How much wood would I need for Tolpin's Exercises?

[Tony Wilkins]

I asked a couple of days ago about making a straight edge out of some poplar I have. I decided that although I could do it, I had some other things I wanted to do the poplar with. Since I'm just starting out, I don't have off cuts from other projects to work with.

So I'm going to wander down to the wood yard soon. I'm thinking about getting some walnut and cherry unless there is a better suggestion.

So for the first three projects from his New Traditional Wood worker book - 3 foot straight edge, try square, and winding sticks - how much would do you reckon I out to get?

TIA,
Tony

[Jim Ritter]

Buy as much as you can, then you will start to have an inventory for the next project. Cuts down on trips to the wood dealer, unless they are real close. When I need good/exotic wood I need to drive about an hour and a half.

[Jim Koepke]

My thought is to buy as much as can be bought without incurring the wrath of wife.

jtk

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I always like to have more than I need. If I'm unsure of the success of what I'm going to do, I like to have a lot more than I'm going to need. Also take into consideration the boards you get - If you need two three foot pieces, a a 7 foot piece might work, but if there's a defect in the wrong spot, it might not.

I don't see why you couldn't get all these projects out of one or two decent boards.

But planning out how much lumber you need is a really good skill to have for working on future projects - and unfortunately, it's really something you've just got to sit down and do. Depending on the quality of the lumber you buy, there's a lot of unknowns as well before you get to the yard. If you're buying sight unseen, (you're ordering a truckload of X board feet of cherry) you obviously want to buy more. If you can pick boards, you can buy less. Start with a rough idea of the size of the parts you need, bring a tape measure and figure it out. It's relatively easy with projects like these. You want clear, straight stock of the appropriate length for the things you want to build, and the total length you purchase will be determined by how many pieces you think you can fit side to side on a board. Take into account plenty of room for sawcuts (particularly if you're handsawing and new at it) and don't forget to check for knots or other defects that might mean a section of wood is no good for your project.