Paul Fitzgerald
03-25-2007, 3:20 PM
Hello fellow Creekers!
I started working on a Cedar Planter this weekend and just finished rough cutting all the peices. My newbieness has a few questions. :)
1. I bought some Western Red Cedar from my local wood supplier. This was my first purchase, and was wondering if I spent too much. They had some other kind of Cedar for $9-something a board foot, so I went with the Western Red Cedar S4S 1x8s for $3.84/linear foot. I bought 34 linear feet. With tax, it cost me $142.64. Seems high to me, even though they are dang nice boards, but I could be wrong since this is my first purchase. Is this typical, or should I find a new supplier?
2. There are some curves in the design. I don't have a band saw or oscilating spindal sander, but I do have a router, a jigsaw, and some scrap 1/4" MDF. I thought I'd go buy a pattern making bit, then jigsaw and sand a template from the MDF, and finally jigsaw and route the curves. Sound like a plan?
3. I need to glue up some material for the four sides of the planter. I just bought a biscuit jointer from Amazon, but I don't have a jointer yet. I thought I'd just clamp a straight-edge to the board and use a straight cutting bit in my router to get a nice straight edge that's ready for glue-up. Sound like a plan?
4. Before I rip some of the parts to their final dimension, I need to true up one edge. I thought I'd use the same technique I described in #3, but some of the stock is as narrow as 2". Any tips for using this technique on narrow stock?
5. I think I could leave it unfinished and let it weather to a nice grey, but my fiance really likes the color. I do too, so I'd like to put some kind of finish on it to keep it looking good. Any suggestions?
Thanks so much!
Paul
I started working on a Cedar Planter this weekend and just finished rough cutting all the peices. My newbieness has a few questions. :)
1. I bought some Western Red Cedar from my local wood supplier. This was my first purchase, and was wondering if I spent too much. They had some other kind of Cedar for $9-something a board foot, so I went with the Western Red Cedar S4S 1x8s for $3.84/linear foot. I bought 34 linear feet. With tax, it cost me $142.64. Seems high to me, even though they are dang nice boards, but I could be wrong since this is my first purchase. Is this typical, or should I find a new supplier?
2. There are some curves in the design. I don't have a band saw or oscilating spindal sander, but I do have a router, a jigsaw, and some scrap 1/4" MDF. I thought I'd go buy a pattern making bit, then jigsaw and sand a template from the MDF, and finally jigsaw and route the curves. Sound like a plan?
3. I need to glue up some material for the four sides of the planter. I just bought a biscuit jointer from Amazon, but I don't have a jointer yet. I thought I'd just clamp a straight-edge to the board and use a straight cutting bit in my router to get a nice straight edge that's ready for glue-up. Sound like a plan?
4. Before I rip some of the parts to their final dimension, I need to true up one edge. I thought I'd use the same technique I described in #3, but some of the stock is as narrow as 2". Any tips for using this technique on narrow stock?
5. I think I could leave it unfinished and let it weather to a nice grey, but my fiance really likes the color. I do too, so I'd like to put some kind of finish on it to keep it looking good. Any suggestions?
Thanks so much!
Paul