Sawing Barn Siding

Quick tips on how to saw board-and-batten siding and beveled lap siding. January 11, 2007

Question
I'm sawing siding for the first time for a barn. If I do lap siding, how thick, and do I need to taper, or can I just do 3/4, for example? Do I need a jig for my Timber King B20 for siding, and how do I dry if it is 3/8 on one edge, and 3/4 on the other? For board and batten, how thick?

Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From contributor S:
For board and batten barn siding that does not have any type of solid backing (such as plywood, etc.), I prefer 1" thick, random widths that are greater than 6" wide. I also prefer a 3/4" x 3" batten. Over a plywood backing, I will go with 3/4" thick.

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From contributor B:
There are two ways to handle lapped siding. One is to use flat boards. I have cut and sold thousands and thousands of sq.ft. of this siding. I cut it 11/16" thick. The width depends upon the reveal and look you want. Around here (Eastern VA) the usual widths are 7" and 8".

Our house is covered with the tapered cypress siding. These boards were cut at 5/4 and racked up to dry. We ran them through the planer to just lightly touch both sides and then ran them through a resaw (Wood-Mizer). The resaw was tilted so that the split left the correct thickness on both boards. For this you start with measurements and tweak with actual boards.