if you want a 3/4 inch board, should you buy relatively flat 4/4 stock or go with the 5/4 and mill that to final dimensions? It just seems that no matter what wood I buy none of it is flat and straight. If you want flat straight boards you need to buy a size bigger and mill it. Is this right? I bought some 4×4 stock and it was not flat, so i flattened it. I flattened one side so much it was now well under 3/4 inch.
Another question, would it make sense to buy like 12/4 stock, resaw it on the band saw a little over size, let it sit a couple of days to get any movement out of it then mill to final dimensions? Could it be cheaper that way?
What tools do you take with you when buying lumber. Tape measure, straight edge or do you just wing it, eyeball it or what?
Replies
Dimensioned lumber is way more expensive than rough-cut. You should be able to get 3/4" flat boards from 4/4 lumber if you're able to mill it yourself from rough.
Resawing 12/4 isn't going to be cheaper, at least where I've shopped. 12/4 commands a premium over the same board footage in 4/4 stock. Resawing thicker boards makes a lot of sense, though, if you are resawing to make a wider panel, as you can bookmatch, and the grain will all match and the colors will be close.
Unlike some of the pros here who buy hundreds of board feet at a time, I buy my stock to match a cut list. So I take along a tape measure. I just look for straightness by eye, so no straightedge. I want to get a pinless moisture meter (doesn't mark stock that's not mine); for now, I buy from reputable dealers who tell me the moisture content.
As a rule, buying thick stock and resawing is not the economical way to go. The thicker the material, the more drying time it needs (whether kiln or air), and time = money. So the price for 12/4 will often be more than 3 times 4/4. In addition, resawing will often turn up defects that were not apparent from the outside, resulting in higher waste, not to mention the labor resawing. So in general, I would not recommend it as a system. Of course resawing is necessary for many reasons, but I would prefer to buy rough lumber of the thickness I need.
BTW, I take a tape measure and pinless moisture meter, that's all.
DR
I buy the majority of my lumber rough cut. Rough lumber usually is a full inch thick or slightly over( for 4/4 stock) Mills are lazy ( or more accurately in a hurry), they saw very close to the given dimension, and then push the lumber through a planer removing 3/16" to a 1/4" in the process. The old banana in, banana out holds true, if the stock wasn't flat going into the planer, it isn't going to be flat coming out.
Buying rough stock on the other hand saves money and gives me more options. For example I can usually buy rough 4/4 stock and resaw it for drawer sides, something that I can't always do with S2S stock.
Buying 12/4 stock and resawing, while in theory would work, you'd have considerable movement due to the unequal moisture content, which would end up negating the whole purpose. Plus as noted 12/4 stock is sold at a premium to thinner stock. Finally, species choices are far more limited in 12/4 stock.
Rob Millard
Kenney66 ,
Buy the better and best grades lumber available . Find another supplier if yours has only boards that are not flat . Try buying a bit more then you actually need charge it to waste , give yourself a selection , the right board for the right place .
Any stock left over although it costs you money , is like $ in the bank , it will not go bad and will add to your personal supply .
regards dusty
I tend to buy rough cut lumber, but occasionally will get S2S because that's all they have.
You are supposed to be able to get 3/4 or 13/16 from 4/4 stock.
I bring a tape measure when I buy lumber to make sure I get the right widths. But the most important tool is the eye (combined with a brain to tell you to look for warp, twist, checking, wane...). If a board is too distorted, I set it back on the pile.
Another related question...is it better to purchase rough material in quantity to lock in lower price, like hedging the market (provided you have the room to properly store the material) or better to purchase by project, minimizing how much material you keep on hand. I'm leaning toward purchasing larger quantities of rough stock in an attempt to get better prices, especially if I find attractive figured wood. What do you all think is the best strategy??
Thanks,
JJ
Jeff, I don't know how it is in your neck of the woods, but I buy full slings of everything I normally use. The cost is 20% less than I would pay for picking through a pile. Economically speaking, I'd say that if you're going to use it within a year it's worthwhile to buy in bulk. (Assuming that you have the money to lay out and the place to store it).
DR
You confim my assumption. When I was a kid, one of the worst jobs I ever had was building pallets. It's all this company did. The owner used to buy slings of 1" boards in random lengths, and we had to unstack and restack the slings according to length. Worst task in that place. This was NOT the good old days. LOL.
Next question, how much unusable lumber do you typically get in a sling? If it's anything like the slings of dimensioned lumber at the big stores, the ratio of good to bad wouldn't prove out to be economically feasible. What do you do with the bad stuff or are you able to use everything by recutting?
I only buy FAS or higher grade. Typically out of 100 or so boards in a sling there will be only be half a dozen "bad" ones. Even badly bowed stock makes fine moldings or short legs, etc. There's always uses for boards that have a defect midway, or some bow, etc. When you've got a big stack to choose from it's not a problem. But also important, I have built a relationship over many years with 3 suppliers. And if it turns out that a sling is not as good as it should be, they will take it back, no questions. It hasn't happened often, but it has happened.
DR
I usually pickout the boards rough but have my supplier mill them S2S. For the few dimes a board foot, seems like a lot of savings on my meager equipment, particularly since they have the wide machines and I tend to pick up the wider boards for more even looks to the projects. A lot of times, I don't care about the final thickness and just make them all the same based on once the faces are clean.
If I prep stock too far in advance, even boards that would be fine once joined will start to cup and bow and twist etc. Not a lot, but enough to foul joinery. Buying S2S would create some minor hassles sometimes, because by the time you use it it might no longer be flat -- and if you buy it as you go, it's much harder to avoid waste and match grain and color.My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
i buy by the lift (500 bd ft ) as i have found the sayer likes to sell it that way and he usually throws in some extra and helps loading
most sawyers hate small scale pickers so they give a better deal to lift buyers and the better stuff as they get used to you
mine is rough cut 7/8 " and out of 2000 bd ft i got 2 boards 14" wide x 9' long that did not clean up perfectly 2 sides the rest were great furniture grade lumber
buying by the lift you mostly get it all from the same tree
eg. 2 500bd ft lifts required 2 30" cherry trees
Hey ken, try shortening the stock as close as possible to your finished part before you start to flatten it.
-Lou
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