"mrcomp_ca" wrote in message
ups.com...
Good Day All,
Well...I'm taking the plunge and am going to start buying my lumber
from a lumber yard instead of the borg.
I have figured out how to calculate BF, that wasn't so bad. I am
confused as to what lengths and widths of board I can reasonably
handle. I know there are probably many variables and the archives have
been reasonably helpful, but no real answer.
I will have (about to purchase) a 6" jointer with a 45" bed and a 13"
planer. I have a 10" contractor saw and a 10" chop saw.
The lumber yard seems to have 8' - 12' lengths and 12" widths, setting
skill level aside; can my equipment (I guess specifically my jointer)
handle these lengths? I'm thinking I'm going to have to cross cut the
boards to a more manageable length and then joint rip and plane.
Am I heading in the right direction?
Looking to draw on your wisdom, Sean
Well I have an 8" joiner and a 20" grizzleguts planer. I have not bought
surfaced lumber for 20 years .
Perhaps a few tips that I use would be helpful .
Seldom will you need tp machine a 12" board ,I find it best to cut the rough
sawn material to rough lenths you will be needing on your particular project
..and then mill the wood .
I think I would spend a little extra and get the 8" joiner,Grizzley has
pretty good equipment and reasonable prices . They even have a 20" planer
,not their newest one but one such as I have for a pretty good savings .
With a planer and joiner you can get a straight edge and one surface flat
get the remaining surface flat in the planer rip the piece to slightly
oversize and clean that edge up on the joiner.
For over size boards one option is to rip tyhem down the middle machine the
boards and then woth a good glue joint carfully glue them together..Usually
a little scraping and sanding will produce a good result..
Amother approach for boards wider than the joiner but within the planer
limits is to take a scub plane and a straightedge and roughly clean up one
side of the wide board then run it through the planer. that will expose the
high and low spots on the other side give it the same treatment and run it
again through the planer .Each time you do this you will be getting close to
a perfect board . This is the standard procedure I use when a board is
twisted or badly cupped.
One Thing I should mention is the surfaced material you buy at the
lum;beryard is seldon as advertised what they call 1" or 4 quarter material
was that before surfacing so in fact you end up buying 13/16" material. Even
when buying rough sawn material it is supposed to be cut 1/8 heavy ,even
then if the job requires 1' finished material then I usually buy 5/4 "
material so that I am assured of a an inch finished, and of course roughsawn
is cheaper....mjh
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