Rough Cut Lumber Suggestions

[paul heller]

I've never used rough cut lumber before. I've reviewed the advice in another thread on this site, but I still have a couple of questions to run but those who have more experience than I. I've always worked with finished wood.

I need to build a door for a sailboat cabin out of Mahogany. It will be trapeziodal shaped, in two pieces (one on top of the other). The runners where the door goes are about 1/2". I have a few 8 foot lengths of varying width (4-6 inches) of 4/4 lumber. I will either rabbit the ends to fit the door runners or resaw the wood in half (and get twice the mileage).

If i don't resaw, the technique I am thinking of is: 1) run the wood through the planer (very light cuts) to remove any warping or cupping; 2) tape a known edge to the board (using carpet tape) to go against my fence and rip as wide as possible; 3) joint the newly sawn edge; 4) rip the other edge; 5) cut to appropriate lengths and glue up; 6) trim to proper trapezoidal shape.

Does this seem correct? Should I follow the same steps if I do resaw? Should I resaw first?

Is it better to work with the unwieldy 8' lengths, or should I first cut the down to smaller size? Because of the trapezoidal shape of the end result (the door), the lengths will vary depending on the width of each board. But I don't really know what the widths will end up being after ripping/jointing so I will have to plan the pieces to be a bit longer and deal with more waste. Yet somehow this seems easier.

I would think that if I plan to resaw, then I definitely need to cut up the lumber first. I cannot imagine resawing an 8' length.

OK, experts, let me have it.

Thanks.

Paul

[charlese]

Hi Paul! I always thought you are one of the experts! Although you have never claimed this title, your name is very familiar to me as submitting good postings. Although not an expert myself, I'll be glad to try to help with the breakdown effort of the rough stock.

Your last (next to last) statement about re-sawing, said to me, "I'd feel more comfortable sizing up smaller stock". This is probably a very good thought.

I don't know the condition of your rough stock, but the part about using the thickness planer to remove warp and cup is not a good idea. The twist in many longer pieces can be almost completely eliminated by cross cutting into shorter lengths, and twist can't be eliminated in a planer without using a support sled. I'm also thinking that your 4/4 rough mahogany is just that! One inch thick while rough. You can expect to get 3/4 planed stock from this if the pieces are not too badly deformed.

Although it is possible to remove cup from a 5/4 oak or maple board in a planer, I'm not sure you can do this with mahogany.

That said, I will recommend cutting to oversized shorter lengths and oversized narrower widths first. Then you will have work pieces somewhat larger than needed and can use your tools to square and shape them as needed. Square them first.

[paul heller]

Thanks, Chuck. No, I'm just a regular with a lot of experiences. In all these many years, however, I never did much with rough lumber and resawing..... I guess I always took the easy (and usually more expensive) way out. I used to have very good sources that would always prepare the stock for me.

Yep - there is always something new to learn and experience!

I appreciate the advice.

Paul

[fjimp]

Paul,

An expert I am not. I have learned to do a bit with rough cut lumber. I live about 10 miles from a mill that ships rough cut lumber to retailers throught my region. I find I can buy rough cut and mill it to the dimensions I desire for a lot less money and have better quality wood for my projects. Besides it's a blast to create my own dimensions and have a project come out nicely. I suggest using a Jointer to even out your re-sawn lumber, while being careful to not get to close to the finished thickness with the jointer. Then use the thickness planer to reach the ideal thickness. It took me a few tries to master the jointer and the planer. I suggest learning about the limitations with scap before using good stock. Good luck with your doors I feel certain they will come out beautifully. fjimp

[nutball]

Paul,

I'm certainly no expert and have not actually surfaced rough lumber myself, but from what I've read from numerous sources, the steps/procedures you have listed seem fine with the possible exception of No. 1. The reason is, the planer is not designed to remove warping or cupping because the pressure applied by the infeed roller tends to "artificially" flatten the board before the knives make the cut. Therefore, after the cut is made and the pressure from the roller is removed the board returns to its previous shape with the warp or cup still intact. You've removed a uniform thickness over the entire warp or cup when you only wanted to remove "high" spots.

Generally, the first step in the process is to use a jointer to create one flat face (note you also have to avoid undo pressure on the board when jointing because the board can still be distorted), and then run the board through the planer with that flat jointed face on the flat planer table. The roller pressure can't distort the board if there are no voids between the board and the planer table.

If you are using the SS jointer with 4-inch capacity, you are obviously limited to jointing boards 4 inches or less in width. You could trim the wider boards to 4 inches or maybe find someone with a larger jointer to do those.

Regarding the board length, if you don't need the full length to build your project, it would certainly be much easier to first cut to a length closer to what you actually need, especially on the SS jointer because of its size.

If you decide you must resaw, it would be better to complete the surfacing process first, because you can't guarantee a flat face from resawing if the board is warped or cupped to begin with --> you have no flat face to place against the resaw fence. If you resaw first, you would need to go through the surfacing process on each piece resulting from the resaw operation to ensure flat faces and edges, thus doubling your surfacing work.

Hope this helps. Others with more knowledge/experience, please correct me if I've given any bogus information.

[iclark]

Paul,

I cannot comment on the rough lumber part, but on the door part:
I've been around sailboats with hinged doors (yeah, showing my age) and with the door insert boards like what you are building. so here's my $0.02 on that part.

I've dealt with doors with 2 sections and with 4 or 5 sections. the 2-section doors are easier in some ways to build than the 4-section doors but the 2-section door is much more of a pain to stow when one is getting ready to leave the slip. I strongly encourage you to decide where the hatch is going to stow while underway before you finalize your design.

either way, don't forget the rabbits where the door sections meet in order to keep the rain out. like a roll-up garage door, the lap is set up with the rabbit on the top edge on the outside.

on rabbiting the vertical edge versus re-sawing: remember that if you put in the door while sailing in heavy seas, you want it to be strong enough to stop you from going through it if you fall against it. also, you want it sturdy enough to discourage would be thieves when the hatch is closed and locked. my last hatch used the dadoed vertical edge. IIRC, the rabbit was on the inner edge to minimize the end grain exposed to the weather.

if you do cut the boards into shorter lengths early in the process, you might consider that you don't necessarily have to crosscut the boards at 90*. you could rough cut them at the trapezoidal angle as long as you decide in advance which piece is going where in the stack. just remember to cut trapezoids and not parallelograms (you probably don't need to ask why i know that).

Ivan

[paul heller]

I strongly encourage you to decide where the hatch is going to stow while underway before you finalize your design.

Great suggestion. I didn't think of that

either way, don't forget the rabbits where the door sections meet in order to keep the rain out. like a roll-up garage door, the lap is set up with the rabbit on the top edge on the outside.

I understand what you are saying.

on rabbiting the vertical edge versus re-sawing: remember that if you put in the door while sailing in heavy seas

Again, I did not think of this one either.

You might consider that you don't necessarily have to crosscut the boards at 90*.

Of course! Gee - this is so simple I did not think of it. I've spend too many hears crosscutting boards to 90 degrees. [/QUOTE]

just remember to cut trapezoids and not parallelograms (you probably don't need to ask why i know that).

ahem.... ok, I won't ask:D

Thanks, Ivan!!