Milling rough cherry for kitchen

[Bob Johnson2]

This is probably a rookie question but I'm at a loss on how one goes about milling 75 bd' of lumber for face frames, not to mention the other 75 bd' for the doors and such later. This is my first try at what to me is a larger project. The bds are 14' x 10" x 4/4+ clear Pa cherry, I really don't want to waste material or my time doing everything bass ackwards.
Can someone who's done such do a quick list of the steps. Do you just plane to size, then joint and rip the full lenght bds in mass, or do you attempt to do it one bd at a time, figuring out where you can cross cut the bds to make less waste.
Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks.

[Larry Fox]

Well, first thing that occurs to me is that it would be a shame to cut 10" wide by 14' long clear cherry boards into face frames. Having said that, when I mill up rough stock I cut to approximate length and run them over the jointer to face joint them. I then joint one edge. After, I rip to approximate width on the TS. I then plane to thickness.

One thing that I obviously left out here is planning the cuts and rough marking the parts you are trying to produce at the end to maximize yield or figure or matches or whatever you are trying to optimize for.

[Jim Kountz]

Go to woodtreks.com. There is a complete series of free videos explaining this exact procedure. Its really nicely done and there are other vids there too to see. Nice site.

Here is the actual URL
http://woodtreks.com/mill-dimension-rough-lumber-steps-process-length-width-thickness/1020/

[Joe Chritz]

I try to layout stuff as much as possible. Lets say I need 20 36" stiles at 1 1/2 in wide. I would cross cut a board at 37-38", face joint, edge joint, plane then rip to width. I label all my parts with letters and write them on the ends with a sharpie.

I try to do all the ops at one time, so I may be at the jointer for an hour, then planer for an hour, etc.

Also I break kitchens into sections. Box parts, face frames, doors, shelves. That way I am not working with 200 parts at once. If I remember when I get home I will try to post a pic of a kitchen full of panel door parts. It is intimidating to look at the first couple times.

Joe

[Ed Peters]

but I have never encountered lumber that required face jointing for use as a face frame. Careful planing to the finished thickness for all the project lumber in full lengths guarantees that everything will be the correct thickness as it is cut into components. It will take less time also.

Ed

[Randy Klein]

If you're going to rip the 10" boards down, I would rip the rail and stiles from the edges, since that will be most likely riftsawm material, and then use the middle flatsawn for the panels.

[Jim Becker]

Ed, I flatten every board I use before thicknessing...perhaps I'm the one who is crazy :), but I find I have a lot less fitting issues and get better joinery that way.

To the OP, I agree with another poster about 10" wide 14' boards...they would be table top material for me! That said, I would never try to process them as-is. Break them down into manageable boards based on the components you intend to create from them and then proceed with your milling work. I mark things out with white chalk and go from there.

Oh, and what Randy said...I do the same as I prefer rift/QS material for face frames and door rails and stiles. The "middle" flat sawn material I use elsewhere and often as secondary wood.

[glenn bradley]

I'm with Jim, I flatten everything. Ed's been lucky and that's great.

[Jim Kountz]

Go to woodtreks.com. There is a complete series of free videos explaining this exact procedure. Its really nicely done and there are other vids there too to see. Nice site.

Here is the actual URL
http://woodtreks.com/mill-dimension-rough-lumber-steps-process-length-width-thickness/1020/


Well Ive never quoted myself before but if you watch the video, everything that has been mentioned in this thread is already covered in great detail. Its worth the time for someone who isnt sure how this works.

[Greg Cuetara]

I am in the process of laying out a project right now. I have about 30 bd.ft. of cherry. Call me crazy but I think I spend more time optimizing the wood I use than I do working in my shop. I end up with very little to no waste. I do that because I am an engineer and dont' like to cut boards the wrong way.

The process I use is to layout my pieces on the boards with crayon or chalk. I also mark the ends of the boards. I cross cut to lengths which are managable to me at the planer. If I had a big enough or good enough jointer I would face joint the boards first but I don't. Another option would be to make and use a planer sled.

I cross cut the boards a few inches long in case there is any snipe at the planer or bad ends to the boards. I got to my planer and thickness the boards. If the boards are cupped I put the cup down until the top of the board is flat and then flip the board over, not the best method but what I have to work with right now. I go to my jointer a 4" 1950's craftsman which is about 20" long and try and get one edge flat and square. After the jointer I go to the TS and rip to width. I just got a new saw blade which should give me a cleaner edge when I rip but ideally it would be better to rip a bit wider and joint the edge clean. After this is all done I cut the boards to final length. If you are making face frames you may want to leave the stiles a bit long and the rails a bit wide so that after you glue it all up you can trim off the ends.

I think Jim probably has the best method but since I don't have the tools I make do with what I do have and things come out pretty good. With fairly narrow pieces for the rails and stiles you will probably be ok without face jointing first but if would be better to do that if you had the option. For the panels I would plane and joint the boards a bit thick then glue up your planes and then plane the panels down to their final thickness.

It all depends on what machinary you have at your disposal.

Good Luck,
greg

[Bob Johnson2]

Thanks Jim, it's not that I don't know how to mill, just never had a need to do this much of it. Figured there had to be some short cuts. Started watching the flick, will finish after work...
Like Ed, I haven't face jointed a face frame as yet, as they are glued to the carcass I also have had no trouble without, at least not that I noticed. Doors, drawers, table tops, etc... yes, if it needs it.

[Steve Clardy]

I never face joint for face frame material either.

[Myk Rian]

Its worth the time for someone who isnt sure how this works.
It's worth the time for anyone to watch. Nice videos.

[hank dekeyser]

My 2 cents

I found a local shop that specializes in building cutting boards recently. Brought them 100' of maple, and a cut list for widths. A day later I gave them a check for $75 and they gave me all my lumber sanded to thickness and straight line ripped. The best 75 bucks I ever spent - considering I didnt have to contend with setting up the planer, emptying the cyclone several times, putting new blades in the planer and setting it up again, dealing with all the end chatter, etc, etc, etc. Heck it would have taken 1/2 a day just to plane it.

I'm from the "shortest distance between 2 points" school most times. As much as I enjoy woodworking and have the shop to do it in, I still know when to farm something out. I'm in the middle of a kitchen remod in our home and the doors and drawer fronts are being farmed out to a local shop that specializes in them - period - I have another shop I deal with that machines all my sides and bottoms (dadoes, shelf holes, hinge holes, etc.) All I need to do is build the faces and drawer boxes and assemble everything. Time I save handing off parts of the task is well worth the money spent. I'm a one man shop so time is money to me.

IF you need / want to do it all yourself, the above mentioned tutorials will speed you on your way. If you want to hand off parts of it I'm sure a few phone calls will get you there.

Happy building

[Simon Dupay]

I go against the grain hear and say leave them long that way just cut off what you need without wasting length.

[Jeff Wright]

I joint one face and edge, then plane to thickness. I like making my components 7/8 inch thick instead of the traditional 3/4 inch. I cross cut pieces to approximate length, then rip them on the band saw. I then group three or four rails or stiles together on edge and run them through the planer to size to final dimension. This insures perfect equal widths. Plus, it eliminates what can be risky ripping on the table saw.

[Jim Becker]

I go against the grain hear and say leave them long that way just cut off what you need without wasting length.

That's certainly a method that the OP can choose. But I don't think it's hard to agree that handling 14' material is not easy...in fact, it could setup situations that are potentially unsafe, especially when working alone.

I don't agree with the premise that leaving it long will reduce waste. In fact, carefully laying out how you will part out a board for best utilization is very efficient in that it allows you to optimize the grain and color for the intended purpose and still provides nearly all usable material for secondary purposes. I have very little material that goes in the kindling bin or gets chucked. It all gets used.

[Bob Johnson2]

Thanks all for the advise, I've got a game plan now. Being as how I work in the basement I'll rough cut the length before rough ripping and proceed from there. Face jointing I'll play by ear as far as the face frames are concerned. The outter edges being QS never occured to me, I'll scope it out as I go and see what I can do along those lines. Again, thanks.