2x6 tongue and groove

[denrusso]

2x6 tongue and groove is a special order item from the lumber yard where I am (Long Island, NY) so I was wondering if I could purchase some standard 2x6 and make my own?  Can an OF1400 handle this task?

I'm using this lumber as the wall surface for our office and bathrooms that we have at our equestrian facility.  Our stalls are all clad in 2x6 so I thought I would carry the theme into these rooms as well.  I was thinking that maybe an alternative to the T&G would be to use a few dominos to lock in each board to each other.

What do think of these two options?  Horrible idea or doable?

Thanks!
dr

 

[nclemmons]

Sounds like a cool wall treatment.  It will be thick!  And you can hang tack on it all day long!

A 1400 would do it but that's a lot of routing!  If the pieces were straight, I'd consider a tablesaw with a dado blade, potentially cutting the tongue with one pass on each side with a feather board to hold against the fence.  You need accuracy from flat stock or you run the risk of the tongue being a challenge to insert due to thickness variations.

Dominos could be faster, again if the pieces are straight.  But you'll need to consider how you'd pull them tight to remove any gaps that would show the underlayment you might have behind them.  Or paint the wall black behind each groove...  You didn't mention if you are wanting to hide fasteners, but perhaps there are some deck fasteners that might enable that with something like biscuits...  Those would be easy to cut with a 1400 since you are not running the full length...

My biggest worry would be finding 'cabinet grade' 2x6 material that is stable and straight to make it easy.  That likely ups your budget but would make the build easier.  And the finished walls much more consistent.

 

[ultane]

Spiders love cracks and grooves in our barn...

 

[FestitaMakool]

Sounds cool..
As mentioned, you could use the table saw to rough cut, and then clean up with the OF1400? It would certainly ease and speed up the job for the router.

A technique is to use fasteners in the tongue, but it requires that you recess the screw or nail at an angle. But 2x6 is tough if it wants to move..

 

[Svar]

I was thinking that maybe an alternative to the T&G would be to use a few dominos to lock in each board to each other.

No, no dominos. Wooden wall cladding needs expansion joints. T&G provides that, while leaving no direct sight gaps. An alternative is shiplap, which is easier to manufacture.

 

[peter halle]

I would go for shiplap.  Traditional treatment due to the fact that it works.

Peter

 

[tsmi243]

And 2/3 as many cuts to make.

 

[TXFIVEO]

I love my OF1400 but I would strongly suggest using a router table.  I do a lot of tongue and groove and nothing seems more efficient, safer or faster than my 3 horse Porter Cable in the router table with t&g bits...

 

[rvieceli]

As Peter suggests just go with 1 by whatever shiplap. The stalls are lined with 2 by material for a reason. They are occupied by a very heavy horse and need the extra strength for when the animal bumps into the wall. You probably don't need that in an office or bathroom.  [scared]

Ron

 

[mkasdin]

Bead Board. You don’t want your office looking like a horse stall? If you still want that look? Then try knotty pine t&g or cedar stk planks. Wranglestar (YouTube) just did a video where he took a PEB and installed interior T&G 2x6. I’m SMH thinking why would you do that on an interior. Then he drove brad nails into the tongue? He does live in the PNW so the lumber there is cheap and of very high quality. 98% won’t get that quality in the rest of the USA unless you mill your own lumber. Milling stain grade wood takes time. Paint grade is much simpler.