processing lumber from the saw mill

[Bo McCorkle]

total noob question here.... I just got a load of s2s 1 ripped edge from the sawmill. my initial thought was just to straitline the other edge removing a minimum of material but maybe having no 2 identical width boards might make the finished project look off. My second thought was to take all of my stock 4-5 inches and rip all of it to four inches and the process thru as needed and take all 5-6 inch stock and do the same and so on and so forth.... so just out of curiousity how do you guys do it??????:confused:

[Mark Bolton]

Only you can decided what would look best for your project. We usually use both of your options at times depending on what we are doing. Sometimes we want to maximize yield so we will get the most out of every board. Other times we will clean up all our rough material to the widest full inch the board will yield. Yet other times we will break everything to a given width and clean up any off cuts to put back in the rack.

For us it just depends on what we are doing and what will best suit the project at hand.

[Bo McCorkle]

i see then maybe merely a matter of asthetics i suppose. current project is a pair of cedar chests and i suppose it really doesnt matter if the sides and front have the same matching glue joints. that might add to the rustic look as well????

[Stephen Cherry]

Personally, I wouldn't want to see matching glue joints, side to front.

Somehow, it would seem inorganic. Particularly if it was of by even the slightest amount.

[Bo McCorkle]

love that thought:) sometimes I think my machinists level of perfection seems to get in the way of the organics of wood love the thinking thanks a ton

[Cody Colston]

First of all, let the lumber acclimate to your shop before dimensioning. The width may very well change.

I work exclusively with rough-sawn lumber and only cut to dimension when ready to incorporate it into a project. I do try to group similar widths during storage so board selection is easier when ready to use. I then try to use the board that yields the least waste for whatever application is intended. I rarely am concerned with matching glue lines in panels, but rather focus on grain matching within an individual panel.

I have found that as I get more particular about stock selection, I have more waste...an unavoidable consequence of trying to improve my woodworking.