# Milling clapboard lap siding



## sprucegum (Aug 3, 2019)

Two years ago in anticipation of building our new house I milled out some white cedar 5.5" thick cants of various widths to resaw into siding. I have been designing a attachment for my mill ever since. most of the design work was in my head and on scraps of paper but a couple of weeks ago I did it for real on a piece of cardboard with a sharpie and framing square. My welding stuff is not set up to use yet to I hired a friend that does weekend welding to do most of it. Guess I will just post the pictures and not go into great detail. It works great and I am having a blast using it.

Reactions: Like 1 | Way Cool 11 | Creative 2


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 3, 2019)

Well that's nifty! Way to use that noggin for something besides a hat rack! I envy y'all with a mill.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 2


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## ironman123 (Aug 3, 2019)

Three cheers for you Dave. Designer, Engineer and product tester. Have fun and keep milling.

Reactions: Like 2


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## sprucegum (Aug 3, 2019)

ironman123 said:


> Three cheers for you Dave. Designer, Engineer and product tester. Have fun and keep milling.[/QUOTE
> 
> 
> I think of myself as more of a tinker or perhaps a dreamer than a engineer. Definitely a product tester, thought of a couple small improvements today but nothing that will require changes just additions. Most of the commercial units available can be used for shingles also, which makes them more complicated and expensive. I have no desire to make shingles and if I do i will build a separate unit.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Graybeard (Aug 9, 2019)

Very slick. Is it adjustable? Never imagined cutting angles on a mill. Most of the time my milling friend works hard at straight and square. Here you're straight and at a pre-determined angle. You're a real thinker and doer. When you sit down in that house for a cup of coffee, hope you have a donut too. You earned it.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## barry richardson (Aug 9, 2019)

Brilliant! are you going to skin your whole house in cedar?

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## sprucegum (Aug 9, 2019)

barry richardson said:


> Brilliant! are you going to skin your whole house in cedar?



Yes facias window trim and corner boards will all be cedar. My roof overhang is 18" so we used AC exterior plywood for the soffits. I am going to strap vertical on the studs 16OC. and apply the siding to the strapping, the bottom and top of the airspace will be vented to allow airflow. This method allows any moisture that makes it between the siding and the wall sheathing to evaporate and vent out rather than wicking into the siding.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## kweinert (Aug 9, 2019)

Can I ask a couple of dumb questions?

I think I understand the angle bit - there are 'nubs' on the horizontal shaft to generate the angle, correct?

And this is question is just due to ignorance of milling - is there an issue with the cant bouncing while you're milling? I didn't see any hold down for the angled bed and just wondered if there was an issue with movement as you got closer to the bottom and there was less weight on it. 'Less', of course, is a relative term so it may not be an issue at all. I'm just curious.

Thanks.

EDIT: of course I *can* ask a dumb question, that's been proven many times :)

Reactions: Like 1


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## sprucegum (Aug 9, 2019)

Graybeard said:


> Very slick. Is it adjustable? Never imagined cutting angles on a mill. Most of the time my milling friend works hard at straight and square. Here you're straight and at a pre-determined angle. You're a real thinker and doer. When you sit down in that house for a cup of coffee, hope you have a donut too. You earned it.




yes it is adjustable the 1 1/2" pipe with the socket welded to it has 1/2" nuts welded into it. Each nut has a bolt that can be adjusted in or out to adjust the amount of tilt. The pipe and bolts act as a cam to raise and lower the tilting table. The table is wide enough to make 12" siding, I am making 6" siding so I just lay a board in the extra width and the clamps push the board against the cant to hold it in place. Nothing fancy but it is getting the job done. I have about 2500 lineal feet made so far, I estimate it will take around 6000 but I want to make 7000 just to be sure and to give me a good selection. Any extra will be used when I build my shop next year.

Reactions: Useful 1


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## sprucegum (Aug 9, 2019)

kweinert said:


> Can I ask a couple of dumb questions?
> 
> I think I understand the angle bit - there are 'nubs' on the horizontal shaft to generate the angle, correct?
> 
> ...




No issues with bouncing the hinge side is on the side that the blade feeds from so the teeth tend to push the table down onto the cam.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## sprucegum (Aug 9, 2019)

Back in the 60's quite a bit of 3/4" X 8" clapboards were used around here, it is a very uncommon size now. Over the years I have done quite a few repairs on houses with this siding and it was always a issue finding siding to patch in with. Usually I would call every lumber yard in the area and other builders to find a few boards and if more than a few were needed it was always a special order and expensive. 
Some of the very old homes also have siding that is a little odd size wise because it was milled locally to whatever size the sawyer felt was standard. Now that I no longer do that sort of work I can make any size I need.

Reactions: Like 2


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## sprucegum (Aug 15, 2019)

5000 lineal feet of 1/2 x 6 white cedar clapboards 2000 to go

Reactions: Like 2 | Way Cool 2


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## Graybeard (Aug 22, 2019)

Watching the Woodwright's Shop last night and a guy was making fans out of white cedar. He said the deer are so bad now where he lives there is no regrowth. They get browsed right down. Obviously that's not a problem for you. I recently visited a cabin a friend built and was surprised to learn he made all the siding on his mill. His method isn't adjustable however. Very nice work.

Reactions: Like 1


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## sprucegum (Aug 22, 2019)

Graybeard said:


> Watching the Woodwright's Shop last night and a guy was making fans out of white cedar. He said the deer are so bad now where he lives there is no regrowth. They get browsed right down. Obviously that's not a problem for you. I recently visited a cabin a friend built and was surprised to learn he made all the siding on his mill. His method isn't adjustable however. Very nice work.


Cedar swamps are favorite wintering areas for deer. The dense canopy helps keep the snow depth down so deer can move about, cedar grows very slowly and over browsing can be a problem. We have some harvesting rules for large cuts over 40 acers that include management practices for deer wintering areas. Usually cedar grows in wetlands and the harvest is normally 40 to 60% of the total stems either as patch cuts or selective cuts. Too many deer and no timber harvest is usually disastrous in the long run for the deer. light snowfall they can move around to find food but when we get a bad winter they all move into the yarding areas and the over browsed trees provide little food.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Graybeard (Aug 22, 2019)

Last winter was bad here. Lots of snow with ice underneath. Deer were starving. Our arborvitae at the cemetery took a hit. They knocked down the protective netting and ate away. Not many twins or triplets this year, mostly singles. Do you have any predators to control the herd or is hunting the main method?


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## sprucegum (Aug 22, 2019)

Coyotes get their share. Hunting is a big part around here as we are pretty rural, the parts of the state with big numbers of deer also have more human population and much of the land is not open to hunting. When I was a kid we shot every deer we saw, I went to a one room school and kids bringing fresh venison sandwiches in their lunch pail was not uncommon. People were poor and poach was a big part of the fresh meat supply. Now poaching is much less common and I don't see a lot of difference in the deer numbers but the deer are much less shy during the off season. It is not uncommon to see deer out in the open feeding in the daytime.


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## Graybeard (Aug 23, 2019)

Actually the same here. People hunting complain about not enough deer but insurance companies complain about too many deer/car accidents. Numbers of hunters is going down. It's hard to find a place to hunt. Rich people buy up farms and turn them into private hunting areas and our politicians want to sell off public land. In the old days a 30/30 did the trick, now hunters seem to think they need to be armed like the military. I used a bolt action 30/06 and needed only one round to make meat. My son in law is now using it and he's not been successful yet but he will. He's figuring it out. We hunted for meat, you can't eat antlers was a common phrase. 

Love your home and your builds, thanks for sharing.


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## sprucegum (Sep 24, 2019)

Finally getting some of my siding installed. Quite a process, I first built a dip tank and drying rack and dipped them in ready seal stain. It is a natural oil stain and hopefully will help preserve the cedar longer than I am likely to need it.

Reactions: Like 3 | EyeCandy! 1


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## Graybeard (Sep 26, 2019)

I hope you feel proud of what you've done. That's damn nice and will be for a long time.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## barry richardson (Sep 26, 2019)

looks great Dave, lotta work there....

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Nature Man (Sep 26, 2019)

Right handsome siding! Should last a lifetime! Great craftmanship! Chuck

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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