6/4" Poplar Board

I spent time this morning consulting the U.S. Forestry Service's Wood Handbook. I was looking for an affordable wood that would not move too much, carve fairly well, take paint, and be available in 6/4 rough. I settled on Poplar over Basswood (lower movement coefficient and better paintability, especially with latex), and headed off to Downes and Reader.

I just love the lumber yard. I spent a minute just browsing all of the wood. I was tempted to look for more than I had come for (there was still some of the Friejo I bought the last time down) but the memory of the full wood racks and the pile of ash that will need to be added in a month or two when Sean leaves his current house made me decide to stick to my shopping list: at least 10 feet of 6/4 poplar in a board at least 6 inches wide. What I found needed to be cut to fit in the car, so I had it cut to slightly longer than the sword will be: 4 feet. I plan to make two sword blanks simultaneously, so that if I screw up the first one, the second will be ready to go.

Pile of Boxes and Warping Lid

I went to an event that had a marvelous door prize: 18 boxes made by my friend Sean. These were intended as prizes for a tournament, but there were only 23 entrants total, so almost everyone went home with a box. These boxes were made from some of the ash purchased at the same time as my stock pile.

As a member of one of the tournament teams, I came home with one of these boxes. It sat in my front hallway for the last four days, looking pretty. But now that the heat and humidity have returned to normal levels, the lid and front side are starting to cup away from the box. In part, I think this is a case of grain orientation; in part, a case of excessive moisture. I've taken the box into the basement and lightly misted it with water on the cupped sides. I've also cracked the lid to get the inside drying faster. I don't know if either of these actions will help, but it's worth a try.

Now I'm worrying about the benches I'm making, and hoping that the better treatment of my lumber (painted ends and tarp over top) will mean less moisture content. I did some research to see if you can figure moisture content without a meter, and found a method for calculating moisture content with an oven and a scale.

Perhaps I'll try it before building my benches.

First Quality Ash: Surfacing Reveals a Treasure

Back in November I wrote about picking up what I hoped was top quality ash (firsts and seconds). It was rough cut, so even though my first impression was that it was a bargain at 95¢ a board foot, I couldn't be sure. This isn't a great shot, but here's what it looked like then:

A few weekends ago I pulled about 5 boards for a bench project (more on that later). I marked out the lengths I needed for rough cuts and set to work jointing, chopping, ripping, and planing. When the work was done, I was very happy with my purchase. Here's what those 5 boards look like now:

I don't know what I expected, but this is better than I imagined. The wood has been in the shop acclimatizing for a couple weeks. I'll soon start glue up for benches that are real furniture, but break down entirely. These will replace the cheap folding camp chairs we have to replace every other year.

100 Board Feet of 4/4 Bandsaw Milled Ash

Last night's adventure was a lumber run to Ashby. I brought $95 with me to purchase project wood at what promised to be a great price. The choice was between 200 board feet of 2nd, or 100 board feet of 1st quality Ash. Sean and I arrived a little bit later than expected and the light was fading, but there was enough light to see piles of drying lumber everywhere: a kind of wonderland for woodworkers. All of it was bandsaw milled to 4/4 (if only there had been some 8/4 and 12/4, but beggars can't choose).

On looking at the 2nd quality lumber, I could see there was much more splitting than in the 1st, and for the projects I have in mind 200 board feet would be much more than needed. So I bit the bullet and paid a little more than twice the price to get 100 board feet of first quality ash. On getting it back to the barn, I could see that I had made the right choice: Sean picked up 300 board feet of the 2nd, and while it was great quality, there were plenty of knots and splits to work around. There is very little splitting and almost no knots in my pile.

The picture above is what $95 got me: a little bit more than 100 board feet all stickered and in out of the weather. There are two boards that look to be 12" wide, five or six that look to be 10" wide, and most of the rest are over 8" wide.

From what I've seen, Ash isn't the prettiest wood, but I might be surprised when the milling and shaping is done. I'm keeping an open mind, and will choose the finish depending on what I see when the work is done. Paint is on the list of possibilities.

17 Board Feet of Maple: Furniture Build-Off

What can you do with 17 board-feet of maple? The idea intrigues me. Could you build a bench like the one shown here? A glass topped coffee table? A side table? A bookshelf? A wall cabinet?

For those who don't know, the board foot is a rough wood measure of 12 inches x 12 inches x 1 inch of wood. You don't need to keep those dimensions, though. You can halve one dimension and double another, for example. So one board foot could be 12" x 12" x 1", or 24" x 6" x 1", or 12" x 6" x 2", or many other combinations with the same volume.

With that in mind, 17 board feet could be a 17-foot long, 12-inch wide, 1-inch thick plank, or a 16.5-foot long, 6-inch wide, 4-inch thick post. It sounds like quite a bit of wood, but you won't be building an armoire with it, or a chest of drawers, or a dining room table. This puzzle has infinite solutions, but limited size.

Why am I asking this today? Because I stumbled upon the Fine Woodworking Furniture Build-Off and it captured my imagination. This is a challenge I would love to meet. I'm adding it to the Someday Maybe section of my project list, and even if I don't participate I'll remember the principle: a limitation can be inspiration.

Photo courtesy of the Wikimedia commons and Aaron Morse

Wood Properties Resource on the Web

Merry Christmas everyone. Here's a little gift given by a friend of mine and passed on to you: the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory maintains a Web site filled with data about wood properties. Want to know about Summac or some other wood? You can find information about it fairly quickly, including its mechanical properties, Drying and Shrinkage, and Toxicity. Since part of the purpose of the site (and the Forest Products Laboratory) is to promote the use of American woods in industry, this resource focuses on North American Hardwoods and Softwoods.

Fun. Informative. Possibly indispensible if you are a wood scrounge (or an aspiring wood scrounge like me). Happy Holidays!