lumber for face frames a bit rough....

[Justin Jump]

Picked up my lumber the other day for face frames - around 100 bd.ft.

Chalk it up as either a rookie mistake, lesson learned, whatever you want to call it. I decided to pay the lumber yard the extra 0.30$ cents (per board foot) to give me S3S lumber, hoping I would get as close to ready to sand finish as possible.

It showed up a bit rougher that I like, the good part though is that it showed up around 0.760”, about 10 thousandths over 3/4”…..

I figured let the lumber supplier make the big mess, and I would be left with some extra sanding….

No so much I guess. My plan is to take about 20 thousandths off to get me around 0.740” than my final sanding should get me to a decent finish – I am painting my cabinets, not staining…..

I threw some pics in there of how I am breaking down my sheet goods for the sides of my base cabinets, then final size on my table saw and sled…..


314891314892314893

[Jim Dwight]

You can never tell how sharp their knives will be but you can pretty much count on them wanting to do it in as few passes as possible. I like to start from rough but have certainly bought my fair share of surfaced wood. Most of what I've gotten has been almost good enough to finish, however. Only a light sanding to get out marks from milling. Sounds like your supplier wasn't as kind.

[Jim Becker]

You can sand it out probably...but consider using a sharp hand-plane to smooth it off. No worry about the actual thickness as long as it's all consistent. Sometimes we get all fixated on a specific measurement like that but as woodworkers, we can control how things fit together and work the material accordingly. ;)

[Peter Quinn]

I've gotten surfaced material that was like glass, ready to sand lightly and go, and I've seen it just tore up, on the verge of not useful. We get it surfaced to cut labor and waste removal at the chip collector for molding runs, exterior trim, etc. For cabinets I prefer either rough or hit and miss planed. Standards of planing vary by yard and sometimes by the day, best way to meet mine is to do it myself. Very least I want to take the last 1/16" off each face myself.

[Max Neu]

For face frame material,I have been using s4s that comes out of a 5 head molder.and sanded on 1 face.As long as the joints are close,we have minimal work to do to clean up face frames.

[John Lankers]

If this was mine I would go the route Jim is suggesting. Even some professional cabinet makers hand plane the joints of the assembled face frame flush.

[scott vroom]

In my area, the standard thickness of s2s is 13/16. I use 3 different suppliers and they are all consistent on this.

[Jim Matthews]

Even some professional cabinet makers hand plane the joints of the assembled face frame flush.

+1 on this.

No measuring required.
Just apply a layer of tape to the panel, first.

That way you won't plane off or gouge the "show" face
on the last pass.

[Justin Jump]

Unfortunately, my hand planning skills is one area that I really never worked on, and frankly not at the top of list. I think I'll rely on the equipment to help me out, and make a pass or two with sanding....

I think I got a decent run and can keep most of the material to a 1/32" under 3/4"....

I spent a good amount of time last week dialing in the planer (GO453Z), I almost got the serrated marks out of a light pass, but the tension adjustment is "way" out, I almost am afraid to go any further out!!

[Art Mann]

It isn't really possible to eliminate the feed roller marks on thin cuts with that type of planer. If you are going to plane all the wood again, plan on making just one significant pass. The problem you are seeing with your planer is exactly why I recommend that some people own a good lunchbox style planer even if they already own a 3 hp cast iron planer or bigger. I do CNC router carving and there are situations where I need flatness to better than 0.010'. I can shave off 0.005" uniformly with my old Ridgid planer. I could never do that with a cast iron planer.

[Phil Mueller]

Jim, I appreciate your comment. I've had anxiety over getting boards to the right thickness, but found have come to find it much easier just to get the all the same. I thought maybe I was just being lazy!

[Jim Becker]

Jim, I appreciate your comment. I've had anxiety over getting boards to the right thickness, but found have come to find it much easier just to get the all the same. I thought maybe I was just being lazy!

There's no "rule" that says material has to be a particular thickness...being consistent is more important and measuring off the project insures you maintain that. Proportion also enters into that mix. Obviously, thickness can impact certain types of hardware, but even then, there is a little "wiggle room" available so as long as things aren't changed to the extreme, you're good.