Dimensioning wood stock thickness
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23 February 2019 at 2:13 am #555299
Stupid question……that I already think I know the answer to but…..
If I want to make small love tail boxes like the one’s Paul makes in his video’s, what is the best way to go about getting the bottom/base thickness of a box, drawer or whatever down say from 3/4″ to 1/2″. Bandsaw, hand sawing?
I just watched Paul’s video’s on making small dovetail boxes and he mentions what you need for stock but doesn’t show how he got the base of the box the the thick was he wanted. I assume he used his bandsaw or bought it Machi Ed that way from the lumber yard?
Thanks in advance
24 February 2019 at 9:52 pm #555337Stupid question……because I had think I already know the answer to but here goes……
Is it a futile attempt to resaw stock that is 3/4″ thick by let’s say 6″ wide by 12″-20″ long if you don’t have a band saw to get it down to 1/2″ thickness?
24 February 2019 at 9:54 pm #555338Stupid question……because I think I already know the answer, but here goes……
Is it a futile attempt to resaw stock that is 3/4″ thick by let’s say 6″ wide by 12″-20″ long if you don’t have a band saw to get it down to 1/2″ thickness?
24 February 2019 at 10:11 pm #555339If you have a panel saw, then practice using that to resaw. If you have a scrub plane, then try that. Take it as a challenge to learn a new skill. You may have to use up some practice wood until you get good enough.
Resawing by hand does work but I find it much easier to plane down from 3/4″ to 1/2″. To get 1/4″ or 3/8″ stock from 3/4″ or 7/8″ I often resaw by hand. Not so good at it, so usually end up with at most one 3/8″ and one 1/8″ board out of a 3/4″ after planing down the saw marks and deviations. Or two 1/4″ book matched pieces with some care.
24 February 2019 at 10:23 pm #555342Cool, thanks for the reply’s
I do enjoy sawing by hand, as it is an entirely different feeling than using power tools. I plan on picking up a small 10″ bandsaw simply to speed up sizing/dimensioning stock.
I do have a good panel saw and will try to hone my resawing skill to the point where I can manage small amounts of stock without the need for a band saw.
Thanks so much for the reply’s, such great motivation. This forum is an invaluable tool!!
24 February 2019 at 10:41 pm #555343I resaw but have found that the boards often cup after resawing, so the only solution is to leave generous amounts of wood. After, I plane to flatten and thickness to final dimension. The reason for the cupping is that after resawing the wetter interior of the board is now exposed and wants to equilibrate with the outside air. Plus there could be tension in the wood that is now relieved, contributing to cupping/twisting.
25 February 2019 at 2:53 am #555345Planing from 3/4″ to 1/2″……………if one took 1/8″ off each side, it seems like that would help with the cupping issue. I think I’d leave it a bit over thicknesses and let it stabilize a while before planing to final thickness. I wonder how they did it way back in the “olden days”?
Is it a futile attempt to resaw stock that is 3/4″ thick by let’s say 6″ wide by 12″-20″ long if you don’t have a band saw to get it down to 1/2″ thickness?
Definitely not. That’s a very straightforward approach, and if you stick with woodworking with hand tools, you’ll do it many, many times.
Having said that, if you just want to take off 1/4″ on a hardwood board that size as quickly as possible, you can probably scrub it off faster than you can resaw it. I just did something very similar — I had 12 hard maple boards, 6″ x 36″ x 3/4″, and I needed them all down to 1/2″.
Bevel the far side so you don’t blow it out, sharpen your #40, and scrub it right off. Hard maple is tough, my thickest shavings were .07″, so just over 1/16th. Most were around 1 mm thick. If it was something soft like poplar or pine, I’d have been taking off closer to an 1/8″.
So about 5-6 passes gets you to depth, multiplied by thickness of the blade (a bit over an inch), 5-6 * 36 passes of the plane per board, and you’re done. That leaves a bit for the jointer so you have a perfectly flat face.
Had them all done by the afternoon. The downside is that the 1/4″ is wasted, so if it was some special wood, an exotic, or even if I just wanted the resaw practice, I’d have resawn them instead. Figure the kerf on your D-8 (or whatever you’re using) is about 1/8″, and you want to leave 1/32″ safety margin which you’ll plane perfect afterwards, so the end result, if all goes well, is a piece of veneer. So you’ll get your boards down to thickness, and you’ll have some veneer sheets for use elsewhere in the project or on some future project, which is a great thing to have.
So there are pros and cons to each approach, pick whichever works for you.
25 February 2019 at 3:30 am #555347Be nice if an old master like Paul would chime in…..lol
I was recently reading one of Paul’s articles about bandsaw’s he wrote and he made mention of them being used back in his early apprentice day’s and long before that.
I guess it’s pretty black and white. If you have access to one, then you use it. If not you use what you have. I do plan on acquiring a band saw, and Paul was very instrumental in this decision. I had been putting it off because I cannot afford a $3-$6,000 14-17″ model. After watching his video on the mini one he bought and used I realized it will work just fine for what I and many hobby wood workers need, and I thank him for that.
I do really enjoy feeling every fibre of the woodworking processes. The cutting strokes, planing, routing, etc…..but the time and margin of error the band saw will save I think is worth the time and investment. I’m sure I’ll still be resawing small stock and won’t be doing all my resawing on the band saw, so…..it won’t steal all the joy……lol
25 February 2019 at 3:32 am #555348Meant to add this I found under the history of the bandsaw on wikipedia.
“The idea of the bandsaw dates back to at least 1809, when William Newberry received a British patent for the idea, but bandsaws remained impractical largely because of the inability to produce accurate and durable blades using the technology of the day.[2] Constant flexing of the blade over the wheels caused either the material or the joint welding it into a loop to fail……..”
25 February 2019 at 3:48 am #555349Interesting approach Edmond, thanks for the insight.
I do plan on sticking with it, for life, and am trying to pass down some knowledge to my children. I wish I lived closer to Paul, it would have to be ALOT closer tbough lol, …..considering I’m in another continent.. If I wasn’t, I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from seeking him out and wanting to absorb myself with all the knowledge/skills he has to offer. What an incredible environment his schools must be to learn in. Admittedly I discovered this fine world of woodworking at a much later stage in life, I am completely self taught other than, Paul’s videos, blogs, etc and other resources. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have been able to go to a tech school as a school boy. Middle school/highschool here in the states……
Lucky to have discovered it instead of never having g done so I guess, so glass half full is better than half empty in my eyes.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.25 February 2019 at 3:52 am #555351Here is a display I made for our daughter for crafts that she mak s and sells. The base and post is Maple and the rounds are birch. I used a spokeshave and homemade drawknife to painstakingly shave the post to fit the diameter of the holes I drilled into the center of the rounds…..
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