Getting from Rough sawn to PAO

[Eoin Ryans]

Hi Guys,

Just a relatively straightforward question. I am a beginner woodworker and practise a lot on cheap cuts of softwood timber, however I am always on the lookout for some cheap hardwoods for sale so that I can buy, store it and work on it when I'm ready.
I have seen an ad for Spanish Chestnut, and I together with my friend wish to buy some planks of it.

Thing is that apparently it is rough finish so my question is, how do I get it to a state where it is workable, and do so cheaply?

I have no jointer or planer, just a sander! Is it possibly to be capable of transforming rough wood without investing in expensive machinery?

Here is a link to the timber that is for sale:

253699

Thanks!
Eoin

[peter gagliardi]

Hand planes.

[John Donofrio]

Hand planes.

...or find a local workshop that would be willing to s4s the boards for a reasonable fee.

[Eoin Ryans]

Hand planes.

I would guess that this would take a lot of time and skill?

How would one ensure it is flush, square and straight etc?

what type of cost?
Scrub - jack - jointing - smoothing planes required?

Thanks

[Sean Hughto]

It's not that hard. You will sweat though. If that is S2S, you could probably get by with just a 7, a marking gauge, some winding sticks and a square. Do you have a table saw? That can help a bit too.

[Victor Robinson]

Yeesh. If I had to choose between an education in handplanes and paying a small fee to have someone help me with this, I'd go with the fee. Depends if you're trying to get a specific task accomplished or if you're willing to sign up for a journey.

Handplanes may sound cheap, but they're not THAT cheap when you factor in your tool costs, sharpening, and time. That all being said, you may want to be learning about handplanes/tools anyways, so why not start now? Even if you get the wood surfaced/squared, it will move on ya such that you may find some basic handplaning skills useful down the road.

[Sean Hughto]

It's true that many cabinet shops would be happy to run it through their machines - giant sanders, planers, etc. for a reasonable fee. The OP didn't say what he was going to make. If he needs to work with a couple of small planks to make a jewelry box, it may be different than if he intends to make an armoir.

[Jim Rimmer]

If you want to go the hand plane route, check out the Neanderthal forum. There's a world of information there. If you don't want o go that route, you can pick up a bench top planer and small (6") jointer to start with as you build your shop equipment. Check craigslist and ebay for used equipment. I got my planer and jointer on ebay for not a lot of dollars. With a small investment to get started you can always upgrade later when you learn more about the features you wold like.

[Eoin Ryans]

Good points, I do not think I am prepard to sign up to the "planer journey". I just see this as a necessary step to getting on to what I consider to be the fun bit!

I could price some local shops, and keep an eye on the local classifieds, thanks guys.

[Jim Matthews]

That's a good deal of lumber.

Do you have sufficient space to store it all?
Do you like the material enough to make all of your next ten year's projects from the same stuff?

I bought far too much, when starting out, and would now only buy for the project at hand.
Rather than own a thousand dollars of average lumber, I would put the same money into the
best boards for each particular project.

I'm not a fan of milling lumber, that's apprentice work - I want to get to the joinery.
If a lumber yard will skip plane or surface two sides, exchange money for time.

You'll never get more time.

[Andrew Nemeth]

You may be able to trade some lumber in exchange for some help from a woodworker near you. Not only would you end up with some stock ready to work but you would likely find a wealth of knowledge ready to be shared. Good luck!

[Mike Ontko]

Newbie to newbie, if you're at all open to the idea of hand planing--look for the DVD "Rough to Ready" by Rob Cosman.

[Myk Rian]

Yeesh. If I had to choose between an education in handplanes and paying a small fee to have someone help me with this, I'd go with the fee.
Think it might be possible to bribe the Neanders to stay out of this forum with some flint and bones? :D

[Matt Day]

I use hand plane when I need to on boards too wide for my planer/jointer, and personally I would not recommend trying to go the neander route on all that wood. I think you're going to spend a lot of time and money trying to figure out how to use the planes and sharpen the blades properly (a whole 'nother lesson and tools to buy). You also might ruin some wood in the process, but most of all you might get frustrated with the whole thing. If you can find a local neander to mentor you it might be a different story.

I like any of these options: barter with local ww'ers with the lumber to get them to mill the wood, invest in some machines yourself, or pay a shop to mill it.

What other tools do you have and what are you planning to do with the wood?

[glenn bradley]

+1 on posting your location and possibly getting a member to have you over for a milling party. Otherwise I am thinking that by the time you fool around trying to get somewhere to mill the lumber for you you could save time and money by just picking up some material at a lumber yard. If the chestnut is stupid-cheap you could grab a bunch and just stash it until your hobby grows and sell it off if it doesn't.

[Sean Hughto]

Yes, because anyone who knows how to use a hand plane is a threat to those who don't apparently.:rolleyes:

[Eoin Ryans]

In Ireland so I'm not sure how many A) are from Ireland on this forum and B) of those small number, who would have such equipment!

Thanks guys