- Joined
- 7 Sep 2022
- Messages
- 3,253
- Reaction score
- 861
- Country
If you're glueing, use wooden packers instead.
Very quick and easy to make with a compound mitre saw (buy one if you don't have one) - clamp a wooden block to the saw so it is x mm away from the blade. Place a timber touching, cut, remove your x mm wide piece, repeat
If you're using plastic packers, nail them. If you have a second fix nailer, fire away. You might also be able to use a hammer tack stapler if they aren't too thick (glazing packers?). If the packers shatter when you nail through them keep em in a bucket of hot water until you use em
By the way, if you have a circ saw or a table saw making firrings is trivial, for future.
To do it with a circ saw take a piece of ply and screw a 3x2 to it standing up 3 inches high. Screw another stud to it lying down so it's 2 inches high and set it at the angle you want the firring to be so one end is exactly the saw plate's width (from edge to blade on the wide side) away from the standing up stud and the other end. If you only screw it at this end so it can pivot you can easily vary your firrings. Screw a scrap to the edge of the ply to act as a slide stop then place a loose stud down next to the pivoting one and run your cut.
The circ saw slides on top of the blue timber, with its plate edge kept straight by the red timber. The blade thus traves along the dotted line creating the green firring from the yellow timber. Blade depth shoulf be set to depth of yellow timber to avoid ruining the ply, and cease before you cut completely through the slide stop (white)
---
With a table saw take two studs and cut a packer the length that you want the firring to be at its thickest, and place it between the two studs at the length you want the firring to be. Assemble the two studs side by side and the packer in between at one end to make a very very long triangle, set the fence appropriately (eg one studs width plus one packer's width for a "goes to 0" firring) from the blade then run the triangle straight through the saw.
Cutting a 2.4m firring that goes from 0 to 50mm. The blue slides parallel to the fence causing the yellow to be cut along the dotted line to make the green firring. It helps to screw the two ends near the blade together. If you wanted the firring to be 50mm to 0 mm over 1 metre you'd put your 50mm packer 1m away from the ends that touch. If you want the firring to go from eg 65mm to 15mm you'd set the fence so it starts cutting the tick end at 65mm wide and the thin end ends up at 15mm with a 50mm packer
If you have a lot of these to make at the same angle you can attach the first firring you make to the fence, thin end near you, and adjust the fence appropriately so every timber you slide through is cut at the same angle
---
Sometimes you have to make tools
Very quick and easy to make with a compound mitre saw (buy one if you don't have one) - clamp a wooden block to the saw so it is x mm away from the blade. Place a timber touching, cut, remove your x mm wide piece, repeat
If you're using plastic packers, nail them. If you have a second fix nailer, fire away. You might also be able to use a hammer tack stapler if they aren't too thick (glazing packers?). If the packers shatter when you nail through them keep em in a bucket of hot water until you use em
By the way, if you have a circ saw or a table saw making firrings is trivial, for future.
To do it with a circ saw take a piece of ply and screw a 3x2 to it standing up 3 inches high. Screw another stud to it lying down so it's 2 inches high and set it at the angle you want the firring to be so one end is exactly the saw plate's width (from edge to blade on the wide side) away from the standing up stud and the other end. If you only screw it at this end so it can pivot you can easily vary your firrings. Screw a scrap to the edge of the ply to act as a slide stop then place a loose stud down next to the pivoting one and run your cut.
The circ saw slides on top of the blue timber, with its plate edge kept straight by the red timber. The blade thus traves along the dotted line creating the green firring from the yellow timber. Blade depth shoulf be set to depth of yellow timber to avoid ruining the ply, and cease before you cut completely through the slide stop (white)
---
With a table saw take two studs and cut a packer the length that you want the firring to be at its thickest, and place it between the two studs at the length you want the firring to be. Assemble the two studs side by side and the packer in between at one end to make a very very long triangle, set the fence appropriately (eg one studs width plus one packer's width for a "goes to 0" firring) from the blade then run the triangle straight through the saw.
Cutting a 2.4m firring that goes from 0 to 50mm. The blue slides parallel to the fence causing the yellow to be cut along the dotted line to make the green firring. It helps to screw the two ends near the blade together. If you wanted the firring to be 50mm to 0 mm over 1 metre you'd put your 50mm packer 1m away from the ends that touch. If you want the firring to go from eg 65mm to 15mm you'd set the fence so it starts cutting the tick end at 65mm wide and the thin end ends up at 15mm with a 50mm packer
If you have a lot of these to make at the same angle you can attach the first firring you make to the fence, thin end near you, and adjust the fence appropriately so every timber you slide through is cut at the same angle
---
Sometimes you have to make tools
Last edited:
