Just a thought

[Gary Batten]

Has anyone used wood flooring to make a blanket chest...or something? Just saw it on sale in Lowes and wondered.
If so what did you make? How did it turn out? Any photos?

Thanks

[Lee Schierer]

Wood flooring usually has grooves in the back which might make the inside look funny. Though it wouldn't hurt the function.

Most packages contain random lengths and colors so you will need to figure out how to address that in your design.

[Randall J Cox]

Has anyone used wood flooring to make a blanket chest...or something? Just saw it on sale in Lowes and wondered.
If so what did you make? How did it turn out? Any photos?

Thanks

I have wandered through the big box stores and wondered the same thing..... Randy

[Richard Coers]

Never buy prefinished flooring to get lumber. They have additives in the clear finish for wear resistance, and it will eat up tooling. Will wear out planer blades on one board. Learned that mistake 20+ years ago.

[Gary Batten]

Never buy prefinished flooring to get lumber. They have additives in the clear finish for wear resistance, and it will eat up tooling. Will wear out planer blades on one board. Learned that mistake 20+ years ago.

There it is! I thought if it worked there would be people way smarter than me doing it. Can't afford a planer yet...but I'm sure they don't give those blades away.

Thanks for the info!

[Ronald Blue]

Never buy prefinished flooring to get lumber. They have additives in the clear finish for wear resistance, and it will eat up tooling. Will wear out planer blades on one board. Learned that mistake 20+ years ago.

I just milled some hickory flooring down a couple weeks ago and the finish planed off without issue. I was watching to see if it had any effect but it went great. I milled 3/4" pre-finished down to 5/16" for some cabinet accents. 30 feet of 2-3/4" wide. This is supposed to be a 50 year finish. Just my experience and wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

[Yonak Hawkins]

I've used pre-finished flooring for a few projects, including the steps on a library step stool, the back of a bookcase and drink coasters with no problems.

[Peter Christensen]

I know a gent that makes Celtic harps from maple flooring.

[Gary Batten]

Cool. Maybe if I find some real cheep or a few scraps I'll try a test project.

[Ronald Blue]

If there is a Habitat for Humanity Restore near you check there frequently. Also often the Big Box stores will have some deals on clearance at really good prices.

[Mike Monroe]

This reminds of a friend who obtained the gym floor from a school build around 1900. He spent hours and hours air chiseling the layers of finish. He figured most of the wood was from trees that were growing before 1800. He used in an addition on his house, came out beautiful - but he said he'd never do that again, too much work to get the finish off the old boards.

[tom lucas]

I have resawed the grooves off the back, and took a find sliver on the bandsaw to remove most of the finish. Then finished up in the planer. Got some nice wood out of it, but only about 1/2" thick. I probably would only do it for small pieces, like jewelry/tool boxes. Nothing like a blanket chest.