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How to make board and batten siding?

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jimtyp

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I wanted to make some board and batten siding using a dado blade. I know some of you have done this. How do you keep moving the wood along to make the spacing of the battens even ? I was thinking about having to move the table saw fence a fraction of an inch, make a cut, move another fraction of an inch, etc. That sounds like too much room for error and a lot of work moving the fence (unlock, measure a fraction of an inch, lock) for each dado cut.


Do you use a special tool for moving the wood over after each dado cut? Any tips on how to make this board and batten siding easier to make?
 
#2 ·
Yeah that's it. Slow and steady. Measure twice, cut once. It helps if your board and batten works out to an even increment like 5/8" and write down the increments before hand. Do all your boards at the same time.
You could slotted jig but that would probably take as long.

-Brian
 
#3 ·
I use 1/4 or 3/16" thick scraps as temporary spacers to quickly set the fence away from the blade.


Then I run the piece in both directions (rotate 180 deg.) to cut two groves with one setting.

Need to do a little math to get it to come out right.


Craig
 
#4 ·
This is where a radial arm saw works great. Set the saw to the desired height above the table to plow out the amount of stock you want with the dado blade. A slot cut into the fence along the table at the appropriate distance allows for inserting a drop down stop to catch on the batten you just cut to permit cutting the next one. By advancing one batten at a time each "board and batten will be equal size and distance from one another.
 
#5 ·
I tried the same thing you are asking about. I tried using a number of boards, the thickness of the batten, between the fence and the stock being cut. The idea was to remove a board to increase the gap and cut another batten. I never got it to work right, but it would have if I’d kept at it.. You need a large stack of uniform, smooth spacers.... Instead, I attached a 1/4-20 threaded rod to the head of my radial arm saw. Every 6 turns of the rod equals nearly 6 inches of saw movement. Relock the saw head and make another cut. This works great and is quickly and infinitely adjustable. Nick
 
#7 ·
I use a 3/8 inch dado and 1/8 inch batten. This means you move the fence 1/2 inch each time. 1/2inch increments as as easy as it gets. This is the very reason I bought the DeWalt table saw with a rack & pinon fence. You can try 1/2 inch spacer sticks but something may slip and then the whole thing get messed up. I cut 16 square feet of B&B in a couple of hours. That is a lot of B&B.
 
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