first rough lumber purchase

[thestruuus]

So I just bought some rough lumber for the first time. I found FAS red oak for less than $1 a board foot and couldn’t resist. Apart from the painstaking blade replacement and alignment required on my neglected jointer the first board came out really well.

My question is on the 2nd quality there is 1 or 2 knots. Do I need to saw them out prior to jointing and planning? Also have any of you ever milled down rough lumber, any pointers? My plan is to saw them down to 6” wide. Run a face through the jointer until its flat. Then take them down to ¾ on the planer. Then back to the jointer for the edge, and to the table saw for the last edge. From what I can find online that’s the basic concept.

But really $90 for 100 board feed to air dried cabinet grade oak, I would be a fool not to buy (that’s what I convinced my wife at least).

[Danford C Jennings]

Chris,

In my book, knots are a defect that should always be avoided. If they are really tight, I see no problem in dimensioning the stock first but, if they are loose, you'll want to cut 'em out or pry them out...FWIW.

Dano

Edit in: BTW, on rough sawn stock I'll joint one edge and one face, at the very least, before I run it through the saw...

[TDHofstetter]

I agree with Danfy - especially about the loose knots. Loose knots can be not only hazardous to your valuable knives (they can give you a nasty chip in an edge), they can also become projectiles.

Hint: Don't do any dimensioning until you're ready to use the wood; dimension it within at most a week or two of use. If you dimension one now, you'll understand why...

-- Tim --

I'm a
HOARSE
WHISPERER.

[CajunRider]

>My question is on the 2nd quality there is 1 or 2 knots. Do
>I need to saw them out prior to jointing and planning?
>Also have any of you ever milled down rough lumber, any
>pointers? My plan is to saw them down to 6” wide. Run a
>face through the jointer until its flat. Then take them
>down to ¾ on the planer. Then back to the jointer for the
>edge, and to the table saw for the last edge. From what I
>can find online that’s the basic concept.
>
I have a long straight edge that I usually screw (5/8") to the board at the waste ends that has snipe marks from the planer and cut the first edge witht the straight edge against the fence. The rest is easy from there.

[dbriski]

I think he wants to rip to 6" first because he has a 6" jointer.

[Danford C Jennings]

So do I...Regardless, I still joint an edge and a face before the stock goes through the saw....

Dano

[beamerweb]

The "cutting down to 6 inches" is a little concerning if they're warped much. I fully understand and agree with the need to do so, but safety has to be involved here. I'd suggest doing this ripping on a bandsaw unless you can do like Dano says. It HAS to be flat and straight on the table saw, no matter what. Band saw, on the other hand, is a little more forgiving in this regard.

[Wade Killinger]

Assuming you may want to glue some peices up you may want to keep them thicker than 3/4 " than plane them to final thickness after glueing up. Tymber 2.

[arcticfox46]

I agree with Tim,

Leave it in the rough sawn state until you are ready to use it. That is one of the biggest reasone to buy rough sawn.

Joint one face that one edge, then plane the opposite face then rip the opposite edge.

[thestruuus]

As you guessed I am limited to 6" due to the width of the jointer. I will take your advice and hit the band saw for the initial rip. If all the lumber is dimensioned now is the risk that it will warp between milling and actual use? Part of me wants to run it all in one weekend so I only have to set everything up once (jointer, planer, dust collector, move other equipment so I can get a 16foot clearance. But it sounds like that's a bad idea and I should only mill down what I need when I need it.