Redwood and Doug fir joinery

[Brian Byers]

Hello creekers I have a local lumber store called Payless building supply in northern ca. I get a lot of discount lumber through them. I buy units of 2x6x24" for $80 comes out to 10 cents a piece.. I'm cutting them down, planing them and making all kinds of things with them. Now they have rough 2x6 redwood for .79 if you buy a unit. People are requesting I make them some outdoor furniture. I'd like to joint these boards together to make large tabletop. I've made planters with redwood in the past and used pocket holes with treated screws. Or I've attached the exterior planters with screws then covered the holes with a plug. For tables I'd like to do something different. I'd also like to joint Doug fir( 2x4`'s) look pretty good after you surface 4 sides. Can I get a biscuit jointer? Will titebond 3 work with redwood/cedar/Doug fir? Can I make a jig and use a plunge router and make my own mortise and ten on stile joint. Do you guys use a tenoning jig for table saw? If so where did you get it? Do you know of any books,articles or videos I could watch. I've got to make a Doug fir bench for somebody for their front porch. It won't be getting wet. I'll surface 4 Sides and I want to attach 3 surfaced 2x6'x4' together for the top. Thanks guys. I'm new here (first week) I've been blessed with your knowledge. I asked a ? About dust collection the other day and the information I got saved me a lot of money and headaches.
Brian

[Lee Schierer]

I made a cutting board for my mother in 1960 in shop class out of two pieces of redwood glued together with Elmers White glue. It is still in use and still in one piece 58 years later.

[Ted Derryberry]

If you want to end join short boards look at a finger joint bit for a table mounted router. They aren't cheap in a size to do 1-1/2" thick stock, but will pay for itself using the cheap material, assuming you already have a router table. As for edge joining, just joint them straight and glue them up like any other panels. You don't need biscuits other than for alignment, and if you're careful you don't need them for that. I'd think Titebond III would be fine, but contact the manufacturer to be sure.

[Mel Fulks]

The tannin in redwood can make Titebond slow to set. I had to call Titebond about that once, stuff had to dry overnight.

[Jamie Buxton]

It sounds like your wood is construction lumber -- that is, it is green and sopping wet. Be aware that a tabletop made from the stuff is going to shrink a lot as the wood dries. It will shrink across the grain, but not with the grain. It may also warp and cup, and may develop cracks at the ends.

[Brian Byers]

Jamie does it take long to dry the 2x4's. Can I clamp them straight and put some heat to them. Some of the lumber at home depot says kiln dried. Will that work?

[Phil Mueller]

Hi Brian, as mentioned above, you don’t need biscuits or dowels or whatever to joint glue boards together. Just test clamp the boards, look for gaps, and keep jointing until they match well. A clamp every foot or so should do it. Some will plane just a very small concave into the length (the ends are a few thousands wider...that way when you clamp them tight the ends will be tight and the middle section will squeeze together). You can also use cauls to keep the boards aligned, in orther to minimize flatening after the glue up.

FWIW, I bought a biscuit joiner about 5 years ago, used it once or twice, and have never used it since. More trouble than it was worth.

There are a number of ways to do mortise and tenon. A tenon jig for a table saw is one way to do it. I bought one at Rockler years ago, and frankly, haven’t used it since I moved more to hand tools. There are a zillion youtube videos on setting up jigs and what-not to make the mortise with a router...might want to check those out. I’ve never done it that way. Many also swear by the Festool domino system. Pricey, but seems to be quite effective.

[Jamie Buxton]

Jamie does it take long to dry the 2x4's. Can I clamp them straight and put some heat to them. Some of the lumber at home depot says kiln dried. Will that work?

I sometimes buy green doug fir 2x4s, and stick them in a corner in my shop. They're usually above 25% EMC. In two years of air-drying or so, they're down to 9% or so, and that's where they stay.

"Kiln-dry" in construction lumber means 19% EMC. That level is picked because mold won't grow on wood at that dryness. But the wood still has quite a bit of drying and shrinking to do before it reaches the 9% level.

A good book about the basic physics of wood is Understanding Wood by Bruce Hoadley.

[David Kumm]

You can also take units to a local kiln and have them add it into a charge at the appropriate time and get the moisture down. I've done that and it isn't very expensive. Dave