On Nov 8, 11:42 am, "Marilyn & Bob" wrote:
In the tenants' apartment in our 1840's townhouse a portion of the wide
plank soft pine floor has cracked. My intention is to cut out and replace
the cracked piece with a patch of modern clear pine stained and polyed to
match the rest of the board (it is under a rug anyway). The patch would be
three inches wide between two joists (22" OC) while the original board is 8
feet long. In order to do this I have to cut out about a 3" wide piece of
this board out across the top of one joist. So I only have access from the
top of the board. My guess is the best way to do this is with a sharp
pointed knife. Do you think either one of these would work:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...=1,130,43332,4...
orhttp://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=54870&cat=1,51222&ap=1

(my guess is the Murphy Knife set would be better for cutting from the top
with the knife at an angle)
or what about a simple utility knife? Any other thoughts?
--
Peace,
BobJ

First, I agree with the other posters who have recommended repairing
the original board rather than patching. If the crack is longitudinal
it doesn't much affect the strength of the board and it should be
possible to do something with epoxy that will prevent creaking,
splinters, etc.

If patching, as I understand the question you want to remove a piece
of wood about 3" wide by 22" long from the middle of the board. I
would recommend using a circular saw to make the long cuts and then a
sharp straight wood chisel for the short cross-grain cuts and to clean
up the corners where your circular-saw cuts don't go full depth all
the way to the corner.

As others have pointed out, most likely a new piece of pine won't
match the thickness of the original and will have to be built up or
planed down somehow. -- H