Spltting parquet blocks

[Chris O]

Hello,  Could you please tell me how to split parquet flooring blocks in half length-ways?  I am thinking of sawing the block in half so that the half with the tar on can be thrown away leaving the 'good' half to be laid down.  Do you know what saw to use to secure the block and it be rigged up so that each block is the same depth?  The parquet blocks are of different depths at the moment but the same length and width.   Hope I am making sense.  Much appreciated.  Chris O

[Lew_Merrick_PE]

Chris,

I assume from this is that you want to resaw the blocks to an even thickness.  Depending on the material and size, a table saw with a zero-clearance throat is likely to be your best bet.  The thing is that, if they are too short to clear the blade in a single pass, you will need to support them as they are driven through the saw.  I do this using a piece of square (or rectangular) aluminum tube that has had the ends closed off, a vacuum connection port established on the "top" side, and then a series of small holes drilled such that you can lay a line of blocks end-to-end along the tube and have a stop-key placed to keep them from being pushed out of place by the blade.  The vacuum (I usually use a Bernoulli-generator as my vacuum source) holds the blocks to the guide.  Double-back tape will also work, but you have to clean off the adhesive from your blocks when you are done.

You can do the same thing on a bandsaw with only a rip fence, but you are likely to have to rework the sawn surface afterwards.  You will likely need a zero-clearance throat insert for your bandsaw as well.

[awemawson]

I laid second hand parquet in my last workshop and had the same problem. It was easily solved by having a pan of molten tar on an electric ring on the floor, and gently dipping the blocks in one by one as I laid them. Any unveneness in thickness was sorted by running a belt sander over them in situ. They were still stuck down firmly when I left 25 years later!

[andyf]

Chris, one difficulty you might face if some blocks are well worn on the top is that using the top as a datum surface will leave the tongues and grooves on different blocks at varying heights from their new undersides. That might cause difficulties when laying them.

Lew's method of cutting batches of them on a bandsaw or circular saw might suffer a similar problem, in that the T & Gs might interlock so a worn block between two unworn ones would be held away from the fence. But in that case the T & Gs would all end up at the right distance from the underside, so any unevenness on the top once they were laid could be dealt with by creating a mountain of dust with the floor sander.

I write as one whose father once brought a few thousand home after they were ripped up in an office refurb, spent several hours a week over a number of months laboriously chipping the pitch off the back of each one, shrank the internal dimensions of his garage 9" by leaving them stacked around two of its walls to a height of 6' for a few years, and then sold the lot for peanuts when he realised that the project would never get finished. 

Andy

Edited to remove some garbled nonsense below my sign-off

[Chris O]

I am grateful for your replies.  Having a think now and will report back.  Thanks for your time.  Chris O

[raynerd]

Chris

Oddly enough, I`ve just returned not 5 minues ago from picking up more reclaimed parquet blocks for my newly built porch as I ran out yesterday.

To remove the tar, make sure the blocks are cold (some say put them in the freezer) and tap it off as best you can with an old chisel. Took me a few hours, but I got most of the big lumps of. Provided the back is flat, just get what you can off.

Lecol 5500 is what I`m using to stick them down. It`ll stick bitumen provided you give it a little longer to harden off.

How much are the blocks out in thickness. I had some which must have been from a different lot and I used my mill to fly cut the odd one down to a nearer size...HOWEVER...I`m not at this stage yet, but I`ve been told to just lay them all with the odd thicknesses and then use a barrel sandler with heavy grit to sand them all level. Obviousy, this means not using any parquet blocks that are very thin as the floor will ultimately be sanded down near to the thinnest block.

I`m no expert, I`ve never laid parquet in my life but I`ve been reading LOTS over the last couple of weeks.

I`m actually going to post my results later today or tomorrow, but I`ve just tried inlaying an oak block with some maple on my cnc machine. Went OK by the looks of it but the proof will be seen later on!

Chris

[Chris O]

Hi Chris, thanks for replying.  I look forward to hearing how you get on, I am sure you'll crack it.  Some good news from me, the better half has just had an experiment with our table saw and cut a parquet block depth-ways.  Now got 2 x good thinner clean blocks - on the one side of course.  Tomorrow we are going to have a go at the rest of it.  Hoping that my motivational speech still holds up !  Will write back and say exactly how we did it, but I've had some really good advice from people on here, most grateful.  Kind regards.  Chris O

[Chris O]

Hi Everyone

I am pleased to say that we have split the reclaimed parquet flooring.  We have a basic old table saw without a guard on it but it has an adjustable side guide on.  We couldn't find to buy or hire the saw Timeone used on his parquet but many thanks to him for all his great advice.  The Better Half got a piece of stainless steel angle.  On the inside of one of the angles at the back you need a small piece of plywood glued on to push the back of the parquet block through the saw.  He glued a handle on top of the angle (the angle is 60mm x 60mm x 450mm long).  Measure the thickness of the parquet block you require using the adjustable guide on the table.  Then put the parquet block on the table 'good' side against the guide, put the angle on top of the block with the small piece of plywood on the vertical angle at the back of it inside.  With your right hand hold the handle on top of the angle, press with the left hand, keep pressure on the left vertical angle and pressure holding the block down.  The small piece of plywood on the back of the vertical angle inside will catch the back of the block as you push it through the saw - and the angle will protect your hand and fingers.

We even managed to get two thinner pieces of parquet out of the one old block, and the tar side is disposed of.  I've still got loads of old parquet left and might chop the tar end off and sell it cleaned up.

Again can't thank you all enough.

[raynerd]

Sounds good Chris. Coincidently, I laid my parquet the other day and have today just finished the first stages of sanding. I spent a few hours with an old chisel and scraped as much as the bitumen off the bottom until I was just left with staining and the odd spot of bitumen. I then used F.ball B92 adhesive with a B2 trowel and secured the blocks to the ply sub floor. After 24 hours they seem rock hard.

How thick are your blocks now you have cut them?  I`m guessing they are all pretty even now anyway but the only thing I would say is that I used 40 grit paper on my 3" hand held belt sander and rubbed this over my 3 sq meters for nearly 2-3 hours!! The blocks are now level on the whole but a hell of a lot of sawdust (many bags full!) have been removed. My point is, you need to leave enough on the blocks to allow you to sand them level!!

I`ve still got the boarder to fit and lots more to do but I`ll put some camera pics up when I get a chance.
Chris

[Chris O]

Excellent points Chris, I'll reply within the next few days.  If it helps, have googled that wood floors put thousands on the value of your home for sale purposes - which is a bonus !  Chris O

[raynerd]

Hi Chris

Purchased some maple 1" x 19mm planed all sides to put a boarder around the floor. I used BritishHardwoods - presuming you are in the UK, they are a great service and a amazing price on the wood IMO. Obviously, I`ve no connection with them but was local enough to visit this evening.

As I`ve done more sanding I`ve also noticed that the gaps become more visible where the parquet blocks haven`t quite met properly. So this evening, I also purchased some Lecol 7500 filler, the stuff you mix with fine sawdust and then skim it over the floor to fill any gaps. I haven`t used it yet, but i`ll let you know how I get on.

I`m also going to inlay some blocks using my CNC machine. I posted pics a few weeks ago under my aluminium cnc machine build - you`ll see it under project logs. I`ll be insering the inlayed blocks around the perimeter being the maple boarded.

It has to be said, that it is going better than I expected.

Before you start laying, one piece of advice - make sure if you are fitting herringbone style, that your centre row is 100% spot on. If not, it throws the rest out completely!

[Chris O]

Hi Chris, no wonder you've got the handle of 'Hero'.  You are good.  The blocks are about 1/2 inch thick which means we don't have to lift the worktops in the kitchen.  I know what you mean about over-sanding and the risk of ending up with nothing left lol!  All the blocks are the same thickness and will be careful on this.  Thanks for the adhesive/filler type and for the tip on laying a herring bone pattern.  Look forward to seeing your pics on completed floor.  Take care.l  Chris O