Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.

When you're selecting your wood at the store, what do you look for? What
about wood from a tree?

How about looking through your wood pile at home? Do you select the
visible pieces first, or select the worst working for parts that won't be
visible?

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

Puckdropper wrote:
Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.

When you're selecting your wood at the store, what do you look for?
A cart.

What
about wood from a tree?

An axe.

How about looking through your wood pile at home? Do you select the
visible pieces first, or select the worst working for parts that won't be
visible?

The answer to this seems clear since substitution works fine in one
direction. You could also look through your paint cans and chisels.. ; )

Cheers,
Bill



Puckdropper

On Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 8:35:15 PM UTC-8, wrote:
Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.

When you're selecting your wood at the store, what do you look for? What
about wood from a tree?

Well, obviously in a store I look for cheap wood (lumberyard for better woods),
and for me that means interesting grain and knots but not too many
near the (when-finished) edges. SPF (spruce most likely, in my neighborhood) takes
a little shellac (for knots) and linseed oil and becomes rather decorative.

Straight only matters if the project calls for long boards. I've been known
to dovetail a cupped board by clamping it against a straight scrap until the glue
dries...

On Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 10:35:15 PM UTC-6, wrote:
Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.

When you're selecting your wood at the store, what do you look for? What
about wood from a tree?

How about looking through your wood pile at home? Do you select the
visible pieces first, or select the worst working for parts that won't be
visible?

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

For local species, I go the lumber mill - better prices and better selection. For non-local I have a couple of wholesale yards I go to, the primary is Newman Lumber in Gulfport, Ms (Honduran Mahogany and Cerejiera)

On Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 10:35:15 PM UTC-6, wrote:
Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.

When you're selecting your wood at the store, what do you look for?

I rarely buy lumber, but I would choose the most appropriate for the project and probably cost wouldn't be too critical of a factor.

What about wood from a tree?

One never knows what the wood will look/be like, until it's milled. When I have logs milled, I try to keep the boards aligned as per their placement within the log, so that I can match boards, when/as needed.

How about looking through your wood pile at home? Do you select the
visible pieces first, or select the worst working for parts that won't be
visible?

Most often, the project dictates what boards I select. As to defected boards, yep, I select those for out-of-sight pieces and parts. From my cache of salvaged lumber, I rarely build fine/elegant furniture, hence my cache allows for a wide range of mediocre or more utilitarian pieces of furniture/projects.

Now and then an (initially assumed) mediocre project turns out to be extra nice, so that's a plus, which lends to the idea: If you put some special time and effort into a project, you can turn ugly boards into pretty boards (projects). It's not always the boards, but the workmanship (and a little luck), also.

Workmanship: If I had to assess my most lacking average or common skill, it would be not having a wider variety of joint/jointery making. I just don't make/take the time to learn more, more of, joints/jointery.

Sonny

On 02 Mar 2017 04:35:10 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.

When you're selecting your wood at the store, what do you look for? What
about wood from a tree?

How about looking through your wood pile at home? Do you select the
visible pieces first, or select the worst working for parts that won't be
visible?

Puckdropper

There is a place up in Marissa, I select what I want by wandering
through the barns. The black walnut stuff is usually mixed up mess of
3/4 to 12/4, the hunting good as are the prices. They surface plane
and get a straight edge if you want.

"Puckdropper" wrote in message
eb.com...

Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.

When you're selecting your wood at the store, what do you look for? What
about wood from a tree?

How about looking through your wood pile at home? Do you select the
visible pieces first, or select the worst working for parts that won't be
visible?

Appearance boards first... That can mean a lot of shuffling of the lumber
piles...

The shuffling problem is growing for me as I'm now milling logs with an
Alaskan Chainsaw Mill and the piles are growing. I do not put straight edges
on the boards when I mill them... I take care of that later on the band saw.
I stack and sticker the rough cut boards in the order they came off the log.
At the moment I have ash, cherry, white oak, and walnut in the lumber shed.

See ABPW for a photo of an ash log in process and the Alaskan mill
configuration.

Outdoors and indoors buying or picking up wood -

Look for twist/bend/wave. Wood is often GREEN when in a store
or off the ground.

I have used firewood and all. Some you have to pre-form and store
in a brown paper bag to let it dry out. Then remount and turn to size.

If the wood for a project (desk/table....) should be kiln dried or
really dryed/aged. Green wood might not accept glue as well and will
twist or bend.

I have some quilted oak. I'm letting it dry out and then I'll
photograph and re-saw it. It is firewood.

Martin

On 3/1/2017 10:35 PM, Puckdropper wrote:
Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.

When you're selecting your wood at the store, what do you look for? What
about wood from a tree?

How about looking through your wood pile at home? Do you select the
visible pieces first, or select the worst working for parts that won't be
visible?

Puckdropper

Puckdropper puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:
Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.


I tend to use what ppl dump on my block and nearby.

Ranges from Big Old Structural stuff to Pasteurized Process Wood Product bed splats

Puckdropper puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote in
eb.com:

Ok, obviously we need something to talk about here.

Taking the most abstract look at your question - I choose
a wood based on appearance, ease of working, and availability.
I like cherry and maple (but maple's harder to work), depending
on whether the piece is intended to be darker color or lighter.
I don't like walnut because I'm sensitive to the dust. Right
now I'm using mahogany because I haven't used it for a long
while, and I got some at a good price.

When you're selecting your wood at the store, what do you look for?
What about wood from a tree?

The last few years I've been buying 100bf at a time, so I don't
really select it board by board.

How about looking through your wood pile at home? Do you select the
visible pieces first, or select the worst working for parts that won't
be visible?

Usually I look for the best looking boards and set them aside
for the top (or other large, prominent part). At the same time
I set aside boards with twist or defects, for use making small
parts (altho I tend to end up making the small parts from
offcuts of the good boards, so the crappy boards end up set
aside for "someday I'm going to make cutting boards" or some
similar purpose).

John

"Dr. Deb" wrote in
:

For non-local I have a couple of wholesale yards I go to,
the primary is Newman Lumber in Gulfport, Ms (Honduran Mahogany and
Cerejiera)

Can you give an idea of what they charge? I end up in that
area once or twice a year, might be worth stopping by...

John

On Monday, March 6, 2017 at 6:29:06 PM UTC-6, John McCoy wrote:
Can you give an idea of what they charge? I end up in that
area once or twice a year, might be worth stopping by...

John

They don't have prices on their website, but you can inquire..... phone or email.
http://newmanlumber.com/genuine-mahogany/

Sonny

Sonny wrote in
:

On Monday, March 6, 2017 at 6:29:06 PM UTC-6, John McCoy wrote:
Can you give an idea of what they charge? I end up in that
area once or twice a year, might be worth stopping by...

John

They don't have prices on their website, but you can inquire.....
phone or email. http://newmanlumber.com/genuine-mahogany/

Yeah, I saw that. I don't have an immediate need, but I
thought if Dr Deb happened to have the numbers handy, it
would be worth knowing for future reference.

John