Dimension parts after cutting down to size or before?

[Greg Berlin]

I've been doing most of my dimensioning lately by hand and I still try to figure out if it's best to dimension my pieces first before crosscutting them to length or after? I'm working on a stool now where I can get two stiles out of one length, so it's fairly small in size. Do most people dimension a 24" length (for example) and then cut it down into small chunks or rough to all the small pieces and then dimension each piece separately? What do most people find the quickest and most efficient when working with hand tools? I understand that on much larger pieces you obviously rough cut to size and then dimension with hand planes and then final cut to exact length, but is it faster to dimension 2 - 12"x3" pieces or one 24" piece x 3" wide or does it not really matter? Haha

[Doug Bowman]

My first answer would be "it depends". Does the lumber have bow or twist? Then I would cut it to rough length first (likely) but that depends on how much thickness I want to preserve.

[Daniel Rode]

The answer, for me, is "it depends". Very often, I dimension in 2 or 3 steps. The first step is rough dimensioning. I get the parts close to size but a bit thicker, wider and longer. I might leave something 1/2" wide or 1/16" depending on the size and how much I think it might move. This gets stickered and left to acclimate for at least a few days.

The next step is often working to the final dimensions but not always. It depends on a number of factors. A short piece might get crosscut later so it's easier to work with. I might leave 1/64" on the edges so I can clean up and tear out from crosscuts and/or shooting. I'm a hobbyist, so I have the luxury of taking as much time as I want.

I don't think there is a correct way to do it. I want to think about each piece and each step and choose the order of operations than make the most sense in that situation. That's part of the beauty of working wood. Every tree and every board is different. We work with what the wood offers.

[Prashun Patel]

I also think it depends. In general, I like to get things close to final rough dimension before flattening and thicknessing. Flattening is more efficient this way, and it's often easier to work with smaller pieces than large.

The exception is when I'm working with shorter or narrower stock or pieces that have to be identical. Then I find it easier to dimension things ganged together.

[Jim Koepke]

The answer, for me, is "it depends".

It would surprise me to see a different answer.

For my next project it will take a bit of thinking to figure out how the order of all the cuts. Since it will have a groove for a back panel all the way around it might be easiest to groove one piece and then cross cut it into the smaller pieces. The one piece will be almost 6' long. This makes me think it would be easier to cut it in half before plowing the groove. Then it can be cut into the 4 pieces for the case.

The fine tuning of the dimensions will happen just before cutting the dovetails.

Another aspect of this is my getting away from using a tape measure. The ultimate final dimensioning is done during the assembly fitting.

jtk

[john zulu]

+1 to depends?
Anyway the rule is to minimize work. If the board is true. Plane it down to the thickness and then cut it to size.
If twisted,bow or cup then cut it to the less affected then plane it down to the thickness.

The order of the workflow is more important in handtools compared to power tools. Energy is only that much for a person a day.

[Michael Ray Smith]

I believe in experimenting with different ways of doing things, and that question is a prime example. Another example . . . . I've been working on a project with pre-dimensioned stock, so it's starting out pretty close but needs a bit of work to eliminate minor bows and twists. The project requires a lot of holes drilled through the faces of the boards. I started out planing the boards to the final dimensions, then drilling the holes. Not sure why I did it that way to begin with, but I soon realized I'd be better off to drill the holes first and then plane off any split-out caused by the drill. And I also realized the possiblity that drilling the holes might affect internal stresses and strains, and that the boards might not stay straight after they were drilled. (Didn't really observe that, but it seems like a possibility.) So now I'm drilling first.

Anyway, the point is that I try things different ways and eventually I learn what works for me. Then again, I do waste a lot of wood with my experiments. . . .