On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 20:31:39 GMT, B a r r y
wrote:


Even if you buy s4s, you'll still need to flatten some of it,
straighten others, and change the thickness of still others.

Barry

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is that buying rough
does a lot more than save money. In fact, I save just a little
money, unless I compare to BORG hardwood prices. That would be
stupid. G

Buying rough lets you, the craftsman, select which side you like the
best while there is still plenty of thickness left. Quite often,
knots or other defects don't go all the way though, and removing more
wood from one side enables you to use a pretty section of wood, with
the defect on the back. If you arbitrarily removed wood equally from
both sides, the defect may show on both sides. You should leave the
very last passes for later, as removing more wood from one side or the
other may encourage movement.

Also, wood tends to get dinged in transport and storage. It will also
move a bit, even after it's deemed s4s. Extra wood makes this really
easy to correct at the right time.

Owning a jointer and planer can also allow help when resawing wood.
For instance, an 8/4 piece of stock can become (3) 1/2" thick parts,
matched at that! Joint one face, resaw, lightly joint again, resaw,
lightly joint, and plane the boards to final thickness.

Some of the magazines seem to dwell on jointing / planing as a money
saving operation too much. Think of it more from creative and
mechanical viewpoints.

Barry