, can I, with the purchase of the right equipment and application of my own labour, get it done for less or about the same rate, and could I offer it as a service for others (I have established there are a few people in the same area like me who need a profiling service)?

Short, custom runs, it seems to stack up as can charge more, but does it stack up compared to sending lumber away to be profiled? I'm still not sure. The issue is the labour involved in trying to do this sort of thing on anything but a 4-sider. Also, not all four siders are created equal - in that some can't even straighten much which then, as in the planer molder option, means more labour and machinery to straighten feed stock, which is a huge disincentive to purchase those particular 4-siders for someone like me, not that I'm in the market as I don't have the $, but if I did…

Can I keep myself GAINFULLY employed profiling my own lumber or the lumber of others into profiles, with a planer molder? I guess that is the question. With all the fluffing about with straightening blanks for the molder, and the speed of molding itself which is never a single pass for many of the profiles on these planer molder machines, is it merely a fantastic way to slowly go broke?


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## ibewjon (Oct 2, 2010)

Yes, but real home grown tomatoes are PRICELESS! And I will soon learn a few molding, base board lessons as I have recently purchased a used Williams and hussey machine. About $125 for each set of knives I purchase. I intend to make some trim to match my 100 year old home. Only time will tell….......


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## T0ny (Jun 25, 2019)

That's where I think the equation on these machines might stack up - on the custom work where it's almost impossible to find a reproduction profile that matches what's in the house and a custom set of knives is required. In that case people have the option of paying more (thus it's actually a profitable endeavour to buy a machine and offer a custom molding service) to match the existing, changing to something close they can buy much cheaper at a local store and hope it isn't noticed, or going with something completely different and cheap and be done with it.

I'd still very much like to build a solid case for making decking with these machines but am struggling to do so, and that's quite frustrating because I can't afford a four-sider.


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

The outfit that run mill work out near me is ridiculously industrial. I was able to pick up some jointer knives from them for cheap. When they get too short for their planer there's still plenty of knife for my jointer.
My jointer is large 5 inch cutting circle.
They have a onsite tool room where 2 guys grind away all day long.
My point is making money at mill works is tough. You really got to go big really big.
I'll stick to worry about gofers eating my tomato plants. 
Good Luck


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

> I have a Woodmaster 718 planer/molder and I am going to be picking up the 3 sided molding attachment before the end of the year so that I can make hardwood flooring for our house. I have talked to my local saw mill and I can get packs of cherry from them for very cheap. It will all be the same length but the width will vary and it will be 4/4.
> 
> Will I need to joint the edges of all the pieces first or will I be able to use the gang saw piece to get all the pieces to the 3" width?
> 
> ...


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## ibewjon (Oct 2, 2010)

Or go with a jointer and a shaper with t & g cutter set


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## ibewjon (Oct 2, 2010)

Or go with a jointer and a shaper with t & g cutter set


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## T0ny (Jun 25, 2019)

The one time, at band camp, I ran my own ex 6" T&G using a jointer to straighten two faces, table saw to rip to width, thickness planer to plane thickness and skim to correct width, then a hand held router to T&G.

Never again!

Some people just know it will be a nightmare and don't lick the frozen pole. But some of us just cant resist and will try anything, once.


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## SweetTea (Aug 5, 2016)

Look for a slightly used 3HP shaper with a power feeder. Then spend about $300 for a tongue and groove shaper cutter set and boom you have everything you need much cheaper and much easier. You can setup a shaper with a back fence by using a board attached to a miter slot bar and run your feeder pushing the stock against that back fence and thus you end up with identical widths and straight edges. You can get a brand new 3HP Grizzly shaper for $1,000 and a 1/4hp Grizzly feeder for around $500. So for around $1,800 you will have everything you need and then when it's all done you still have a great setup for making mouldings, cabinet doors, entryway doors, ect


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## T0ny (Jun 25, 2019)

Thank you for that suggestion SweetTea. How does that straighten an 18' board? Wouldn't the backfence/outfeed fence need to be 18' long?

Have you done it this way? Apart from the climbing, are there any other potential fish hooks with this approach?


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