> The milling I referred to was to bring the boards to final thickness. It
> seems the one place I found that stocked cypress clear enough for strips
> had 1S2E, which I take to mean one face and 2 edges surfaced, and a need
> to remove 1/8" or so from the remaining face. With a 1 by I was told
> that would bring the thickness to 1/2-9/16" - - 1/2" could be
> kinda narrow with cove & bead. I don't have the ability to plane these
> boards to thickness, they would have to do it for me.

This material sounds like siding. Typically this can be installed with the smooth side out for painting or staining, or with the rough side out for a rustic look. If you plan to put a bead and cove on this, don't worry about the rough side. After you have cut the boards into strips that rough edge will be one of the edges on your strips which is removed by the router when it beads or coves. So forget the milling costs. If you decide not to put a bead and cove edge on, you can square this edge rapidly by passing the strip through your table saw. Just cut a slight amount off the edge to make it square.

If you have wood that is rough on both edges then run it through the saw or router twice. YOU are performing the milling operations here.

> As it is, I found a lumberyard in a neighboring city that has both red
> cedar and sugar pine (purportedly) clear, with 4 sides surfaced. I will go
> there tomorrow and with luck, throw some boards in the pickup.

If this wood is neatly surfaced, handle it with more care than just throwing it in the pickup. I don't usually get such fancy materials. The boards I buy have distinctly rounded corners. These come off as I cut strips.

> They have
> up to 12' lengths, I will opt for 10' and scarf the dozen or so strips
> that should be full length. I agree with you and Nick's book, that full
> length strips are not really necessary for the bulk of the construction.

> . . . I have a nice 12'
> length of 1x3 poplar - - I'll replace the rip fence in the saw table with
> it, and tack the 9' hangover to the side of the "infeed
> strongback" and align it within a hair. If I can't cut uniform strips
> this way, I will hang up my ripping hat for good.

The infeed fence doesn't do much to support the last few feet of the board as it goes through the saw. And you don't want to pinch your saw blade between the board and the newly cut strip by pressing this combination against an outfeed fence. With a 10 foot long board you have 2 feet of it pressed against the fence, and 8 feet hanging out without a guide. That can be pretty bad, but things are much worse with a 20 foot long piece. You have 18 feet hanging in the breeze as you try to push the last two feet through the saw blade. You might consider not having a fence on the out feed side for a distance of maybe 4 feet, then put on a fence that is NOT inline with the infeed fence, but is instead in line with the remainder of the board. That would make the fron of this fence about 1/4 inch closer to you. The cut strip should be flexible enough to pass behind this fence while the board rides along the front of it.

hope this helps.

Paul G. Jacobson