Using wood flooring to make furniture
I’ve gotten great ideas on this forum before, so I wanted to run something by everyone. My challenge is that I live in NYC in an apartment with no access to large tools (table saw, jointer, planer. you know, the things wives don’t like in one bedroom apartments). I’ve thought of paying local woodworkers to straighten boards and generally turn them into the sizes and shapes I need so that I can do the quieter work of cutting joints by hand at home.
But I had an idea. What if I were to use hardwood flooring (in various species) to make furniture? It is straight, high quality and already planed. Wouldn’t it be possible to glue them up (with the tongue and groove) to make panels and table tops? Couldn’t you glue them back to back to make thicker pieces for table legs and frames?
I figure I can use a jigsaw and even a router in my apartment as long as I do the work during the day when most people aren’t home. And I could use planes for smoothing so I won’t create as much dust (another challenge is that my wife has asthma).
Obviously, this is far from ideal. But there are lots of flooring and hardware stores nearby that sell flooring in maple, cherry and lots of other species. Has anyone done this before? Is there anything inherently wrong with using hardwood flooring in this way? Is this crazy?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Mitch
Replies
Mitch,
Wood is wood. Yes you could use wood milled for use as a floor. Yes this is crazy.
Not the smallest consideration is your wife's asthma. Despite your idea that planing and the other methods you describe do not generate as much dust as sanding, using a table saw, bandsaw, etc, your tiny apartment is going to be filled with wood dust and your wife will be in the emergency room.
You will be cramped beyond tolerance in that environment.
There is no way you will be able to avoid (some, if not a considerable amount of) sanding, if you want your work to have any finished appearance.
The wood you imagine using, if solid, is not flat on the back, it is designed with "feet" which help it lay flat on the sub floor. It is also significantly more expensive than raw lumber.
Rent time in a wood shop. You'll have a wide variety of equipment, and the space in which to actually work.
VL
Thanks, Venicia, and everyone else for your responses. You all make excellent points. In terms of dust creation, I won't be sanding in our apartment, as my building has a roofdeck for that.
The problem is, I haven't been able to find anyone with a shop nearby who would accomodate me. I live on the upper west side of Manhattan and don't have a car. I think my best option is becoming hiring somebody to do the milling for me, as much as I hate that. I'm getting pretty desperate to do some work.
Venicia, I understand what you mean about flooring being expensive compared to raw lumber, but, in light of how much I'd have to pay somebody by the hour to do the milling plus some kind of delivery cost, is it closer to being affordable?
Thanks again all!
Mitch
Mitch,
I don't want to sound totally negative (just 98%). I think you have a very bad idea and it will only become apparent if you really get into it.
The availability of lumber is the smallest part of the problem. It is even possible that you may be able to get some great prices on flooring material.
It's the environment in which you imagine doing the work that plain gives me hives. Right now I am "cramped" in a 2 car garage/workshop. One car gets parked in the garage. It gets moved out when I work. I then move my workbench away from one wall, move my other (small) pieces of equipment so I have a little more elbow room. And I'm cramped. I have to be careful to put things away as I'm using them, or it's just too hard to work. This works out OK as my projects are small now. But my workspace is enormous compared to the areas you will have to limit yourself to in your apartment.
Your wife's medical problem is no trivial matter. And I think you have to seriously consider that part of the equation.
I clean up thoroughly after every work session. That means blowing the whole grarage out, using the shop vac on the concrete floor, etc. The garage is spotless when I'm done and the car is parked. But a spotless garage is much dirtier than an apartment has to be to be comfortable.
Good luck. I think you need to postpone your itch to get working until you have a reasonable place to work. But that's just my 2c.
VL
You have a serious problem . You sound like a neat freak. I have a shop in my basement maybe 400 sf. With the washer and dryer in the same space. I put visqueen over the clean clothes and its great they always smell like wood.
I have dust control on the machines and sand by hand. Try to clean up. But when you are tring to make money on jobs you just have to clean up after the project is over.
So an apartment in Upper W is just as big as my little shop. If I have to cut any stock more than my shop can handle I take it out side.
3fingers,
I don't think Venicia is a neat freak, she is being pragmatic. Remember, Mitch has at least two people living in the apartment...this ain't a basement. I too have a small shop in the basement (about 380 sq. ft.) with a thick layer of dust over everything. My wife stuff is covered but when she has to get at it the dust flys.
It seems to me the real question is what does Mitch's wife think?..and does Mitch have a space that is or can be seperated to accomodate the hobby. I think if Mitch thinks through the steps...stock prep and sizing, joinery, assembly and finishing...each of those steps requires a different set up. It's all doable but needs to be thought out...buying prepared wood flooring is but a start. I doubt Mitch's wife would enjoy coming home an apartment that has been converted shop..with hoses and electrical wires running across the floor and clamps on the sofa.
With all that said however, you could probably make some decent A&C type furniture and Mitch's wife may really enjoy that.
I appreciate all the suggestions. However, I would appreciate it if people would stick to the questions I asked (i.e., is it possible or advisable to use wood flooring to make furniture) and leave the decisions to me. Also, I shouldn't have to say this but, please stop the name-calling and the negativity. There's just no reason for it.
I've gotten some useful information but overall I have to say this experience of making one little post leaves me feeling sort of grossed out. I'm not sure it's worth it.
Well,
How interesting. This has now turned into an Internet Special with acrimony and personal attacks creeping into a discussion of the basic mechanics of the workability of a plan.
Some sanding when doing woodwork is inevitable. It IS crazy to propose any project and predict that sanding is NEVER going to be employed. Except of course if one is a True Believer and accomplishes all finishing steps with sharp edged implements.
3fingers, no I don't have a serious problem. I'm not a neat freak, just pragmatic. My workspace is shared with another person, my husband, who has as much right to its use as I. I've opted not to keep my car in the garage so I can have my woodworking equipment there. He keeps his car there. When I'm using the space, it's a wood shop. When I'm finished I return it to a clean, uncluttered environment, just as I would want, if the situation were reversed.
We just bought his car, and neither of us has any desire that it sit in a dusty environemnt. No problem.
Neat freak? My training and experience equates a good part of craftsmanship with order and cleanliness. There is absolutely no advantage to a work environment covered in dust and wood shavings.
Mitch, you have now revealed that very annoying tendancy of (I assume) youngsters who pose questions on this wonderful/awful medium called the Internet. The tendancy to demand that others give them only the kind of answer they want to hear. And to limit answers and opinions to only some specific aspect of the question.
You asked if your idea were crazy. I responded. When you ask the opinion of others, you get them. That's how this works. It is my opinion that, having asked it is unseeming, if not outright rude of you to tell others HOW to respond. And now you're whining.
Good luck, kid. Have fun. This thread is toast.
VL
"And now you're whining."
Who's doing the whining?
Mitch,
I think flooring might not be the best for furniture given the surface of the underside. That being said, witness some of the items people put together out of pallet wood and scraps. I think Sarge posted pics of scrap wood over in the Gallery.
Have you considered non-furniture applications? Picture frames, jewelry boxes, chessboards, etc. don't need a lot of material, don't take up a lot of work space, can really hone skills and might get you going while you work out some of the logistics. Speaking from experience, I would've done myself a favor by starting out with "smaller" projects rather than tackling furniture projects that I'm now not happy to show off.
BTW, I spent a weekend in the Upper West Side a little over a year ago (for a wedding). Very nice. Much friendlier than expected. I'd like to go back some time.
Mitch,
On topic reply, OK. I thinking making furniture out of hardwood flooring is certainly possable. I know a guy who built some great wall shelves that way, you would never know it was flooring. The problems I see are the short lengths will be limiting to your design possabilities and the uniform widths glued up may seem boring.
Enjoy, Roy
Yes; you are crazy. Um I mean IT is crazy.
Anything that could be done with strip flooring could also be done using S4S lumber (surfaced four sides). If a lack of power tools (or a place to use them) is a problem; then I would get a few good hand saws for ripping, cross-cutting, and joint cutting. A scrub and jack plane can also go a long way towards surfacing and thicknessing lumber for projects that are not too large. If you are a maniac like me, you could use planes to handle large quantities of stuff. There were days when I would fill refrigerator sized boxes with shaving from my planes taking panels down to 1/2" for frame and panel carcasses.
I would not consider strip flooring to be a good source of furniture wood. It usually has relief grooves cut in the bottom. Length is all over the map; from 12" to 4-5'. There is often a great amount of variability in grain and color. In my area; strip flooring is not much cheaper than high grade lumber.
Now if you had lots of good flooring just laying around, then knock yourself out. But I would not go out and buy the stuff just for making furniture.
I like to use flooring occasionally as lumber. I find I can get great prices on exotic wood. I bought some bloodwwod flooring for $4/sq. ft. and it costs $12 / bd. ft. at the lumberyard. Having said that, the tongue and groove don't mate flush at the bottom, there is a clearance gap. You have to rip the tongue and groove off and plane off the relief grooves on the bottom. This limits the utility of the wood but it's great for some things like slats. I have attached an image of some outdoor furniture I built out of ipe and jatoba; the jatoba is flooring ($1.00/sq. ft. for shorts and damaged).
Mitch. A friend of mine back in the 60's made a beautiful coffee table from oak flooring only needed a saw, drill, block plane and glue. He positioned the long enough boards so that they sandwiched together with the tongues standing up and bolted them together with glue and all thread
Planed off the tongues and sanded by hand Beautiful job. Later, he made one with the grooves up and glued in walnut to the grooves. Stein
Tell me where you live in the big apple, and I'll tell you where to buy odds and ends of lumber on the cheap.
Another guy I knew, made a beautiful coffee table which had glass blocks for it's top. Beautiful clear and polished blocks (not those opague things with the ridges.)
Mitch- Contrary to what everyone else says, I don't think you're crazy.
The asthma should be the no. 1 concern though. You can most certainly attain a finished surface without a noisy, dusty sander. Whoever says you can't is full of bullsh*t.
Hardwood flooring isn't the best of choice, but look at your circumstances. With careful planning, you could probably make some beginner stuff that won't look too bad. The way I'd look at it is, use it as practice to get familiar with handtools and the proper methods. What's the rush, you're not doing this for a paycheck are you?
I seen this small article in Woodwork mag. with a story of a guy in NYC with your problem almost exactly. This guy had a small workbench and handtools and turned out great looking work. Impressive I thought. Don't be negative. Just do it and hurry up. You're not getting any younger.
John E. Nanasy
Hang in there Mitch-- remember, this is New York F'ng City and we never ever do nothin nice and easy.
I'm in a 1br in the village, also w/o a car and I have been working wood here for many years. I applaud your willingness to think creatively; how many cats could we possibly skin if there was but one way? One of the ww mags did have an article on making a table out of flooring using breadboard ends to hide the t&g and bottom profile.
Some resources--
One of the highest quality suppliers in the country is only a subway ride away- http://rosenzweiglumber.com/ open a business account (they are whsle only) or just pick the stuff you like and have them deliver to Wood-o-rama on your behalf.
Wood-o-rama is on 108th St just east of Bdwy. http://www.wood-o-rama.com/ bad website, great people, great products.
You can get to the Home Depot (please hold the wise cracks) in LIC by subway. Take the 1/9/2/3 to Times Square transfer to the uptown R and exit at Northern Blvd.
Also, look at http://www.zipcar.com/nyc/find-cars they have six cars at various locations on the upper left side.
Send an E*mail if you want more tips.
Ted
Mitch I just ordered an entire box of Hickory hardwood flooring for the specific reason to use it in woodworking projects. I'm a hybrid woodworker in a one room apartment. In Winter I use hand tools and in Summer I add in power tools outside.
You can make almost anything with hardwood paneling. It comes in a variety of widths & lengths with a tongue and groove already cut. Think about picture or door frames, small boxes, table tops, stools, TV trays, cutting boards, etc, etc. It's a cheap way to buy perfect material, already finished, for any project you have. I should have done this years ago.
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