Fuzzy Wood, can't smooth for lamination bench top
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Ha! I wondered as much! I may just stop into a smaller lumbar yard and see what they have, I was leery when I bought that stuff. I may keep it around for scrap testing purposes. Thanks a lot for the info!
I really enjoy the smaller shops. They get all of my business when my jobs allow it. Before you know it they’ll be sharing your enthusiasm for a project. Kind of like how I’m excited for your bench, 🙂 Wood makes us family i guess…in a way.
Perhaps I'm Just Over Eager, Better to Curb the Enthusiasm
Agreed, I’m not a fan of the big box stores, the employees usually hate their jobs and or don’t know anything. The old guys seem to know stuff, but they are few and far between.
I’m excited for sure! I didn’t get to do this stuff when I was a kid, my dad was too busy and tired and I didn’t get it in school either. I’ve always wanted to learn, I’ve tried a little in the past, but didn’t know what I was doing and got discouraged. So needless to say I love the fact I found Paul and this community, both have been a massive help.
Too bad Paul is in the UK, I would love to take his courses in person.
Right! I do wish he’d come back to the US for a good long stint, or just a few 9 day classes per year. One of these days, when the planets have aligned, I’ll be able to make it to Whales.
Perhaps I'm Just Over Eager, Better to Curb the Enthusiasm
Here’s an option for you. Keep your eye out for pallets. I got all the wood I needed for my bench from pallets found at a local commercial kitchen supply company. They had pallets that had full 6′-8′ length 2×4’s and 4×4’s. Even the lag screws were on the pallets. 🙂 The only thing I needed to buy was a gallon of glue. In fact, about 85% of the wood I use comes from pallets. Just be sure to stay away from pallets marked MB, meaning that they were treated with Methyl Bromide, a dangerous chemical if released into the air. Pallets marked with HT are ok as they were heat treated. 🙂
Me Three I guess.
I too live in the Seattle area (Tacoma), bought wood from Home Depot, and there the adventure began. Don’t EVEN compare that wood with what Paul is working with on his bench videos. It will just depress you. On the bright side I did get a job offer from one of the Home Depots after a manager saw how I restacked his lumber. I had to sort through 95 (I counted) studs in order to find 5 of them for my bench.
I got somewhat better results on that wood when I stopped “dogging” the plane. If I focused on horizontal movements and tried not to push down so hard the plane worked better. But honestly, this stuff is so soft working it with anything is difficult. I don’t know how many mortises I chopped before I gave up on this wood and went to a local lumber yard and bought some Douglas fir 4X12, 2X12, and 4X4. Then all of a sudden I could work wood!
At one point as I was staring in horror at yet another mashed up mortise hole I took my thumb nail dug into the 1/2″ space between two dark growth rings. Incredibly I could actually “work wood” with my THUMBNAIL!!! It’s like planing and chiseling Styrofoam.
If you go to the Seattle Craigslist and search for “Mill Outlet Lumber Tacoma” (or narrow it down to Tacoma first, works either way) you’ll find the place I got my material. Nice guys, small yard, they focus on cedar products for the fencing industry. But from time to time they get in “other” stuff like big doug fir beams and right now they have a great selection of reasonably priced Alaskan Yellow Cedar that works incredibly well with hand tools. Really lovely stuff. We priced several yards when we built our fence and they were the best price by quite a bit and the quality of the wood was excellent. Bit of a drive for you guys but if you don’t find what you’re looking for up there then these guys might be worth your while.
John
John Purser
Hubert, NCAwesome! That’s encouraging, I’m going to take a gander at a couple small lumber yards this weekend and hopefully find something better. Thanks for the info. 🙂
Better to take your time to get some quality lumber than to rush it and hate your bench for years to come…
When I stop into the Big Box Stores I try to find out what days (or times) they re-stock. A couple times I’ve shown up as they’re unloading a fresh pallet of lumber. I never go to the Lowes or Depot with the intention of finding something I need right away. I try to cherry pick boards here and there.
– The 2×8 & 2×10 at most lumber yards are more free from knots than the 2×4’s are. And 12 footers are generally clearer than 8 & 10 footers.
– Pick up only (near) perfect boards. It will take a few trips but will make a difference in hand planing.
good luck.
And can you post a picture of the side of the board you were planing with an arrow indicating the direction you were running your plane? It looks kind of like tear out but its tough to tell.
www.PracticeAndProcess.com
I second what Chad said. The big box lumber is really hit or miss and you have to cherry pick it over a couple weeks. It’s hard when you want to get into a project, but it’s even harder when your project is duffed because of bad lumber.
I always let it sit in the garage seasoning for a few weeks then, too, because even the “kiln dry” lumber needs to dry out a bit. Seems like the 2×4’s and even 2×6’s start to move as soon as you take them out of the store. 2×8 and up seem better and less temperamental, probably because they are taken from larger trees instead of the small, quick growth stuff they get the 2×4’s and 2×6’s from.
The fuzzy bits are possibly from the lumber still being a bit wet. I understand that “kiln dry” means 19% out of the kiln. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t sucked up moisture again sitting in a warehouse somewhere, possibly getting rained on.
Derek Long
Denver, Colorado
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