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Thread: Lesson Learned?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Plano, Tx
    Posts
    132

    Lesson Learned?

    So I've started repurposing my old workbench lumber (2x4 doug fir) to make a sharpening bench since I've really gone down the hand tool rabbit hole. The wood is about two years old and though I never let it dry out any before use, I'd imagine after two years in my garage it is as dry as it is going to get in humid Texas.

    In a previous post I mentioned needing to make some longer boards out of shorter ones - I ended up just picking up another 2x4 (doug fir) to help expedite the build and my gosh...what a difference between planing the new stuff and my old workbench lumber. I know my blades could probably use a honing about now but they are still pretty sharp. When I am working with the old lumber it planes very easily and I can get a face and an edge ready pretty quick. The new stuff, however, is a pain in the butt! Is it just because it is still wet/hasn't had time to really dry out yet? What other factors could be in play?

    If it really just has mostly to do with the old lumber having dried out for a few years then I'd say I'm at the point where I might be mostly done with hardware store lumber - at least without planning in advance, buying what I need, and letting it dry out for a few months.1

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Forest Lake MN
    Posts
    340
    I recently build a bench out of big box store 2x doug fir lumber and didnt plane every board but did plane the edges of a number of them. I wont say its quite as pleasant as good wood but was also not hard to get a good result. I did try to get reasonably dry boards and bought them during MN winter which helps a bit, but they were certainly not dry. My first thought is grain direction, I do seem to recall those boards being more sensitive to it.

    Is the issue you are having mostly tear out or something else?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
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    The lumber seems to always be changing. Even though it is all sold as 'fir' there may be different species involved.

    A few years ago kiln dried 2X4s were not high priced. Now they sell it green to save costs.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Plano, Tx
    Posts
    132
    Not tear out, just ease of planing. I definitely make sure I’m planing with the grain though I could swear on some boards the grain is running oppositite directions on each side of one face.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Forest Lake MN
    Posts
    340
    That certainly is possible that the grain is doing that. I have seen 2x4s with the pith running right down the middle. I will sometimes sort through trying to find something as close to quartersawn as possbile to help avoid that. Honestly by the time you find one that was cut well, is straight, and reasonably dry it can be a BUNCH of sorting.

    It might also be partly species, in Minnesota Doug fir is usually specific, but the regular construction boards seem to change. Up here you can still buy kiln dried at Mendards with a small price premium over non kiln, but most of the time I cant find a non-twisted one in those piles so still hit the regular pile. Overall I do have better luck buying larger boards like 2x12 and ripping them down.

    I cant say though that I have ever experienced exactly what you are describing as one being hard to plane, I have certainly had tear out issues but never just hard to push through. What plane are you using? Most of the time I rip off the round over using my table saw and then use a no 7 which might be the difference.

  6. #6
    You are probably running into typical "Hard" douglas fir...

    Density and strength wise - most wood can be all over the place... And Doug Fir is no exception... The soft stuff is a lot like spruce.... The good hard stuff shakes out more like splitty hard maple.. It can be *really* dense and hard....

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