How to choose a quarter in a board with an angle grinder

Cutting a quarter with a circular saw

Choosing a quarter in wood is one of the most frequent operations in joinery and carpentry. Why this is done and how it is discussed further.

Wood, like any material, has specific properties that must be taken into account. This obvious fact, however, is often ignored by beginners. As a result, spoiled mood, time spent on rework, and often spoiled material.

One of the characteristic properties of wood is that when the humidity changes, the linear dimensions of the wooden part change. When dry, the wood shrinks, with increasing moisture it expands. In addition, resin evaporates from the wood over time. Because of this, the wooden part gradually shrinks in linear dimensions regardless of changes in humidity. They say about this phenomenon: the tree dries up. These effects are especially noticeable in softwood, from which the most common sawn timber is made.

In construction and dachas, spruce and pine boards are most often used. These woods change size the most when dry.

Alternative ways

As mentioned, the stationary circular saw is very handy for quarter selection. (There is a separate article on the types of circular saws and the features of their choice on our website.) But it is not always in the arsenal of the master, and sometimes it is impossible to use it purely physically.

If you need to select a quarter in thick long boards, you can use a hand-held circular saw. The manufacturing principle and sequence of operations are the same. The difference is that in this case the board to be processed and the tool are swapped. The board is fixed motionlessly, and the master moves the circular saw with a parallel stop manually.

If you don’t have a circular saw or a hand-held circular saw at hand, you can use an angle grinder with a disc for wood, or a hand router with a suitable cylindrical cutter. Both methods are very slow and not suitable for a large amount of work. In addition, choosing a quarter with an angle grinder is inconvenient, dangerous and uneven.

Another way is to use an electric plane. However, most modern models of planers, due to the design features, are not suitable for this. Watch the video, which shows just this way of choosing a quarter.

What does drying out lead to

A typical case: you made a shed in your country house for storing household equipment and for other needs. They did it for themselves, so they rallied the boards from which the walls are made, carefully, without the slightest crack. Two to three months pass; the boards dry up and the whole wall glows with cracks. In winter, snow blows through them, in summer the wind brings dust inside the barn.

Shrinkage reaches 10-13% of the linear size. That is, a board with a width of 100 mm after drying is reduced to 88 mm.

To prevent this from happening for wall cladding, you need to use boards with a quarter. A wall sheathed with such boards will never have through cracks. With their quarters, adjacent boards overlap each other and when the through cracks dry out, no more appears.

Unfortunately, lumber is very rarely sold with a quarter ready. Therefore, an amateur master should know the ways in which the boards are modified if necessary.

Methods for making a quarter

You can select a quarter using several methods using different tools. For example:

• electric plane,
• milling cutter,
• hand-held circular saw,
• stationary circular saw.

The last method. choosing a quarter with a circular saw. is the most convenient and productive. And consider it.

If you need planed boards, then it is more convenient to first stitch the boards and only then proceed to making a quarter.

A Few Tips

In the next articles, we will continue the story about woodworking techniques and the tools used.

Lumber processing options

Let’s figure out how to choose a quarter in the board with our own hands. We buy a board of 2 grade and process it in a convenient way. How can this work be done:

• electric plane;
• circular;
• manual router;
• angle grinder.

After purchasing the required amount of lumber, the easiest way to select a quarter in the board is to use a circular saw or an electric planer. It remains only to give a neat shape to the edges of the product.

First, you need to make a cut from the end of the board, half the height, and then. in the center of the end. Then we set the width of the working part of the board and saw through another fragment. Here, the depth should be 1.5 times more than half the height, so that it is more convenient to remove the sawn-off part. Thus, you can form a finished product with your own hands twice as expensive as the original.

Despite the production of raw materials of the second grade, the quarters have excellent characteristics:

• strength;
• thermal insulation properties;
• visual appeal;
• the possibility of decorative use;

It is possible to use this material for external cladding.

How to choose a quarter on the board

By spending a little more time, you can significantly reduce your material costs. That is, the volume of work will increase, but the benefits will also be noticeable. It is absolutely not necessary to buy grade 1 material. by choosing grade 2 wood, it is easy to independently give it the desired look in a fairly short time.

A circular saw

Such a saw, used when processing a board, can simplify the process and shorten its duration. If the technique is powerful and reliable with sharp knives, it will not be difficult to set the required parameters.

The scheme of work does not fundamentally differ from the previous ones, it differs only in that the wood processing is carried out with a circular saw.

Angle grinder for woodworkers. START METALWORKING!

Electric planer

It is convenient for them to cut the boards and shape them. The process of getting a quarter board is no different from working with other equipment, but the plane is better because of its convenient operation. This device provides an open view of the board‘s working surface.

In the absence of a circular and a planer, an angle grinder with a disc for wood or a hand-held milling cutter, on which a cylindrical cutter was previously installed, is suitable for work. But both options are characterized by low productivity, that is, they are unlikely to be suitable for processing a large volume of material due to the low speed.

With these tools, inexpensive lumber can be easily converted into quality products suitable for interior and exterior decoration of buildings.

Router table

End machining and milling grooves for the tongue-and-groove connection are conveniently done using a milling table with a protruding tool. It has a simple design, drawings are easy to develop independently. A small workbench will do.

The cover turns over. A hole is cut in it. Its size is about 5 mm larger than the maximum diameter of the cutter that will be used. A bar is mounted perpendicular to the table. It is installed parallel to the side at such a distance that the spindle axis of the attached electric drill coincides with the center of the hole.

The body of the power tool is attached to the bar with clamps and stops. In the normal state of the table, the cartridge should be located under the cover, and the cutter inserted into it protrudes. During processing, the wooden part moves along the table, resting against the template, milling takes place.

The tool can be secured in another way. The main thing is that the center of the hole coincides with the axis of the cutter. A switch and socket were available. All elements of the machine must be fixed rigidly, without distortions.

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How to make a thorn picker

When forming thorns on wooden blanks with a hand mill, it is not fixed in any way in space and is brought to the workpiece manually. That is why it is very important that when using a power tool, the workpiece to be processed is in a device that can ensure not only its reliable fixation, but also the accuracy of the spikes formed on its surface.

The design of the simplest device that is able to cope with such tasks is:

• several fixed guides (bottom, top, side);
• movable bar, due to which you can adjust the length of the sample.

Such a device is made, the dimensions of the components of which are selected individually, in the following sequence:

• At the edges of the plywood sheet, side vertical elements of the same height are fixed, in the central part of which cutouts are made.
• On the side elements, guides are installed along which the sole of the hand router will move.
• To limit the travel of the hand router along the upper guides, the side plates should be fixed on them.
• On the plywood sheet, which plays the role of the base of the device, it is necessary to install a movable element, with the help of which the overhang of the edge of the workpiece to be processed will be regulated. You can use a regular thumb screw or any other suitable fastener for fixing.

When making a device of the proposed design, the following points should be taken into account:

• The height of the upper guides should correspond to the sum of the thickness of the workpiece and the amount of small clearance that is required to install the fixing wedge.
• The cuts in the side vertical elements are made of such a width that it takes into account the length of the spike being formed.

It is possible to work using the device of the proposed design with a manual milling cutter of almost any modern model, the options of which provide the ability to adjust the cutting speed, feed rate and overhang of the working part of the tool used.

To create a dovetail spike on the lateral surface of a bar or board, a device is used, manufactured as follows.

• A hole is made in the plywood sheet, from which the cutting part of the dovetail cutter will protrude.
• A hand router is fixed from the bottom of the prepared plywood sheet. To do this, you can use clamps, self-tapping screws or any other fasteners.
• A board with a thickness of 2.5 cm is fixed on the surface of the plywood sheet, along which the workpiece to be processed will move. It will act as a guiding element. Such a board is a consumable and is used once with a cutter of a certain diameter.

Attachment. for dovetail milling

Such a device can be installed between two chairs or use a more convenient and reliable structure to place it.

Assembly Algorithm

Before making a router from a drill, you should prepare all the necessary materials and a drawing, indicating the dimensions and how the drill will be attached, replacing the manual router.

• Mark on the table or base the center of the spindle axis.
• Cut a hole for the tool outlet.
• Put the electric drill on the stand and mark the position of the clamp and stop, fix them.
• Tighten the stand and kerchief strictly at right angles.
• Fix the tool body to the base.

A self-made machine must be durable, without backlash and distortions. Then it will be possible to work on it like a milling cutter.

Advantages and disadvantages of the router

The main advantage of a milling machine with an electric drill is that you do not need to buy an expensive milling cutter to perform single operations. On a homemade device, it is easy to make several grooves, process the edge of the shelf.

They all have a shank and are easy to mount in the chuck. Tool changes are quick. The disadvantage of the chuck is that it can be unscrewed during operation, especially in the presence of tool vibration. It is necessary to constantly check and tighten the fastener.

Before you make a milling cutter from a drill, you should decide on the amount of work. A homemade router is suitable for performing household repair work with an electric drill, individual operations for processing wooden parts. It is impossible to mill with a drill for a long time and with heavy loads.

The main disadvantage of a milling machine from a drill is a low number of revolutions. When drilling, cutting occurs over a small area. At the same time, cleanliness is not needed, the wood is processed into shavings. On the drilling tool, the maximum rotation is 3000 rpm. While the lightest router has a minimum value of 4000 rpm. Every specialist knows that the cleanliness of processing depends on the speed of rotation of the tool. The faster the cutter rotates, the more beautiful the edge and end of the key. After processing on a homemade machine, the treated areas will have to be sanded for a long time.

The motor on the drilling tool is significantly weaker than the milling motor. It is designed to be switched on for a short time. He will not be able to work at maximum power for a long time. During milling with a drill, it must be constantly turned off, letting it cool down.

A homemade machine is suitable for one-time work. For constant milling of wood, it is better to purchase a router.

Tenon-groove connection: tenoning device and milling cutters for the hand router

Knowing how to make a thorn-groove with a hand mill, you can even make at home not only beautiful, but also reliable furniture, but also various structures made of wood, characterized by excellent bearing capacity, even at home. The thorn-groove system connects not only elements of various furniture (tables, chairs and shelves), but also the frames of low-rise buildings that experience significant loads during operation.

Tongue-groove connection made with a hand router

In order to make a spike on a wooden beam with a hand router, several conditions must be met:

• securely fix the workpiece and correctly orient it in relation to the guide sole of the router;
• set the height of the working part of the cutter so that the tool removes a layer of material of the required thickness from the surface of the workpiece.

Even using the simplest tenoning device for a router when performing such processing, it is possible not only to increase its productivity and quality of the result, but also to make the technological process safer. It is especially important to use such a device, which can be made with your own hands, in cases where furniture is not produced in single copies, but in series (while the master has to perform a large number of similar operations with both the same type and with different shapes and sizes of wooden details).

The use of devices will speed up the process of making joinery joints by a milling cutter

Drill router design

Given the power and the number of revolutions, you can only make a light milling cutter from a drill. For high-quality processing of the board, the working tool must be fixed on the table, and the workpiece must be moved. The top-tool design allows complex parts to be produced. Each craftsman comes up with his own design. They differ in the attachment and location of the electric drill.

The milling cutter can be done by hand using an angle grinder

The angle grinder is a versatile tool on the basis of which you can make a variety of designs and machines. One of these devices is a router. Of course, a do-it-yourself milling cutter from an angle grinder can only cope with the simplest tasks of cutting a groove or sawing a small part.

Choosing and Installing Accessories for the DEWALT Small Angle Grinder

On sale you can find cutting discs designed for cutting wood. But it should be borne in mind that they are not suitable for every model of angle grinder. Saw blades are used to cut the boards. For processing wood, you should not purchase circles intended for cutting metal and concrete blanks. This is because these materials require high hardness and high speed. And when working with wood, these circles can destroy the material or burn the tool.

Milling discs

There is a special roughing disc with a coarse abrasive. over, these grains can be of different sizes, depending on the purpose. The use of such cutters allows you to finally form the workpiece. This circle is a power rasp. Milling with such a circle is quite safe and easy.

The design of the wood cutter for the angle grinder ensures that the tool cannot be thrown out and jammed. Before starting operation, you should read the instructions for use. Choosing the correct rotation speed and direction will ensure safety.

How to Use an Angle Grinder: Angle Grinder Attachments

There are several types of cutters for grinders. Their number can be compared to the number of milling cutters for a hand router.

Cutting discs

They are made from tungsten carbide, which is highly durable. Depending on the cutting depth and the number of teeth, there are several types of cutting discs. To choose which disc to buy, follow these guidelines:

• With infrequent and short-term use of a circle and sawing a variety of wood, it is worth choosing a disc, the teeth of which have a beveled shape.
• When processing soft woods, a circle with straight teeth is used.
• Trapezoid discs are the best for cutting medium-density wood, chipboard and USB boards.

Manufacturing of a milling machine

To make a milling machine from an angle grinder with your own hands, you need an angle grinder and a movable table. There are two manufacturing variations possible. The first variation implies a movable instrument as the main part. Assembly steps:

• the angle grinder is fixed to the plate in a vertical position;
• it is possible to move the fixed plate back and forth and left and right;
• the workpiece is fixed at the bottom.

As a result, the tool moves, and the workpiece remains stationary.

The second variation involves fixing for an angle grinder. In this case, the processed material moves back and forth and left and right. If up and down movement is required, it must be supplemented with appropriate accessories.

For the manufacture of the cutter holder, a 16 mm hexagon is required, since the tool thread is 14 mm. A collet-type holder is machined. This does not require any skills and abilities. Vibration may occur when using a jaw chuck.

The advantage of such a machine is considered to be a simple transformation into an angle grinder.

Grinding discs

Sanding wood with an angle grinder involves the use of flap discs. This wood disc for an angle grinder is like a scale that grinds the material as it rotates. Another option for grinding discs is a sticky universal wheel, which can be replaced without removing.

Cut-off wheels are provided with recesses to prevent overheating and deformation of the metal base. The recesses may contain copper or voids. All this helps to prevent expansion of the metal and eliminates the risk of deformation.

Rules for cutting wood

Milling with an angle grinder requires adherence to certain rules:

• the angle grinder attachment must be designed for wood products;
• removal of the protective cover is unacceptable;
• the use of a large tool can lead to its being pulled out of the hands;
• work must be carried out with gloves or with a rigid attachment of the device;
• the speed of the angle grinder should be minimal;
• before starting operation, make sure that there are no nails, screws and other metal parts in the material;
• the tool must be kept in one plane, avoiding distortions;
• it is impossible to lock the button in the operating mode;
• replacement of the nozzle is carried out when the power is off.

Sometimes compliance with these recommendations may not affect the guarantee of safety when cutting wood. The decision to use an angle grinder when processing wood must be made by the master himself. If you have a lot of work, it is better to use a circular saw or electric jigsaw.

Cutting and processing wood can be done using the popular angle grinder. A do-it-yourself milling machine from an angle grinder will help you cope with a small amount of work with wood. Only in such situations should you strictly observe safety precautions.