Cross Cut From Flooring Sample

[BadBob]

One of my neighbors threw out a large pile of 2x2 foot flooring samples. I took some home to try. The vinyl samples were horrible to cut. The problem was with the glued-on padding. The glue was soft and gooey and mixed in with sawdust, and smeared all over the edges. However, some laminated (plywood) hardwood samples were lightly glued onto a 1/4-inch hardboard backing. I cut this cross from one of the panels. The backing came off while I was cutting, and I used tape to keep it together. I wound up with two crosses: one plywood and one hardboard.

You can see the seams where I glued the tongue and groove panels together. After gluing, I put the cross on a nonstick surface and put two five-pound weights on top to hold it together and flat.

I used two Pegas #3 MGT blades to cut this. It cuts much as I would expect from baltic birch plywood.

The photo is not very good. I had never photographed a cross before.

 

 

[Dak0ta52]

Very clean cutting, Bob. Great job! I've got a couple of boxes of hardwood floor panels and haven't even thought of trying them. After seeing your piece, I'll have to give it a try.

[wombatie]

Looks great, well done.

Marg

[daveww1]

very nice job

[BadBob]

11 hours ago, Dak0ta52 said:

Very clean cutting, Bob. Great job! I've got a couple of boxes of hardwood floor panels and haven't even thought of trying them. After seeing your piece, I'll have to give it a try.

I did a lot of reading posts on cutting flooring. Some flooring will eat blades, but the experiences were mixed. I decided that I would have to try it and see how it worked. If it cost me a few blades to figure this out, so be it.

[BadBob]

I think I have this figured out:

• I glue as many patterns as will fit on the flooring sample.
• Roughly cut them using a coarse blade designed for scrolling in thick wood.
• Tape the two layers together and cut the outside of the cross with a Pegas #3 MGT blade, taping as I go because if there are no pin nails, they will move.
• Find and remove any pin nails that I haven't hit already.
• Once the flooring is separated from the backing, I pop the tongue and groove joints apart, add glue and clap them together.
• At this point, I don't need the back piece, but I want to experiment with painting them, so I tape, drill, and cut like I would for any stack cut.