How to make thin stock

[windmill]

I need some 1/2" cherry stock for my next project. I have some nice 4/4 boards, but I'm not sure what to do.

The simplest option is to plane the boards down to 1/2". Simple, but a waste of wood.

The next option is to use the band saw and slice off three veneers of 1/8" for future use. Whatever remains would be planed down to 1/2"

The third option is to slice off 3/8", using either the table saw or the band saw, and use it for a future project. Whatever remains would be planed down to 1/2"

I'm sure I can find use for all the material in the future, but it seems rather wasteful. Am I missing something obvious here? I could of course laminate two 3/8" cutoffs and plane it down to 1/2".

Bas.

[rhull]

>I need some 1/2" cherry stock for my next project. I have
>some nice 4/4 boards, but I'm not sure what to do.

IMHO, if you've got the cash to spare, save the 4/4's for something else and go get some 5/4 or 6/4 rough stock that you can resaw and mill down to 1/2" boards.

[Jeffk]

>I need some 1/2" cherry stock for my next project. I have
>some nice 4/4 boards, but I'm not sure what to do.
>
>The simplest option is to plane the boards down to 1/2".
>Simple, but a waste of wood.
>
>The next option is to use the band saw and slice off three
>veneers of 1/8" for future use. Whatever remains would be
>planed down to 1/2"
I don't think three 1/8" veneers plus three saw kerfs at 1/8" for a TS or 1/16" from a BS will leave you with enough board left to end up with a 1/2" board after cleaning up blade marks etc.
>
>The third option is to slice off 3/8", using either the
>table saw or the band saw, and use it for a future project.
>Whatever remains would be planed down to 1/2"
See answer above.
>
>I'm sure I can find use for all the material in the future,
>but it seems rather wasteful. Am I missing something obvious
>here? I could of course laminate two 3/8" cutoffs and plane
>it down to 1/2".
>
>Bas.

I agree with Rob above. If you start with 5/4 or 6/4 you should have no problem re-sawing and ending up with 1/2" stock. You do run an increased chance of cupping or bowing issues after re-sawing.

HTH

[arcticfox46]

Wind,

I feel your pain. I also use thin wood. I can get my planer down to about 1/8 but also need stuff even thinner than that.

I plan to "someday" buy a decent bandsaw so I can resaw. Even that option is expensive. I will most likely be in the 800-1000 renge for a bandsaw. That will by far be the most expensive piece of equipment in the shop. I also don't think I will use it a LOT. Still someday I will get one.

I can resaw on the table saw, but it really does not save all that much wood. To get 1/2 wood you need to start pretty think to account for planer and jointer waste. 1/4 stock out of 4/4 rough - is tough.

At the mill is you ask for thin wood they will take a 4/4 and mill it down - you will still pay for the 4/4 stock.

Personally - I mill it down to thin wood. Yes it breaks my heart, but it is going to cost me a decent band saw to not do that.

Soo the bottom line is cost! It is going to cost me $1000 to save $100 worth of wood.

For now - I will mill 4/4 down to 1/8 when I need it.

[windmill]

Thanks for all the suggestions. The problem is that thicker stock generally comes in wider boards, and I need them to be 6" or less.

It's always something, isn't it :-)

The lumber isn't the problem. It's being cheap!

Bas.

[stretch2187]

>Thanks for all the suggestions. The problem is that thicker
>stock generally comes in wider boards, and I need them to be
>6" or less.


I hate to point out the obvious, but you can rip wider boards to the width you want.

[Sawduster]

How I wanted to say that.

Welcome back Stretch. How was the trip?

[stretch2187]

The trip was awesome. If you're ever in London, check out a museum called the Wallace Collection. The furniture they have there is incredible. Marquetry that looked like still life paintings. Absolutely incredible.

[carl civi]

>Wind,
>
>I feel your pain. I also use thin wood. I can get my
>planer down to about 1/8 but also need stuff even thinner
>than that.
>
>I plan to "someday" buy a decent bandsaw so I can resaw.
>Even that option is expensive. I will most likely be in the
>800-1000 renge for a bandsaw. That will by far be the most
>expensive piece of equipment in the shop. I also don't
>think I will use it a LOT. Still someday I will get one.
>
>I can resaw on the table saw, but it really does not save
>all that much wood. To get 1/2 wood you need to start
>pretty think to account for planer and jointer waste. 1/4
>stock out of 4/4 rough - is tough.
>
>At the mill is you ask for thin wood they will take a 4/4
>and mill it down - you will still pay for the 4/4 stock.
>
>Personally - I mill it down to thin wood. Yes it breaks my
>heart, but it is going to cost me a decent band saw to not
>do that.
>
>Soo the bottom line is cost! It is going to cost me $1000
>to save $100 worth of wood.
>
>For now - I will mill 4/4 down to 1/8 when I need it.
Are you kiddn me 4/4 down to 1/8...your the reason why tree hugers are so upset about... Don`t make it at that wastefull cost,buy it... You can get a 6" bandsaw for a couple and at least recoup half your cost when you get one you want,don`t waste all that wood. Carl

[arcticfox46]

Carl,

Funny thing - like I said, is that I have bought it. From a local place 2 miles down the road. They mill it from 4/4 down to thin wood. Maybe it "feels" good to buy it. But that does not save a tree.

I will buy the bandsaw. Just not yet.

[windmill]

Sorry, my mistake, should have actually mentioned WHY as opposed to just posting the tail end of my crooked reasoning. It would help if you could all read my mind in the future. That'd be great :-)

Most of the project pieces need a final width of 5". By using narrower boards, I have the least amount of waste. I could certainly rip down a wider board, but then I'd have a strip of 2"-3" left. I could get a really wide board and have useful cutoffs, but now I've bought twice the amount of lumber I need.

I understand why the books sand article always tell you to plan for 20%-30% waste. It's just that I'm Dutch and cheap :-)

Bas.

[rhull]

>I could certainly rip down a wider board, but then I'd have a
>strip of 2"-3" left. I could get a really wide board and
>have useful cutoffs, but now I've bought twice the amount of
>lumber I need.

Given the scenario you've described, you're going to have lots of waste no matter what you do. You're going to have to make the personal decision to weigh whether you'd rather have your waste be useful cutoffs, or huge piles of sawdust.

[windmill]

Occasionally, you get lucky. The stars align and no matter how you try, you just can't screw it up.

I ordered a Woodslicer blade, created a simple resaw fence (just an L-shape out of plywood), pretended I measured the distance between the blade and the fence, and pushed the board through the bandsaw.

Holy cow, I have a piece of veneer. Thickness at the front: .147". Thickness at the back: .145". Of course, my calipers are only acurate to .001 or so. And this was with ZERO correction for blade drift, on a 3' board.

Even with re-planing the board in between (to get it completely smooth again), I managed to slice two veneers, and ended up with stock roughly 5/8", which I took down to the 1/2" I needed.

The Woodslicer blade is simply awesome. Again, it is really hard to screw things up with that kind of blade. If I had slowed down and not pretended this was a rip cut, I probably could have gotten it even smoother.

Now I just need to come up with a project that uses those pieces of veneer......


Bas.

[Elizabeth]

Please forgive the impertinence of a newbie but thin stock is very useful for a variety of things. Have you thought of making a tray?Elizabeth
one step forward two back

[Jim1142]

>""Now I just need to come up with a project that uses those
>pieces of veneer......""

How about one of these?