"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 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?


Real joy is leaving that crap right at the lumber yard and picking up lumber
at your local sawmill, where you can often pick your logs and cuts if you
care to. That way you get the thicknesses you want, and the lengths you can
store comfortably.

Your equipment list is about the norm for hobbyist types, though I would go
against conventional "wisdom" and upgrade my ambition to a genuine iron
planer before I would even consider an 8" jointer. The planer will give you
benefit on every board. The number of domestic hardwood boards of 8" or
greater that will not normalize in the planer and thus require a jointer, is
small. Face jointing is required most on boards containing sapwood, which
are normally only 4-6" anyway, as sawing for grade tends to rotate the log
as soon as all sapwood is gone.