I’m new to woodworking, and I just purchased some quartersawn, white oak boards, about 3/4″x5″x108″. I purchased them rough from a local lumberyard, and had the lumberyard mill them to 3/4″. The wood is intended to be used to make a medium-size storage bench for a child’s toys. When selecting the boards, I didn’t realize that many of them are slightly bowed, about 1/16″ at the maximum in a four feet piece (the longest piece I need will be 33″). This is probably a naive question, but can I still use these boards? Does this depend on the measurements of the pieces I’ll be using? More generally, how straight should I expect the wood that I buy at a lumber yard? Is there a way to assure myself that I select only perfectly straight lumber when I buy it, because I never noticed the bowing when I was selecting the boards?
Thanks for your help.
Replies
Knicks,
The best way to assure straight boards is to straighten them yourself.
Most lumberyards will mill boards for you, but it takes skill at the jointer to make one face perfectly flat before running the board through the thickness planer.
Wood being a natural material, it is rare to find a board in the rough without some sort of crook, bow or twist.
Before straightening a board, it helps to cut the board to rough length and rough width, which removes some of the "un-straightness" right from the start.
Monte
It's very rare to find a board at a lumber yard that is perfect in all dimensions. Instead, you look for those that have problems you can most easily fix. Warping and bowing are not too bad to deal with so long as they are not severe. The first step in any serious woodworking project is stock preparation - i.e., making all the parts square in all dimensions and all the right /same thickness. Planes, planers, jointers, table saws, mitersaws, shooting boards, etc. can all assist in these tasks depending upon the problems that needs to be addressed and the tools/skills you have.
So yeah, you can use the boards. Dealing with wood means dealing with its movement and issues - stresses in the wood from growing or drying come out as the wood is worked and continue through it's life as part of a piece of furniture as it expands in humid weather and contracts in dry weather across its growth rings.
Well you do not say how dry it was or how it was being stored when you bought it, but quartersawn is a big plus. You are of course going to let it acclimatise for a few weeks stickered and weighted, and it may then need minimal attention to satisfy the eye.
Do not forget that the side you see is what matters in the end. The only justfication for all the argy-bargy about timber being absolutely flat in all dimensions is to enable it to be worked by machine. If you hand cut joints and you do one face and edge as a reference, it does not matter that a rail is 3/4 thick at one end and 1inch thick at the other. It is only convention, but not wisdom, that they must be the same.
Now I must wait for the sparks to fly.
I don't see any sparks yet, and maybe this will help dampen some, as I agree completly with you. All demensions being flat and square is so it goes through all the machines the same. In the good old days, the outside side/edge was brought to snuff, and the other sides were made to work.
Hey, we need to form The Common Sense Club for the benefit of all those who cannot afford every new and bigger gizmo. In the days when my grandfather was a cabinetmaker time was money, and he was not working for collectors but ordinary folk. He did not have machinery, but he was good, and as you say worked round available resources to provide affordable work by concentrating on the visual faces, and accomodating flaws by hiding them.
I am sure many more would take up woodworking if it were not for the emphasis on working to margins and standards that a mechanical engineer would find daunting.
That and the need to buy a special tool to do anything, rather than figuring out what you realy need to do. A plumb bob, a straight edge and a good square will take you many places. I keep thinking all the time, how would this have been done before thickness planers, jointers, and other very handy tools were available, and affordable. Those oldtimers, like your granddad did realy nice work, and efficiently with no or very few power tool. A million dollars worth of tools won't make you a craftsman.
Keep in mind that 1/16 is only across the whole span of 108". Thats not that bad. If you are going to cut that up into smaller pieces, I don't see this as an issue. You said that you had the yard dimension the lumber to 3/4 for you. You did not say how they did it. I hope they ran it across a jointer to get one surface flat, and then finished it with the planer, since a planer only gets both sides parallel. That will take care of cup, but not a bow across the length. I have a planer and jointer power and hand, so I can do it my self. I bring the lumber home and cut to rought lengths(close to final dimension). Sticker it and let it get use to your shop environment. I have found that if I flatten each smaller piece it is easier to do. For example rather than try to work that whole board, cut it into smaller sizes and work it. Your problem may dissapear. If not, use the jointer to flatten one side. I often use the hand jointer for that task. You could also ask the yard if its kiln dried, and to what percent. You could invest in a moisture meter to check it. Let is set (I do a week or two) and then rough work it. Again I let it sit for a while. I finish dimension and use. The only problems I ever had was getting to anxious and going to fast. And just for information, I don't generally thow away a board if its cupped or bowed. I may have to work a lot of the stock down to much thinner dimensions to save it, but I don't wast it. I have had 5/4" boards that were pretty bad, and after salvage, they were only about 5/8 - 13/16 thick, but I put them up and will use them for something. Never fails I need a little piece of something and can go to that pile and have success. I would not even grunt on a 1/16" bow. I have created much more scrap from mistakes rather than bowed lumber. That hurts much more! Good luck.
Edited 12/28/2006 1:32 pm ET by bones
>> Keep in mind that 1/16 is only across the whole span of 108". Thats not that bad.In fact, most would call it flat.Howie.........
"In fact, most would call it flat."
Yea, I know what you mean. I don't have a truly flat surface to even measure against that long. I have a 24" precision strait edge I use, and my good old Grizzly 1023 TS top with is only about 18" (I think) longer than the strait edge. That's why, I don't even look at long boards till I cut them down a bit. I do eye ball every board as my daddy taught me, but it's not perfect. Pretty good, but not perfect. I generally have more problem with cup and twist than I do bow. If it's bad and I have to remove some serious material from one area, the LN scrub & then the #7. It amazed me how fast I can do it now with hand tools. (I'm still getting the bigger jointer). Take care.
Edited 12/30/2006 1:22 pm ET by bones
Keep in mind that 1/16 is only across the whole span of 108". Thats not that bad.
Actually, he said it was 1/16" over a 4 foot length. Whether this is "good enough" depends on what one plans to do with it. But if one wants "perfecly flat and straight" boards, you need to do it yourself. I don't think you can count on lumberyard-surfaced boards to be better than this. In fact, most I see are far worse.
I hope I'm sending this reply back correctly. Assuming I am, I want to thank all the people who have replied to my questions about bowed wood. I have received a great deal of very helpful information in a very short time. Thanks again.
Knicks,
Welcome to Knots and to woodworking! It's a great hobby! The denizens here on Knots -- a sometimes contentious and always opinionated crew -- are more than happy to share their knowledge and experience, so feel free to ask questions as you need to; someone is sure to chime in -- most of the time, you'll get more (contradictory) answers than you could possibly want..... ;-)
_____
To answer your questions:
Yes, as long as you can get the dimensions you need for your project from the wood you acquire, a small to moderate amount of bow, warp, or twist really doesn't matter all that much. I wouldn't expect too much in the way of straight/flat from most lumber yards, but do select the best wood you can get. Milling the wood to final dimensions is an integral part of woodworking, anyway....
Using pre-dimensioned (2 X 4, 1 X 12, etc) is easy and requires relatively little dimensioning work, but you're stuck with the standard sizes. Using rough-sawn lumber gives you the flexibility to mill the wood to whatever size/thickness your project requires, even though it does require a bit more work.
Since you're new to woodworking, here's a few things to consider:
Your most important tool is a good reference library. These places will help lighten your wallet and fill your book shelves:
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.astragalpress.com/
http://www.blackburnbooks.com/
http://www.cambiumbooks.com/books/hand_tools/
http://www.foxchapelpublishing.com/
Take some classes and/or join a woodworking club. The local Woodcraft, technical school, or university (continuing education program) all may have classes that might fit your needs/interests. And there are also the many fine commercial woodworking schools.
Even if you're going to do most of your woodworking with power tools, learn some hand tool skills. Being able to (hand) saw accurately, effectively use a hand plane, a spoke shave, a draw knife, a rasp, a chisel, a bit brace, a card scraper, etc., will allow you do do things that are hard to do (safely) on a machine, as well as clean up machining marks, take off just a hair for the "perfect" fit, etc. and will help your projects turn out better.
Learn how to sharpen your edge tools. The particular method really doesn't matter, as long as you become proficient at it. Sharp tools are safe tools and effective tools.
Buy the best quality tools you can afford. This does a couple of things for you: you only have to buy them once, you don't have to fight the deficiencies of a cheap (as opposed to inexpensive) or poorly designed/manufactured tool, and it largely precludes you having to wonder whether it is the tool or your technique when something doesn't work quite the way you intended. "Quality tools" is not necessarily the semantic equivalent of "expensive tools," although you generally get what you pay for and pay for what you get. Also, take a look at used tools -- particularly hand tools -- which can net you high-quality tools for a very favorable price at flea markets, yard sales, eBay, antique tool dealers, etc., even taking into account any time needed to tune them up (also a good thing to learn....).
If it doesn't look or feel safe, it probably isn't; figure out a better way to do it.
Again, welcome to Knots and woodworking. Be safe & have fun!!
Beste Wünschen auf ein glückliches und wohlbehaltenes Neues Jahr!
Tschüß!
Mit freundlichen holzbearbeitungischen Grüßen aus dem Land der Rio Grande!!
James
I always buy my lumber oversized. If I want the final thickness 3/4" I will buy 7/8" or thicker depending on the characteristics of the species. Some species tend to move a little more than others. I then mill all the lumber myself with a jointer, planner, and tablesaw. The final thickness dosn't always come out to exactly 3/4", but all pieces are the same thickness in the end.
I always buy my lumber "oversized" also. But how do you buy 7/8" lumber? I get mine as 4/4 or 5/4 or 8/4. Those are nominal sizes for "rough" lumber. Never heard of 7/8". Is that surfaced?
Rich
Maybe S4S 5/4 sometimes ends up just shy of an inch?
The last I bought at 7/8 was S2, but even if the supplier has surfaced it I put it in my shop and let it sit for a week or two to let it acclimate to the environment in my shop. it usually moves a little. Then I take it down to the size I need. I never use their surfacing as final dimension.
Welcome Knicks.
Rough lumber is milled 1 & 1/16 inch to 1 & 1/8 inch thick green from the log to give the final customer enough wood to mill the board down to the finished thickness. If you mill the rough board to finished dimension, you can get it absolutely flat by face planing on the jointer before thickness planing the board. If you do not face plane the board on the jointer, the thickness planer will follow the curve/bow/warp in the board, mirroring it's shape in the rough. Most large millyards or sawmills that plane lumber do not face plane it flat on the jointer first. It is best to buy rough sawn and mill it flat yourself if you have the equipment. If not, select the staightest rough stock that you can find. As many have said here, cutting long boards into shorter final-use lengths before planing will naturally take some of the bow or un-straightness out if you have the means to do that or if the lumberyard will do that for you prior to planing. One other thought...........$1.50/board foot for #1 ash is not a bad price for 100 BF.
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