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I want to cover a wall with wood cladding, similar to this:

enter image description here

However, these kinds of panels are as expensive, and I have access to a miter saw, so I was wondering if it would be possible to just create my own.

My concern is mainly that of the saw not being able to cut a plank of wood into thin enough pieces successfully. These are usually 2-4-6-8 mm thick. Is that possible ?

isherwood
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isebarn
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  • At 2mm you want to make your own veneer. This will be prone to cracking and warping. How will you fasten it to the wall? – jay613 Jun 15 '21 at 20:40
  • @jay613 glue to plywood, bolted to wall – isebarn Jun 15 '21 at 20:51
  • You mention "panels". Why not just find scrap board cutoffs from cabinet shops, etc., and put them up full thickness? – isherwood Jun 15 '21 at 21:05
  • @isherwood not enough space – isebarn Jun 15 '21 at 21:10
  • I don't understand. You spoke of putting the thin boards on plywood. How would this be different? – isherwood Jun 15 '21 at 21:34
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    I dont have a miter saw, but I can get one, and it's faster to ask than to experiment – isebarn Jun 15 '21 at 21:46
  • @isherwood I can get pretty thin pieces of plywood. The wall has million litle stones, so its an uneven surface, but par of it is up agains a door so there isnt that much room – isebarn Jun 15 '21 at 22:11
  • Have you considered using a "door skin" (1/8in thick) and cutting it up in the tile size you wish ? – P2000 Jun 15 '21 at 22:17
  • @p2000 nope I haven't... I'm not sure about that, this style I have in mind is kinda weathered /raw – isebarn Jun 15 '21 at 23:07
  • That's neither the correct tool to rip something, nor is ripping lumber something that should be done by novices. Also, when you do get down to chopping, those are all pieces small enough that they should be clamped. "I have access to a miter saw" - what you really need is access to the person who owns it, who prob also has a table saw and can show you how to use that, and then just rips 'em all for you so you don't cut your fingers off, then you take 'em home and chop 'em up. – Mazura Jun 16 '21 at 05:56
  • @mazura I actually know how to use a miter saw even though there isn't one in my garage, but thanks I appreciate the concern for my fingers – isebarn Jun 16 '21 at 07:43
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    @JACK, I answered precisely because I've experimented in a great many ways over my life and career (and continue to do so). This is just a bad idea. Some experiments are much more likely to cost fingers than others. – isherwood Jun 16 '21 at 12:50
  • @isherwood thanks for the help, because of you'r comment I've decided to either buy a band saw or table saw. You did recommended against a table saw, but I saw a video of a guy cutting pretty thin pieces using a table saw, and I guess that's a lot faster than a jigsaw but I have to settle with a bit thicker pieces but I'll manage, considering that I need to cover around 7sqm of wall – isebarn Jun 16 '21 at 12:56
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    The community deleted it since it wasn't really relevant to the question. (We're all mods.) Fair enough. – isherwood Jun 16 '21 at 15:25

2 Answers2

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No, you cannot cut lumber like that with a miter saw. That's not what the tool is designed for. At best it'll be very difficult to accomplish. At worst it'll be extremely dangerous.

This isn't even a good job for a table saw. You'd have to cut from both edges to get enough depth with most (12") saws, and then you won't have a good back face or uniform thickness. It'll also be somewhat dangerous due to the short length of your boards.

The right way would probably be with a band saw and a good jig.

isherwood
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I'd use a table saw. I've successfully cut thin slices from 2x limber. You'll be "ripping on edge".

enter image description here

The miter saw would require you to position the wood grain (and thus the length of the lumber) perpendicular to the back fence, with only limited ability to stabilize. You'll have to cut the wood in 10in pieces (or whatever your saw can handle in width), and then slice each piece. Slicing in the last 2 inches of the width will get very dangerous.

With a table saw you run the wood length-wise along the fence, on edge. The width of your strips will be limited to the height of the saw blade, so 3 to 4 inches wide. You can slice down to the last few mm (fractions of an inch) of the thickness of the lumber.

P2000
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