Maple Grove Woodworks » New Woodworker

Homage

Dennis_MGWW — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:43:11 +0000

When I first began woodworking, back in the late 1990′s, Norm Abram’s “The New Yankee Workshop” was by far the most popular woodworking show on television. Once I discovered the show, I couldn’t get enough of it. Here was this regular joe, (ok, regular Norm) making such beautiful projects that almost anyone would want in their home. And Norm made it look sooo easy! Of course, nothing is as easy as it looks on television. But that didn’t matter because I had been bitten by the “I can build that….” bug.

Actually, my love of woodworking goes back a bit further than that, at least two generations, you might say. My father was once a carpenter and is still a woodworker. When I was a kid, during November and December he would always be busy in the garage building projects to give away at Christmas. I was always amazed at the things that he built. I still use the desk he built for me when I was a teenager.

Although I have never seen anything that my grandfather has made, I do have a couple of his old wooden planes. They are in pretty rough shape and someday I might try to restore them. One of them may not be restore-able, so I may just make a replica of it.

Eventually, new woodworking shows became popular as well. “Doing It Yourself” became the “in” thing and a larger variety of shows became available. Among those was “Woodworks” with David Marks as the host. His work on that show inspired me to a whole new level of woodworking. Terms like “bentwood lamination” and “inlay” became a part of my vocabulary. On the show, David also inspired me to look at the work of the woodworkers who inspired him, such as Sam Maloof and James Krenov.

All these people have inspired me throughout the years. Even though Maloof and Krenov have passed on now, and the New Yankee Workshop has closed its television doors, their work is still around and will continue to inspire for years to come. My father still makes things that amaze me as well and I thank him for the love of woodworking that he passed on to me.

Sam Maloof has a quote on his web site that pretty much sums it up for me:

“The reverence that the object maker has for the materials, for the shape, and for the miracle of his skill transcends to God, the Master Craftsman, the Creator of all things, who uses us, our hands, as His tools to make these beautiful things.”

Lumber Costs

Dennis_MGWW — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:09:37 +0000

There are a lot of things to consider when buying lumber for your woodworking projects, and cost is certainly one of them. There are many ways to buy lumber, and the way that you choose will depend on how much time and money you want to spend on getting the lumber ready for your project.

The different ways that lumber is sawn at the sawmill will affect how much each board costs. There are basically 3 ways a log is sawn at a sawmill, flat sawn, rift sawn, and quarter sawn.

Flat/Rift/Quarter Sawn Lumber

Flat Sawn Lumber

Flat sawn boards are the least expensive because the sawyer can get more boards out of a single log by sawing it this way. The grain patterns on the faces of the lumber are not very straight and they usually have what is called a cathedral grain. The end grain ends up being a “C” shape. These type of boards are more prone to cupping and twisting.

Rift sawn and quarter sawn lumber are similar, and people sometimes use these terms interchangeably. Typically, in Rift Sawn lumber, the face grain is fairly straight and the end grain runs on about a 45°-75° angle.

Quarter Sawn Lumber

Quarter sawn boards yield very straight grained boards. The end grain is usually runs from about 75° to vertical. They are also more stable boards producing less cupping or twisting.

Quarter sawn and Rift Sawn lumber are usually about twice the cost as flat sawn. This is because the log yields less usable lumber and more waste when sawing them this way.

Rough Sawn & Pre-Milled Lumber

When shopping for hardwood lumber you will notice that there are many different terms describing the wood besides just its species. First of all, there are two main categories that the lumber will fall into; (1) Rough sawn lumber, and (2) Pre-milled lumber.

Rough sawn lumber is just as it sounds, rough. It has not been milled in any way after leaving the sawmill. Rough sawn lumber comes in thickness increments of ¼” starting at 4/4. For example, 1” thick lumber is called 4/4 (four quarter), 1.25” thick lumber is called 5/4 (five quarter), and so on and so forth.

Rough sawn lumber is also graded into several categories. The categories you will most likely see are FAS, Selects & Better, Number 1 Common, and Number 2 Common. The grading is based upon how clear the faces of board are and what percentage of usable material a given board will yield.

FAS (First And Seconds) is the top grade with a minimum board width of 8”, a minimum length of 8ft, and a minimum yield of about 83%.

Selects & Better is the next highest grade with a minimum board width of 4”, a minimum length of 6ft, and a minimum yield of about 83%.

Number 1 Common has a minimum board width of 3”, a minimum length of 4ft, and a minimum yield of about 67%.

Number 2 Common has a minimum board width of 3”, a minimum length of 4ft, and a minimum yield of about 50%.

FAS being the highest grade will also be the most expensive. But, honestly, you probably will very seldom need lumber that is 8” wide and 8ft long that is completely clear. Most pieces on most projects are much shorter than that, so you will be able to save yourself quite a bit of money buying Selects and Better, or even Number 1 Common. A good strategy is to buy Selects and Better for your somewhat larger project pieces and Number 1 Common for your smaller pieces.

Pre milled lumber

Pre-milled lumber is lumber that has at least 1 face that has been planed. The most common designations for pre-milled lumber are S4S, S2S, S1S, R1E, & R2E.

S4S is Surfaced on all 4 Sides. Both faces have been milled flat and parallel, and both edges have been jointed and are square to the faces and parallel to each other.

S2S is Surfaced on 2 Sides. Both faces have been milled flat and parallel, but both edges are still rough sawn.

S1S is Surfaced on 1 Side. One face has been milled flat, and the other face and both edges are still rough sawn.

Sometimes you can specify that you want S2S or S1S lumber to be R1E or R2E. R1E is Ripped 1 Edge and R2E is Ripped 2 Edges. This means that the S2S lumber will be run through a table saw giving it either 1 or 2 straight but not jointed edges.

What you really need to remember with pre-milled lumber is that the price goes up with every milling operation. S4S will be the most expensive, and S1S will be the least expensive.

The Price Tag

When comparing costs of lumber you need to be aware of how it is being priced. Usually when you go to one of the big box stores and you look at a piece of S4S oak, for instance, you will see a price of $33. That will be the price of that board.

You might go to a different lumber yard and look at a similar piece of S4S oak and you might see a price of $2.07. Beware, this is not necessarily the final price of that board. Look closely, that might be the price of 1 linear foot of that board.

Now, you might go to a hardwood dealer and look at a similar size of rough sawn Red Oak and see a price of $3.50. This, also, may not be the final price of that board. This is probably the price for 1 board ft.

The first case is easy to understand. $33 for the board you want to buy. No problem. But what is the difference between a linear foot and a board foot?

If a board is priced by the linear foot then you take the length of the board that you are going to buy and multiply it by the linear foot price. For example, an 10ft long board times $2.07 equals $20.70. That’s pretty easy to understand as well.

A board foot, however, is a volume of lumber, not a length. 1 board foot equals a volume of 1” thick by 12” wide by 12” long, which is 144 cubic inches.

To figure out how many board feet are in any board use one of the following formula’s:

(Thickness in inches * Width in inches * Length in inches)/144 = total Board Ft.

(Thickness in inches * Width in inches * Length in feet)/12 = total Board Ft

Once you know how many board feet are in a board just multiply it by the board foot price and you will have the total cost of that board.

For example, if you have a piece of Red Oak that is 10ft long by 6” wide by 1” thick, and it has a price of $3.50/Bd ft, you would calculate the cost the following way:

[(1x6x10)/12] x $3.50 equals $17.50.

As you can see, there are a lot of things to consider and pay attention to when you are shopping for lumber. The tools you have or don’t have may dictate whether you buy pre-milled lumber or rough sawn lumber. Your budget may determine whether you buy flat sawn or quarter sawn lumber. The length of pieces in your project will determine if you need FAS or Number 1 Common.

New Woodworker Tools

Dennis_MGWW — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:03:06 +0000

If you are a new woodworker or are interested in trying your hand at woodworking, you may be wondering what tools you should start out with?

With so many tools on the market today it is hard to know what you should spend your hard earned money on. There are certain fundamental basic tools that everyone should start out with in their shop.

Let’s think about it this way. You have in front of you a rough sawn piece of white oak and you need to make a simple shelf out of it. Nothing complicated, you just need to make this one piece of wood flat, square, and smooth.

You have a couple of different options for doing this. The option you choose will depend on the type of woodworking you want to do. The old fashioned/traditional blood sweat and tears method or the newer 20th/21st century get it done now method.

This article will address the newer 20th/21st century get it done now method. We will discuss the old fashioned/traditional blood sweat and tears method elsewhere.

The first thing you need to do with a piece of wood is to make one face perfectly flat. To do this we need to run it across a jointer. A jointer has an in-feed table and an out-feed table and between these is a spinning cylinder with very sharp knives or blades. The out-feed table is slightly higher than the in-feed table and the blades are adjusted to be at the same height as the out-feed table. As you run your board across the jointer (it may take a few passes) it will perfectly flatten that one face.

The next step is making the opposite face perfectly parallel with the first face. You might think that you can flip the board over and run it across the jointer again. That would make both sides smooth, but probably not parallel. The best way to do this would be to run it through a thickness planer (also called a surface planer). That will truly make both faces parallel.

You now have made your piece of lumber into what is called S2S (surfaced 2 sides). Now what about the 2 edges? Well, for the first edge we will go back to the jointer and run the board across the jointer on one edge. This will perfectly square the edge to both faces.

For the last edge you would go to the table saw and rip the edge parallel to the first. Now you have a piece of lumber that is called S4S (surfaced 4 sides). Now you need to cut it to the proper length. You can do this at a power miter saw sometimes called a chop saw.

The last step would be to sand it. If you have already spent all of your money on a jointer, a planer, a table saw, and a chop saw, then you can just sand your shelf by hand. It takes a little longer but is certainly doable. If you have a little money left over then the purchase of a good palm sander will make things go much smoother (pun intended).
If you are going to purchase lumber that is already S4S then you can forego the jointer and thickness planer for now. You will find, however, that S4S lumber is much more expensive than rough sawn lumber. Also, S4S lumber usually only comes in ¾” thicknesses which will limit what type of projects you can build.

My recommendation for the order of tool purchases is this:

Power miter saw/chop saw ($60-$800)
Table saw ($50-$6000+)
Thickness Planer ($300-$4000+)
Jointer ($130-$7000+)
Palm sander ($15-$300+)

As you can see, the cost of each of these varies widely. There are the low end, casual user tools and there are high end power user tools. You may want to start out with some low end tools, allowing you to buy more sooner, and then upgrade at a later time. Or you can go a little slower buying good tools as you go. Another option is to buy used tools. There are some great bargains out there if you are willing to take the time and hunt them down. The decision is yours. Research the tools thoroughly, and buy the tools that will suit your needs.

Another important tip is to take note of the safety features of a tool. Especially when it comes to the table saw. We have all heard the jokes about the 3 fingered woodshop teacher and these stories are NOT funny. Safety is a serious issue in the woodshop and I always consider the safety features of a tool at least as important as its other features.

Now, go have fun buying yourself some new tools. Yes, it is fun. I always get a little giddy when I get a new toy to play with. My wife has witnessed this and has actually described me as giddy.

Learning Woodworking

Dennis_MGWW — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:05:26 +0000

So you’ve decided to get start learning woodworking. But you are not sure where or how you should start. Maybe you’ve seen those guys on TV make some really cool stuff and you want to be able to do the same. That’s how I got started anyway. The problem is that you probably don’t have enough tools or experience to even come close to being able to do those kind of projects.

So where do you start? Well….. Start simple. That’s easy to say, but every project has its challenges, especially when you are just starting to learn woodworking.

Tools Driving Project Selection

Oval Box

One way to start is by looking for projects that require the tools you already have. For instance, maybe your only power tool at this point is a power miter saw. That’s a great first tool to have for doing projects around the house. In addition to general construction projects, you can put up trim or crown molding around the house. You can easily make picture frames or small keepsake boxes. Keep in mind that picture frames and keepsake boxes do not have to be rectangular in shape. They can be octagonal, if you want. Be creative and give yourself a challenge.

Maybe your only real power tool at this point is a table saw. A table saw is more versatile than you might think. Not only can you rip lumber to any width you want, but you can also make miter cuts on it. You can cut plywood to any width or length. You can make a cutting board, bookshelves, an end table, keepsake boxes, picture frames, etc. The projects you can make using just a table saw are only limited by your imagination. Once you learn the art of making jigs it becomes even more versatile.

Projects Driving Tool Selection

This has been the category that I fall into most of the time. I will be in the middle of a project and realize that I don’t have quite the right tool for a particular task. This leads to either my having to go out and buy a new tool or figuring out a different way of accomplishing what I want to accomplish. I have been known to do both. At times, though, I have been very creative in order to save a few dollars and time spent running to the store.

The more projects you complete, the more you will learn to look ahead and be able to better plan how you are going to accomplish each and every task in a project. This includes not just the project itself, but also any jigs you might need to build in the process.

Take, for example, this oval box I made several years ago. In preparing to build this, it looked fairly obvious that I would need to use a band saw and a router. I got no further than selecting the stock when I realized that I was going to need to make several jigs and buy two new router bits. As I continued on, I needed to make even more jigs than I had originally thought I would.

Multiple Methods

One of the benefits of letting your projects drive your tool selection is that you learn that there is almost always more than one way to perform any given task. For instance, the walnut lids on this oval box could be cut on a band saw. That would be the easiest way. But maybe you don’t have a band saw. You could also use a saber saw to rough cut an MDF template and sand the template to a finished shape. Then attach the walnut to the template with double stick tape. Using a router mounted in a router table, and flush trim bit you can make multiple lids that are exactly the same.

As you can see, the easiest way isn’t always the best way. With the oval box, I needed two identical lids. With the band saw I would have ended up with two very similar lids, which may have been just fine, but with the template method, I was able to make two lids that were identical.

Hone Your Skills in the Shop

If you are wanting to build your woodworking skills but don’t think that you are quite ready to tackle that Queen Anne style coffee table quite yet, then try making some projects for your workshop. There will always be something that your workshop needs. Maybe you need more storage, or a router table, or a workbench, etc.

You can practice your cabinet making skills by making storage cabinets for your tools. Don’t just slap some pieces of plywood together and call it a cabinet. Shoot a little higher. Make something that you would be proud to put in your kitchen. Feel free to use lesser expensive materials, but put the time and effort into making quality cabinets. Add some raised panel doors, some shop made crown molding, and a nice finish.

Maybe you have seen some helpful jigs or templates on some of the woodworking shows that you might like to try your hand at. Go ahead and build a Norm Abrams router table, or a David Marks cross cut sled for the table saw. Again, don’t just slap these things together just because their going to be in a workshop. Dress them up a bit. Add your own style, or experiment with some different styles. Make them uniquely yours. Make other woodworkers a bit envious of your shop.

Some other projects you could build for your shop are; outfeed tables, a downdraft table, a clamp rack, workbench, and an assembly table. You can find plans all over the internet for these kinds of things, but as you build them, remember to add your own style. Take your time, pretend that the clamp rack is a fine piece of furniture and really hone your skills while making it.

If you are looking to sell your work someday, a workshop full of high quality craftsmanship is a great selling point. People will see that if you are willing to put that much time and effort into a router table, then the furniture you make must really be special.