Ignorant Me

”...Should I order differently next time or just get a planer and stop crying. I know it’s just my ignorance ….”

I’ve only been at this ~3yr and all I can say is that having a BS, Jointer and Planer saves more than 50% of the cost of wood PLUS it puts you in control of the finished lumber and product.

I guess it just all depends on how much stock you will be going through on a regular basis, and how much equipment you feel comfortable in acquiring. Another alternative is to find a source that you can buy in-person.

-- HorizontalMike -- "Woodpeckers understand..."

Show a picture so we can see how rough is rough….

If it wasn’t maketed as S4S, I don’t think I’d have expected any better than a thicknessing pass through a heavy duty two sided planer.

Cleaning them up should be a lot of fun.

-- Pine is fine, but Oak's no joke!

From the description of the lumber, IMO, rough edges would be expected. But when they say “surfaced to 13/16”, to me that means it needs no further planing unless I wanted to change the thickness. I would fully expect it to require further sanding before finishing, but it shouldn’t be “fuzzy”.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Rough lumber:

Surfaced lumber:

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Yes, I would say what you have there is perfectly acceptable for the description given.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

good to know, now i don’t feel so bad, but realy dont feel like getting a jointer or planer so soon to clean up the wood, just spent $1800 last night on TS & BS.
wanted to make my first box with this wood, but cuped. and not so flat, maybe put on shelf for now,
poor poor me

Yes, that’s what you’ll get when you order “Project Packs”. If you want better you need to cull it out yourself. Any lumberyard worth going to will allow you to do this.

-- Sam Hamory - The project is never finished until its "finished"!

need to find a yard that has more than poplar and birch in my area thats ready to go. until i can make another equipment buy.

I also think you got what you paid for…. to me it looks like some really nice lumber.

Realize that even if the wood were dried per spec. and finished on four sides perfectly flat and square…. within a week of moving it from environment A to environment B, it would move some and require some TLC to correct.

If you’ve broke the bank on TS and BS, then see if you can find someone local to plane the lumber for you. You may be able to use a router and a good straight edge to join the boards.

-- Pine is fine, but Oak's no joke!

And even if the lumbaryard does not display finished pieces of oak, maple, whatever, they will generally finish it for you at a price. Just ask – it can’t hurt! (except your wallet)

-- Kay - Just a girl who loves wood.

bank not broke, just my butt from the wife kicking it, need to let things cool down. she just cant understand why all the hobbies are $$$$$$$$$$$$$, she is a great woman, i just always go full tilt on stuff, dont know how to ease into it.

A few points:

1. I couldn’t really see from the photos that there was cupping. I would retract my “acceptable” if there is much of that.

2. I have ordered 20 bf project packs from Wall Lumber with excellent results (no cupped or twisted boards).

3. You might be surprised how much better you feel about this lumber once you rip and crosscut it to size for your project. When you are used to seeing S4S lumber in the expensive section of Lowes or Home Depot, it’s a bit of a jolt the first time you see S2S straight from the mill. But once you get those rough edges off it starts to look a whole lot better.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

If your taking 4/4 material and expect to get clean 13/16 out of it you will be disappointed most of the time. It will clean up to 3/4 and you should expect it to. If your needing much over 13/16 you best get 5/4 material. If it is in the rough. You can expect it takes at least 1/8” per side to clean up. When I run material through my 6 head moulder I allow at least 1/8” to be taken off all sides to clean up if it is fairly flat clean lumber. It is all SLR 1/4” over size. Even then no guarantee everything will be cleaned up. So called 4/4 is and one would expect 1 inch rough material and it is not. I have had it come in anywhere from .89 to even as high as 1.10 thick. Remind you that is in the rough.

-- What we do in life will Echo through Eternity........

i just need to change my mind set on how things are going to be. like i said just so conditioned to seeing that ready to go wood. that will be part of the fun and the journey of each new project i have.