How to rip my stock to get t o the width I need

[Tony Wilkins]

I’m working on a Dutch Tool Chest. I have the sides glued up and finished to 11 1/4” (just like the plans in PWW). That was an easy glue up of two boards with no ripping.

Now things get more complicated for me. The remaining boards I have range from 7 1/4” up to 8 3/4”. It won’t be so simple to get the 11 1/4” shelves and bottom out of those widths.

So how would you go about getting the stock to the appropriate size?

The only way I can figure is to rip 4” or so strips and glue them to the other stock to make up the difference. Is there a better way?

[Lonnie Gallaher]

I am assuming that you don't want to run to the home center and buy some 1x12 pine. So do as you suggested. Joint the boards you have and rip to width.

[Tony Wilkins]

I shoulda mentioned that the wood I have is Beech.

[Bill Houghton]

You could look at gluing three boards together that total enough more than twice 11-1/4" to allow for cleanup, then rip down the middle. More awkward to handle and to straddle, but just one cut.

Also, if you don't own a ripsaw, you need one. The speed you get from a ripsaw over a crosscut saw, for ripping, is astonishing.

[David Weaver]

I agree with bill on both counts. Do your best to match the grain on the boards while alternating the direction of cupping on the board (not critical in this case, but might as well do it).

Ripping into thin strips is a sure way to make shelves that look like they were purchased as glue lam or some other automated process....thin bits and pieces are the mark of modern furniture where most commodity wood is too narrow to do anything else.

[Pat Barry]

I think you could do it multiple ways for this project and all of them would be equally functional and get the job done. I think Davids comments are mostly directed at a show surface such as a table top but in your application, where the shelves are inside the box and out of sight 90% of the time it wouldn't bother me to use thinner pieces. If it were me though, I would grain select boards so they look good together and edge glue two pieces to create the rough width and then I would cut material from each side so the glue line ended up centered on the shelf

[David Weaver]

I misread the comment the first time. i thought tony said something about ripping the boards into strips and gluing them together, but I see now he's just talking about ripping an add-on strip.

It really makes no difference, just put the narrow board toward the back of the shelf so that it looks better.

[Tony Wilkins]

I had thought about the three board rip down the middle but that might be a little bit awkward for me to control. I guess the thumbhole D8 is going to be my workout partner.

[Jim Matthews]

If the boards are sufficiently long, you can cut each half into a sliding wedge, and adjust to the proper width - then reglue.

[Tony Wilkins]

If the boards are sufficiently long, you can cut each half into a sliding wedge, and adjust to the proper width - then reglue.

Interesting suggestion Jim. I realized that the middle shelf needn't be full depth so I may go with it narrower. I already started on the bottom do I may try the wedge as the top shelf (the one that creates the space under the sloping top.

[Doug Trembath]

Tony,very few people will even see the join, unless they are woodworkers. Even they would understand the need, and commiserate with the problem. Dave made a good suggestion, however. Placing the short add-on in the back will make it seem like a continuous board. You, knowing it is there, would see it, for a while, simply because you know it's there, and look for it. You, over time, will forget. After time passes, and you have gone on to bigger and better things, even you may not even notice it. Do your best to match grain patterns, and glue it up, finish the piece. Such trivial issues won't even be noticed by the majority of folks looking at it, and for those that do, they will understand, having had to do something very similar. Seldom do we have optimum materials. We do what we must with what we have... Build and enjoy it.

Again, at the risk of repeating myself, very seldom are we gifted with material that lends itself to a work of art. We must adapt and conquer...

Doug Trembath