3-D Hardwood Floor From Scratch How To – In Case You’re Not Busy

This is another product from an incredible mind showcased on instructables.com. And wowsers, it’s a doosey. So, there’s this guy and he wants to put down hardwood floors but he wants them unique. None of that straight-line crap, herringbone is for sissies, alternating squares yawn. Let’s use 2” rhomboid shaped tiles and lay them to give the floor a 3-D look. Oh, yeah and one more thing, let’s make the hardwood rhombuses from scratch from three different logs – from our own trees. I know what you’re thinking – how long does it take to cut, mill and plane 2” tiles out of logs?

However, you can’t argue with the results. Well, you can argue, but that pattern is nonetheless incredible and most definitely, unique. To get the pattern he (his username refers to a character from the first Star Trek and he’s from Montana…) starts with the logs from three different trees: Ash, Siberian Elm and Russian Olive. While he selected his stock because they were available, I’d imagine that any wood suitable for flooring would do just fine. Maple, oak and cherry sound nice to me. The three different types of wood give the illusion of shadows and box edges. Then he busts out old painless, my nickname for his chainsaw, and goes to work.

After he cuts them into slabs and 3” thick pieces he then planes them and cuts them on his table saw to get the hardwood tiles close to his finished size of 2”wide by 1” thick rhombi or rhombuses. Is there a plural of rhombus? Now, instead of cutting tongue and grooves, he cuts splines and dados. This saves wood and is as strong if not stronger than tongue and groove. Then he “plays” with the layouts to get the desired effect. I would warn however not to try this one while drinking or taking any kind of hard pain medication. I’d hate to read that headline in a newspaper, “Man knocks himself unconscious while playing with blocks.” It would be a confidence crusher for the rest of your life.

You may be wondering how to install them and how long it takes to cut out enough to lay the floor in an entire room. Well, those are excellent questions, surely worthy of being answered. Before I tell you, I think it needs to be said that perfection cannot be rushed. Honestly, that is a completely different article because ‘Vyger’ is still trying to cut enough rhombuseseseseses/rhombi to complete a floor… but what else is there to do in Montana, the 4th largest state with the 44th largest population!

Tell us what you think about these rhombuses in action in the comments below.