Cherry flooring OK for furniture?

[Chris Bruno]

So I found a local guy selling a bunch of cherry flooring.. 1x6 t&g. About 160 bdft for $400. He says its aged about 15 years, flat on both sides, 10' long pieces.

I was thinking of ripping off the t&g and glueing it up for my desks and bookshelves that I want to build for my office. I figure that it should be more than plenty for the desks and bookshelves...

It's about an hour drive, so I don't want to bother if its a bad idea in general to use flooring for furniture pieces. I guess my biggest concern is that if its only 3/4" and then needs any planing, I'm going to be left with thinner than optimal shelves and desktops.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
-Chris

[Glenn Clabo]

I wonder...you might ask..."flooring" normally has grooves on the underside. If you can live with that...it'
s a good deal.

[Greg Just]

Go for it! I have made projects out of some leftover Brazilian Koa flooring with no issues.

[Jim Becker]

In addition to Glenn's point, do keep in mind that flooring isn't always the best figure for furniture work...they often use the less desirable stock for flooring in that respect. But $2.50 a bd ft is a very attractive cost, even if you have extra waste or need to use it for smaller projects, etc...

[Chris Bruno]

I actually did ask about that specifically and he said it wasn't there. I believe that they cut those grooves to help prevent cupping...so I'm hoping that the lumber isn't all warped.. It's probably worth taking a drive. :)

-Chris

[Greg Cole]

I'd ask what grade of flooring too. If it's the "rustic" grade, it's knotty as it comes..... if it's clear grade, good to go.
I too would double check the "back" side as Glenn suggests, as normally flooring doesn't have a smooth back.

Cheers.
Greg

[Chris Padilla]

Is $2.50/bf a good price for cherry of that size in your area? In my area, it would be a steal and I'd already be unloading it at my house! :D

Overall, it doesn't sound too bad and 2 hours might be worth it to check it out in person. The fact that it is labeled as 'flooring' doesn't bother me too much...I assume at 15 years old that it doesn't have any prefinish on it or anything. It is a bonus to be flat on both sides. T&G flooring is often undercut on the bottom

[Bryan Berguson]

I've used left over hickory flooring to build mouldings and furniture without any problems.

Bryan

[Greg Cuetara]

Chris,
Where are you located. There is a good hardwood store in Brentwood, NH which sells 'seconds' of cherry for $2.40 / bd.ft. It is skip planed down to 7/8" and some of it is really nice....I picked up a few hundred bd.ft. about 6mo ago...had to pick through the pile to pull out the good stuff but it was worth my time.

Another question to ask is if the flooring is prefinished...probably not since it is 15 years old.

good luck,
Greg

[Art Mann]

Note that you will probably be starting out at 3/4" thickness. Also, a lot of unfinished flooring is left fairly rough on the bottom side. If you have to do any planing at all, it is going to leave you with thinner than normal material. Even at that, it sounds like a pretty good deal.

[Mike Henderson]

I've been paying $7-$8+/bf for cherry recently. I'd have to see the flooring but at $2.50 I'd sure go look at it. Even if you had to glue pieces back to back for thicker stock, I'd still go for it.

Mike