Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.
When you're selecting your wood at the store, what do you look for? What about wood from a tree?
How about looking through your wood pile at home? Do you select the visible pieces first, or select the worst working for parts that won't be visible?
Puckdropper
An axe.
The answer to this seems clear since substitution works fine in one direction. You could also look through your paint cans and chisels.. ; )
Cheers, Bill
Well, obviously in a store I look for cheap wood (lumberyard for better woods), and for me that means interesting grain and knots but not too many near the (when-finished) edges. SPF (spruce most likely, in my neighborhood) takes a little shellac (for knots) and linseed oil and becomes rather decorative.
Straight only matters if the project calls for long boards. I've been known to dovetail a cupped board by clamping it against a straight scrap until the glue dries...
For local species, I go the lumber mill - better prices and better selection. For non-local I have a couple of wholesale yards I go to, the primary is Newman Lumber in Gulfport, Ms (Honduran Mahogany and Cerejiera)
On Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 10:35:15 PM UTC-6, snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com w rote:
I rarely buy lumber, but I would choose the most appropriate for the projec t and probably cost wouldn't be too critical of a factor.
One never knows what the wood will look/be like, until it's milled. When I have logs milled, I try to keep the boards aligned as per their placement within the log, so that I can match boards, when/as needed.
Most often, the project dictates what boards I select. As to defected boa rds, yep, I select those for out-of-sight pieces and parts. From my cache of salvaged lumber, I rarely build fine/elegant furniture, hence my cache allows for a wide range of mediocre or more utilitarian pieces of furniture /projects.
Now and then an (initially assumed) mediocre project turns out to be extra nice, so that's a plus, which lends to the idea: If you put some special time and effort into a project, you can turn ugly boards into pretty boards (projects). It's not always the boards, but the workmanship (and a littl e luck), also.
Workmanship: If I had to assess my most lacking average or common skill, i t would be not having a wider variety of joint/jointery making. I just do n't make/take the time to learn more, more of, joints/jointery.
Sonny
There is a place up in Marissa, I select what I want by wandering through the barns. The black walnut stuff is usually mixed up mess of
3/4 to 12/4, the hunting good as are the prices. They surface plane and get a straight edge if you want.
Appearance boards first... That can mean a lot of shuffling of the lumber piles...
The shuffling problem is growing for me as I'm now milling logs with an Alaskan Chainsaw Mill and the piles are growing. I do not put straight edges on the boards when I mill them... I take care of that later on the band saw. I stack and sticker the rough cut boards in the order they came off the log. At the moment I have ash, cherry, white oak, and walnut in the lumber shed.
See ABPW for a photo of an ash log in process and the Alaskan mill configuration.
Outdoors and indoors buying or picking up wood -
Look for twist/bend/wave. Wood is often GREEN when in a store or off the ground.
I have used firewood and all. Some you have to pre-form and store in a brown paper bag to let it dry out. Then remount and turn to size.
If the wood for a project (desk/table....) should be kiln dried or really dryed/aged. Green wood might not accept glue as well and will twist or bend.
I have some quilted oak. I'm letting it dry out and then I'll photograph and re-saw it. It is firewood.
Mart> Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.
I tend to use what ppl dump on my block and nearby.
Ranges from Big Old Structural stuff to Pasteurized Process Wood Product bed splats
Puckdropper wrote in news:58b7a0fe$0$22698$c3e8da3$ snipped-for-privacy@news.astraweb.com:
Taking the most abstract look at your question - I choose a wood based on appearance, ease of working, and availability. I like cherry and maple (but maple's harder to work), depending on whether the piece is intended to be darker color or lighter. I don't like walnut because I'm sensitive to the dust. Right now I'm using mahogany because I haven't used it for a long while, and I got some at a good price.
The last few years I've been buying 100bf at a time, so I don't really select it board by board.
Usually I look for the best looking boards and set them aside for the top (or other large, prominent part). At the same time I set aside boards with twist or defects, for use making small parts (altho I tend to end up making the small parts from offcuts of the good boards, so the crappy boards end up set aside for "someday I'm going to make cutting boards" or some similar purpose).
John
"Dr. Deb" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
Can you give an idea of what they charge? I end up in that area once or twice a year, might be worth stopping by...
John
They don't have prices on their website, but you can inquire..... phone or email.
Sonny
Sonny wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
Yeah, I saw that. I don't have an immediate need, but I thought if Dr Deb happened to have the numbers handy, it would be worth knowing for future reference.
John
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