flat wood

[robert micley]

i use my jointer and planer constantly because there is no flat wood out there at my lumberyard or hd or lowes.i understand i will be needing the jointer for custom furniture but when building bookcases or cabinets it would be nice to just buy some flat wood for shelves,face frames,drawers,stiles and rails.what do you folks do.i have to get 1 inch thick lumber to get thre quarter inch boards for all these routine projects.even birch or poplar boards i have to joint and plane to 5/8s for drawer parts.this is very time consuming and no fun.any ideas. thank you.

[Randy Klein]

any ideas.

No ideas, that's just the way wood is...

Even if you were able to buy flat wood from someone, there's still a good chance it won't be flat after you let it acclimate it your shop, even plywood...

[Jim Becker]

I actually find the act of milling lumber flat, straight, true, etc., to be somewhat pleasurable. One of the things that helps is that I skim boards so I can do grain and color matching, mark out components (oversize) and then cut and mill the stock. This means I'm only working with full boards for the skimming and the overall job is much easier.

Doing this work insures that you know your components are true and that your joinery will be easier and made to closer tolerances.

[robert micley]

some folks mention planer snipe being a problem.i use my dewalt portable planer the most.i feed the wood at an angle and get no snipe at all.feeding it in straight on same position-frequent snipe and you have to be much more careful

[Fred Voorhees]

I have to agree with Jim. I remember speaking of this a number of months ago. Heck, the enjoyment is not just the end result.......it's the journey there that is half the fun. Just the fact that I am turning something raw from nature and tranforming it into something of beauty and function somehow is very gratifying. The act of jointing and planing and getting the stock ready for assembly is simply the opening act of the entire production.

[David DeCristoforo]

Unfortunately "genuine" Flatwood has gone the way of so many other fine woods like Brazilian Rosewood, Cuban Mahogany, etc. The reasons are obvious. Even though Flatwood was not all that attractive, it allowed makers to build pieces much more efficiently because they did not have to waste the time needed to dress out all those "other" woods. But, ever since Flatwood was harvested to extinction, woodworkers have had to deal with the necessity of making "crooked" woods flat. The one compensation was in the fact that all those crooked woods were so pretty....

[glenn bradley]

In my limited experience the closest you'll get to flat is MDF, melamine or excellent-quality/properly-stored ply. Someone might be able to get modern lumber from the mill to the cash register in pretty good shape but it would be cost prohibitive. IMHO.