2x4 project #1: a late start

The story so far…

I had this idea for the 2×4 project… actually I had 2 ideas, one (living in an OLD house), was to use a true 2×4 salvaged from an earlier home reno project and get to use better looking, straighter, and certainly drier lumber. (not to mention a larger piece…) but alas, I decided that wasn’t in the spirit of the challenge, whether or not I had the piece I’d need without having to knock down a wall to get it.

the second (taking a tip from Zuki’s playbook and not sharing it just yet) is to do something well outside the box. I’m actually remaking a project I did several years back for my MIL, though that was in my pre-woodworking days and I had to resort to pre-milled craft lumber at the Big Box, or Hobby store. Obviously this time I’m using a 2×4.

Despite having sketched out my project back before the contest was announced, I finally made my first cuts this afternoon. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, eh?

Turns out I didn’t have a whole 2×4 (not one without a 1/4 twist in it) BUT on the fly, i figured I could make do with half of one. I did have a fairly straight one of those… a little battered on the outside, and not terribly knotty.

First step, sand the outside (after cutting it down into two 2 foot pieces). Then I ripped them in to 1/4 inch strips and sanded again. I was going to rip them into 1/4×3 1/2 strips, but saw that if I ripped them on the short dimension they’d all be either quartersawn or rift sawn (stronger, more stable and look way better!)

Here’s where my progress ended before dinner:

There it is, just under 1/2 a 2×4. probably less than 2/5 if you deduct for waste and sawdust – the basement atmospere is thick with sawdust!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh