Did Someone Say "Bandsaw?"

[Stew Denton]

Hi All,

I'm too frugal for my own good. They are re-doing part of the roof on our church, and have a big waste dumpster as a part of that. After church yesterday, I saw a pallet in it that was pretty ratty, but it was made from red oak 2X4s and 3X6s. I asked, and was told it was waste, and if I wanted it I could have it, so when it cooled off a bit toward evening I went and got it and took it apart. (Don't hit one of your sharpest chisels, in this case a 1/4", on a hardened nail, it will make a big divot in the business end, but how would I know that? Someone say "pay attention to your chisel work?")

Both of the 3X6s had the core run right up the board, and were beginning to split, so I needed to rip up the board, right up the core, and then dope the ends to stop further splitting, and I had to dope the end grain on the 2X4s too.

Problem: my 4&1/2 point rip is none too good, and desperately in need of sharpening. My beloved 7 point rip is recently sharpened when I had time a while back, but a SEVEN POINT!!!! (3 feet of 3" red oak??!! You are out of your mind!!) A good 4 point (or so) rip, that is darned sharp, was badly needed.

Well, a bad idea that will salvage the lumber seemed better than no idea, so I gave it a go. I need to either repoint one of my many unused good cross cuts, or buy a 4 point rip!!!! I have plenty of good unused crosscuts, so one will make the sacrifice some day probably.

I got it done, but it was no fun....no fun at all. At that point I lost my light, so the other 3X6 is waiting for tomorrow.
I am now taking a break to let the wax I use for doping the end grain cool, so I can swap ends and then dope the other ends.

Tomorrow, I think I will eyeball the rip on the second 3X6, and have a go with my old circular saw.

Did anyone say "band saw?" Someday probably, but not now, no room for one.

For what its worth, the idea for the oak pallet lumber has to do with unused hand screw clamp kits that I have little other suitable lumber for, at least none that isn't already planned for.

Stew

[Kees Heiden]

Sharpen that 4 1/2 rip. It’ll go a lot quiker.

[Dan Hulbert]

Since the core runs up the center, is this a candidate for splitting?

[John K Jordan]

I'd do it for you in a heartbeat but it's a long walk from Texas to here. I'm certain someone nearer to you has a bandsaw and could rip/resaw as you need so you can save your saws and energy for making something from it!

If you like pallet wood, check the companies that import granite for counter tops. The pallets are often made from unidentified exotic woods, some hard and dense and sometimes highly figured. One near here breaks down all the pallets and crates and throws the pieces into a couple of big bins inside the building. Anyone that knows about it is welcome to dig through and take what they want. I've salvaged some great 2" think stock and used it for woodturning.

I also used to get pallets and crates from tractor and motorcycle importers. The tractor dealers have gone to steel pallets, though. (But they sometimes give those away, great to disassemble for new square steel tubing and such.

JKJ

[John C Cox]

That's a giant amount of work to get 1" lumber that you can buy easy enough. But it's a lot harder (and more expensive) to buy big thick timber like that....

Any chance you can use the 3x6 stock for stuff like table legs or large sections and use "regular" lumber for stuff where you just need 1" stock....

Otherwise - yes... A bandsaw is your friend here... Or even a good circular saw...

[David Myers]

I'd do it for you in a heartbeat but it's a long walk from Texas to here...

JKJ

It's a long walk from Borger to anywhere.

Good luck, Stew, and keep us posted.

[Charles Mathews]

I am below San Antonio and would do it for you but I see that Borger is almost in another state from me. I have broken down and repurposed some oak pallets and have gotten some nice stuff. Just be aware that some have those nasty spiral nails in them and can be a booger to remove.

[Stew Denton]

Hi All,

John (C.); Charles and David are right, the closest place I MIGHT be able to get thicker stock than 3/4" oak is Amarillo, and by the time I drive to Amarillo, drive through it to the place that MIGHT have it, find what I need, drive back through Amarillo and then home, I am sure that the minimum amount of time you are looking at, is between 3&1/2 and 4 hours. The nearest lumber yard I know of, other than the one here, is about 30 miles away, and like our lumber yard here, they do not have good quality oak thicker than 1" stuff. Depending on the hand screw kit size I need 1.5 to 2.25 inch stock.

Yes, I wish the pallet lumber was good enough to use for chair legs or something else, but no, I will be doing well to get a couple of the larger hand screw clamps out of it.

Lubbock used to have a hardwoods place, but that is a 3 hour drive, one way, just to get to Lubbock, not to get anywhere inside the city.

We get to Oklahoma city a few days a year, to see kids, and they almost certainly have hardwoods, and in fact there are sawmills located there, but that is a 4 hour drive one way.

Out here large chunks of oak, from any lumber supplier, are also going to be VERY high dollar. John (K.), thanks for the ideas on finding pallets.

Thus for me, I have to take advantage of any thick hardwood I can get my hands on.

Dan, I don't think splitting it is an option. I do have splitting wedges, and have split plenty of firewood on camping trips, but trying to split these two pieces would be fairly risky due to knots, etc.

Thanks to you guys who offered to cut up the lumber for me, but, yep, too far away.

Kees, I plan to eventually sharpen the 4.5 point rip, or more likely re-tooth a much better saw to make a 4 or 4.5 point rip saw. However I need it now.

The Skilsaw/circular saw seems like the best option for cutting up the current piece.

Thanks to all, and regards,

Stew

[John K Jordan]

...
Out here large chunks of oak, from any lumber supplier, are also going to be VERY high dollar. John (K.), thanks for the ideas on finding pallets.

Bummer. We are so spoiled here, living in an area full of hardwood trees, many of them oak. Oak can be one of the least expensive woods here, especially if green or air dried. Unfortunately, I have many tons of white oak and hickory logs in stacks since I haven't had time to saw them. If you ever get up this way give some notice and we can find and saw a few slabs of about any kind and size of hardwood you can carry in a passenger car or small pickup. One friend visited from a non-hardwood region and filled her station wagon with so much wood the springs and shocks were bottomed out for the return drive across the country. She kept trying to pay me far more than the wood was worth (around here).

There are also sawmills here that may have air-dried stock at a good price and wood dealers with a bit higher prices for KD domestic and exotics. I recently bought some 8/4 and 10/4 KD curly maple, walnut, cherry, y. poplar, goncolo alves, and E. Indian Roswood without having to mortgage the house. I cut these up into smaller pieces for woodturning.

JKJ

[glenn bradley]

I'd never sharpened a hand saw before and did fine on my first attempt after watching a few videos and reading up a bit. I was shocked at how quick and easy it was once I got over being nervous about messing it up.

I see a few options for some of the topics covered. If you require better lumber it may be worth scheduling a pleasure trip / getaway weekend that includes a stop at a decent yard. Pick up a boat load to make the trip worth while and have material for a few years. A one-way trailer might be a choice for the return trip. Acme has the Rikon 10-305 on sale and it will quickly deal with stock the thickness you are talking about.

[Jim Koepke]

Speaking of pallet wood, one of my favorites used to come from large printing facilities. A lot of paper is made in the east and many of the pallets are of hardwoods.

During my time as a copier repair tech many of the copiers from Japan came on pallets made of clear softwoods.

Take a look at the industries around you. One thing most have in common is shipping containers/pallets of which they have need to dispose. Someone looking for free wood might be their best friend.

My woodworking adventure started with making adirondack chairs with pallet wood.

jtk

[ken hatch]

Stew,

I'd find life pretty tough without a bandsaw. I know it can be done but I'd give up every machine and half the hand tools in my shop before letting go of the bandsaw. In a couple or three months a short drive to Tucson could net you a good deal on an 18'er :-). Waiting for the Powermatics to go on sale to buy my retirement present.

ken

[Christopher Charles]

Stew,

What Ken said....I bought my 18" bandsaw in large part b/c i have had access to quite a bit of free hardwood that is large dimension (timber frame rejects). The saw has long ago paid for itself via milling. Best of luck!

(Ken, pre-congrats on retirement!)

[ken hatch]

Stew,

What Ken said....I bought my 18" bandsaw in large part b/c i have had access to quite a bit of free hardwood that is large dimension (timber frame rejects). The saw has long ago paid for itself via milling. Best of luck!

(Ken, pre-congrats on retirement!)

Thanks Chris,

This job of the last 11 years was my semi-retirement job and for the first 8 or so years it was. The last 3 or 4 it has been long on the semi and short on the retirement. It is time to change that. It's a shame because it has been my chance to pay back an industry that was very good to a dumb old West Texas farm boy and I still really enjoy what I do, I just need to do a little less of it.

I hope to have a 18" Powermatic in my shop shortly after the next 10% off sale, whenever that is :-).

ken

Stew, sorry for the highjack but you really need to get a bandsaw.

[Stew Denton]

Ken,

No need to be sorry, I hadn't noticed it had been high jacked until you mentioned it, and I'm not totally convinced yet that it is.

I'd be interested in the 18" band saw, but you are a little out of the way from here, and I have no place to put one. My wife would be quick to point that out. I would be in very serious trouble if I put in the back room of our house.....she would definitely notice it.

Know what you mean about being without adult supervision. My wife has been and will be gone quite a bit this summer. When she is gone on a trip watching grandkids or whatever I am forced to fall back on my own poor judgment, which shows up very badly when at the grocery store. It may involve getting stuff that I like but is almost never at our house.

Didn't rip the lumber this evening, actual temperature 102, and heat index 109. (Probably not too hot for you where you are, but too hot for me to work outside in the sun.)

Stew