Was wondering with cutoffs from cedar fence pickets could I make birdhouse/dollhouse Shingles?  What do you think would be the best method? How thick should they be? Bandsaw cut?

How big is the bird house?? Is scale important? How picky are your birds?

You could resaw the cut offs. The thickness of those cut offs might yield 2 or 3 usable pieces for shingles. I'd rip the cutoffs to the width you need first...if long enough...

 

Edited May 17, 20224 yr by Gene Howe

3 minutes ago, lew said:

How big is the bird house?? Is scale important? How picky are your birds?

Or. Your dolls.

+1 for what @Gene Howe said about the thickness. I'd use a bandsaw for resawing and set the fence for a tapered piece.

My birds are not that fussy but the owner is. Lol 😆 the birdhouse is about 18" long (2 sided).

My cutoffs are about 12 long and think cutting a bevel on something 1 1/2 or 3/4 long is just overkill. From what I'm getting from the advice is rip to width then rip to thickness on either the tablesaw or bandsaw then cut to size on miter saw??? 

Does that make the most sense to all?

Sounds like a plan. The bandsaw may yield more shingles due to the thin kerf

There is a place near here in Star,MS Heartwood . They make birdhouses and sell worldwide. They make the shingles and there was when I went thru one man doing it all day long. They will not sell shingles by themselves and I cannot remember the process but seems there was a lot of hand work.

You could set the joiner to make the bevel then rip off at the band saw or table saw.  That way you wouldn't have to keep changing the blade angle.

Well guys, managed to make hopefully all the shingles I'll need. Fit them stained now wiring for them to dry. This is the birdhouse they will go on. I know this isn't find woodworking but it keeps my mind active. 

5 minutes ago, Pat Meeuwissen said:

Well guys, managed to make hopefully all the shingles I'll need. Fit them stained now wiring for them to dry. This is the birdhouse they will go on. I know this isn't find woodworking but it keeps my mind active. 

WOW, Pat that's a lot of shingles! Love the birdhouse design. Looking forward to seeing it completed.

Might fine woodwork from this angle.

I'm liking it.  Looks good.

1 hour ago, Pat Meeuwissen said:

I know this isn't find woodworking

I don't know, Pat, looks like the rent on that place will need to be increased!

Lew, yes once the roof is water tight rent goes up. 

I used my table saw for all the rip cuts,  bought a thin circular saw blade 7 1/4" 24 teeth, kerf is like 2.5 mm got to where I got 3 4mm rips out of each cut off. Then attacked 10 strips and made the length cuts on the miter saw.

16 minutes ago, Pat Meeuwissen said:

I used my table saw for all the rip cuts,

Looks like you have it well in hand. Was about to send over my top shim guy, plane each of those into a 1.0mm- to- 4.0mm thickness shim. But my Planer's Elbow is still rebellious from the last job. And that was only one shim!

 

Here's a bird-brained riddle: When is a shim a shingle but a shingle not a shim?

19 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

WOW, Pat that's a lot of shingles!

That's what I thought too.  Reminds me of a dominos table but for 30 players. 

Wow Pat!  How many bird houses are you building?  Looks good from where I sit