Hundreds of my ardent followers have asked for more description of how I was able to create the bead and cove edges on the 118 strips of cedar, so I won’t let them down.
Pictured here is a router table. If you look closely you can see that it is set up with a yellow router bit that will cut a bead shape on the edges. I will have to replace it with another bit to cut the coves once I’ve finished the bead step. Attached to the table you’ll notice a gray piece with angles of plastic strips. This is called a feather board. You set it to the thickness of your wood and it helps you to feed the wood with a consistent pressure to the back fence, helping you to get a consistent cut.
On the table you’ll also see a piece of wood with black marker on the edge. I have colored the edge to help me adjust the router bit for proper depth of cut and center alignment. As I run the test piece through the router I will continue to adjust the router until I have just a faint hint of the marker running down the center of the strip. Once I have achieved that I am ready to start cutting.
The faint bit of marker down the center tells me I am ready to start routering the strips!
It takes a lot of room to process the strips. Here’s my 35′ work space.
The 16′ strips are very flimsy, and frankly, not playing nicely. As they came off of the router table they would flop around and catch on things, making the milling very difficult. To make the floppy miscreants behave I created this chute out of scrap wood and clamps to funnel the strips as they progressed off the table. Problem solved.