Buy Wide or Narrow Stock??

[Dave Avery]

All,

Getting ready to make a large lumber purchase from Irion Lumber and need some advice. They have different price points for different widths of lumber..... 4-9", 9-13", and 13"+ - the price increases ~20% as you add width. Most of what I make is larger furniture items although I use exotic veneers for large flat surfaces. I use solid lumber for structural members that tend to be 2-4" wide.

So the question is, "Should I pay the extra for wide lumber"? The benefit is much easier grain matching. On the other hand, it's more expensive and it's much harder (for me even with a Jet JJP-12 combo) to joint 12" wide lumber. Any opinions? Best. Dave.

[Jason Beam]

Tough call ... I go at it differently with each project, I think - usually because I'm trying to utilize what I already have (which was usually bought before the project idea materialized)

I will say that ripping wide boards down is something I do try to avoid if I can - if the board is very wide. That's to say, if I have 12" wide boards, I will try 'n leave 'em whole as possible. It's almost sacrilege to rip up a nice big wide board into strips, for me, so I do try to avoid it. On the other hand, a 5-7" wide board I'll gladly rip down if the grain is what I'm after (rift or quarter, usually, for rails/stiles).

[Bill White]

Your answer is gonna be revealed in a cut list for the project(s). Also, ripping can sometimes release internal tensioning that will warp the boards. Don't buy wide if ya gotta cut 'em all to pieces.
Bill

[Chip Lindley]

Hey Dave! I place more value on thick stock than wide stock! 8/4 or 12/4 come at a premium that I will gladly pay when thick is needed.

IF you make the large furniture items for yourself, you get to enjoy looking at the $wide expanse$ of grain for years to come. The extra spent was worth it to you! (or not!)

If you sell the items, your price must include the added cost of wide stock. Does the buyer care? Only the most elite know enough to specify exactly what they want. Most only know they want *cherry* or *oak* or *mahogany* OR just *solid wood*--no particle board! (More are worried about the *right* stain, than wood grain, I've found!)

I have a $2500 Richardson Bros. oak dining table which has a top made of 2.5" (or less) pieces. My wife LOVES it! It's SOLID OAK! I have no problem with it either! Visually, it is *busy* and I enjoy that! Had I built it, I would probably used 4" pieces.

Unless you have a specific need for wide boards to resaw into veneer, or to make a specific statement, smaller stock will do very nicely in most instances. In cabinet-making, I rarely need a piece of stock over 6". Most parts are less than 3"!

[Grant Morris]

On the other hand, it's more expensive and it's much harder (for me even with a Jet JJP-12 combo) to joint 12" wide lumber.

Could you elaborate on that statement a little please Dave. I am thinking about buying that jointer. If it is deficient in some areas, I would like to know it before I buy it.

TIA

[Cody Colston]

Besides the grain-matching benefit you mentioned, I think there is much less waste when using wide lumber. If you are ripping your lumber into narrower boards, there will be some unusable portion left over from every board you rip. The fewer boards ripped, the fewer waste pieces.

[David DeCristoforo]

If you need wide stock buy wide stock. If not, save yourself the extra cost and work and buy narrow stock. Why buy 10-12" wide boards if you are going to rip them all down to a couple of inches for door frames? On the other hand, for door panels? Or a table top? Absolutely, get the wide boards.

[Steve Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Dave Avery
On the other hand, it's more expensive and it's much harder (for me even with a Jet JJP-12 combo) to joint 12" wide lumber.

Dave, I suggest ripping and rough crosscutting before jointing and planing. I know it increases the number of pieces you have to machine but I have had bad luck with wood movement when ripping after jointing.

[Frank Drew]

Dave,

I'm pretty emphatically in the wide board camp but as you said you'll also need some narrow stuff for frame parts and so on, so buy a selection.

I'm like Jason in being very reluctant to rip up a nice wide board (of a nice wood) into narrow stock; this isn't sheet rock, after all :D.

As our woodworking gets to a certain level of skill, we can set our work apart from the run of the mill by, among other things, wood selection and matching.

[Dave Avery]

Could you elaborate on that statement a little please Dave. I am thinking about buying that jointer. If it is deficient in some areas, I would like to know it before I buy it.

TIA

No problem with the J/P - like it very much. Just physically demanding to maintain even pressure on a large number of long/heavy wide boards......

[Jim Becker]

I love wide lumber...and will always choose it when I have the choice and funds to do so. And I also like to leave it wide. But even with thick stock, a wide board gives you the opportunity to cut out great leg stock with rift grain and then resaw the remaining plain sawn chuck for book matched panels.

Iron specializes in wide stock and folks say it is indeed worth what it costs.

[Jim King]

We produce a lot of wide lumber due to the logs received and most of our customers cut it up and glue it back together. It seems like a sin to me but everyone has the best way for them. The biggest reason they like the wide stock is a higher yeild of set widths.