It's common practice to have material straight-lined at the lumber
dealers; they've got that big hulking machine I could never afford.
And they've never charged too much for the service, but then I found
out that wasn't so true.
I had ordered a bunk of oak from my very reputable dealer and they
brought it right out. As it was skidded into the shop, I notice a
bunch of narrow boards across the top, so I have a look and the whole
pile is a bunch of narrow rails. I had their salesman out that
afternoon to see what I had. One of those guys that had never swung a
hammer.
He couldn't see anything wrong, that's just the way it came. His
company couldn't be responsible, I should accept what they had
sent...conditions of the market.
I said, look buddy, the operator straight-lined every piece down the
middle of the board.
That can't be, he says, spewing more gobble-dee-gook. The first
piece I flipped over matched up to its mate...and it took him two
seconds to get his mind straight.
I followed him down to his shop and picked out a pile of sticks I
wanted and walked along as it went into the milling room. The
operators at the straight-line could move and barely had one stick
disappeared into the machine before another had taken its place. A
whole thousand board foot was done in the matter of a few minutes.
But there at the side of the machine was ten or fifteen percent of my
material, now designated scrap...No wonder the men had adopted to cut
the boards down the middle, no scrap to pick up. And that was the last
time I paid for that service.
My first solution worked well enough. I made an eight foot sled out of
HDPB, laid in an oak runner; then drilled a series of holes across the
width about six foot apart, where I could position dowels to hold the
board in relation to the blade on my table saw. I could cut ten-foot
goods, which was what I was buying anyway. I did the whole bunk, and I
still had a pile of scrap, but figured it was under five percent. And
I was satisfied.
But, you know how it is; along came this pile that had an exaggerated
warp and I notice I'm taking off whole corners to get a straight
line...well, think about it. As cabinetmakers, we know that 90% of the
component parts of any set of boxes is less than four feet long, and
the next step in any process was cutting to length anyway. I
determined from that point on to reverse the process.
Well, it turned out better than that. Unless you can afford the good
stuff, oak has its share of natural defects. I began sectioning the
boards according to their own merit. My straight-lining was reduced
down to virtually sawdust. I could stack and store according to
length, and I ended up having less cut scrap at the end of each job.
I'm telling ya boys, this one's a winner...a real skinned cat.
daclark

"daclark" wrote in message
It's common practice to have material straight-lined at the lumber
dealers; they've got that big hulking machine I could never afford.
And they've never charged too much for the service, but then I found
out that wasn't so true.
I had ordered a bunk of oak from my very reputable dealer and they
brought it right out. As it was skidded into the shop, I notice a
bunch of narrow boards across the top, so I have a look and the whole
pile is a bunch of narrow rails. I had their salesman out that
afternoon to see what I had. One of those guys that had never swung a
hammer.


Rule #1 ... let your salesman know the intended use before SLR, even if you
have to slap him upside the head to get his attention.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 6/21/06

Your story certainly makes me wary of getting anything jointed at the
mill! The last order I made was 100 bf of ash, and I had them surface
2 sides (which I cannot do anyway), and I left the edges rough. I
straighten the first edge with a good 8 foot straightedge jig of MDF
and circular saw (with good blade of course!) I think this will be the
way of doing it for now.

Hello, this essay was originally posted on a number of sites, and
attracted quite a bit of comment. It became too much to track the
comments and remember what had been said where, so I've relocate to a
central location I have established a new group for the discussion of
the craft trades; woodworking, metalworking, sculpture, glassworks,
pottery, etcetera; and the topic of apprenticeship in the inherent
occupations of man.
If you would like to join this group of professionals, as well as
novices, in the discussion of the craft trades...use the link below.
The site will be moderated to keep the junk out. No off topic
postings, no sales gimmicks, and no trashing the other guy's
opinion...
daclark

http://groups.google.com/group/senior-apprentice