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Thread: Do Pros use rough sawn boards for Kitchen cabinet builds?

  1. #91
    I work the same in my own work. I also workmthat way “at work” when it requires. Most of the time it doesn’t. Sure do you bang your head on the wall fighting square, making a face frame here and there twice, sure.

    Actually right now I’m making three counters. Two solid walnut to finish at 1.25” thick one hard maple to finsh at the same. The boss is loosing his mind that I insist the lumber be in the shop two weeks before I even mill it. Drives him even more hits that I take a week to take it from 8/4 to it’s finished 1.25”

    My counters stay perfectly flat end to end with zero twist cup whatever. I watched someone make one “my boss” a week ago and it didn’t stay close to flat for even a day.

    Some things you can rush, some things you can’t.

    As you said

    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Holcombe View Post
    A cabinet shop might go out of business doing it this way but I process material for furniture taking an approach which minimizes reaction movements.

    I plan my major millwork for any project ahead of the project by a few weeks (if possible) so that I can work the material in a few stages. First stage is a rough breaking down, from rough lumber to rough part dimensions (so long as they're oversized for further processing). Wait a period of time, then move into surfacing, references then dimension. Once they're at dimension I want to process through the project quickly because often enough I find the final form retains the wood's flatness if I did my design work well enough.

    Certain projects just don't call for it and I can move from rough to finished in one day but the parts are always straighter if I give them time between stages of work.

  2. #92
    Of course it stays flatter and straighter. If it doesn't there is a lack of skill in the processing. Many boards straighten
    imediately in reaction to removing wood from the convex side. It's a skill seldom taught any more, I think liability issues
    are a big reason for that. Management scared of facing convex side. Some woods are unstable ,and skilled guys know
    the qualities of their materials. Up to this point the discussion has been mainly "is it worth the trouble". "Is there any point
    in trying to mill your material straight and flat", would have been a much shorter conversation.

  3. #93
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  4. #94
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mel Fulks View Post
    snip... Many boards straighten
    imediately in reaction to removing wood from the convex side...snip
    Just a question because I don't know...

    The board is convex because there is either pressure on the convex side, or a pull on the concave side. (Or there was excessive blade wander when it was cut, a different issue). This assumes that there is a convex and concave side. I think there is with respect to Mel's comment.

    So is it more likely that wood expands rather than contracts? And that the force exerted by expansion is likely greater than the force exerted by contraction? Seems like that would have to be the case if the wood flattened after cutting something off the convex side. Meaning that the force exerted by the wood on the convex side would lessen, and the convex side would push relatively harder and cause the resultant board to flatten.

    Otherwise, why would such a thing happen?

    Edit: Years ago I bought some oak and cherry from a guy I used to work with, for a great price. It was air dried and I had it kiln dried. When I got it home I passed it through my planer, just a bit, convex side up, before storing it. I guess I may have helped myself by doing this...beginners luck...
    Last edited by Bill Space; 03-23-2019 at 9:15 AM. Reason: change word from convex to concave
    Too much to do...Not enough time...life is too short!

  5. #95
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    Bill, Basically removing wood reduces tension and allows the board to relax and straighten.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  6. #96
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Holcombe View Post
    Bill, Basically removing wood reduces tension and allows the board to relax and straighten.
    Brian, you shifted my mind into a different gear!

    If a board is cupped, it seems like the cup could be caused by a moistures difference across the thickness OR due to stresses within the wood itself.

    Mel states that removing wood from the convex side of a cupped board will cause it to flatten. If that side had higher moisture content, and this was causing the cup due to wood expansion, I suppose removing some of the wood on the cupped side would reduce the force causing the cup, as Mel suggests.

    Thinking further, the cup could be caused by excessive drying on one side, or excessive moisture on the other side of a board that started out flat. In either case what Mel said would hold true.

    If a board were cupped due due to internal forces not related to moisture content, the reaction might be different. I don’t know if this is common. I do know that some wood has significant internal stresses.

    At the end of the day, I guess the answer to the question I was trying to ask is “It depends...”

    But I think Mel’s experience likely holds true most of the time.
    Last edited by Bill Space; 03-23-2019 at 9:36 AM. Reason: typo
    Too much to do...Not enough time...life is too short!

  7. #97
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    Sure, best to let the moisture even out before proceeding with milling. I do my heaviest operations first.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  8. #98
    Bill, Like you I used to wonder why. Still don't know. But when it does not work it doesn't make the bow worse, facing on
    the concave side often makes the bow worse.

  9. #99
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    I could have missed this in the many responses here but does anyone use a good quality moisture meter to check all wood coming into their shop before processing? I have found properly chosen and properly dried rough wood from a good supplier to give less aggravation.

  10. #100
    I do the same as Mel, surface the convex side of a bowed board first. I can't explain why, but it works more often than not and lets me get a flat piece of greater thickness than the initial bow would suggest. It's unrelated to cupping, the bow or curve along the length may be convex on the heart or sap side of the piece.

    John, I do meter incoming lumber. More importantly, I try to get it in the shop for acclimation as long as possible before using it, and like Brian I dice it up close to finished size and let it rest before further milling when possible.

    I nearly always use rough or hit and miss planed material to have greater control over the results.

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