Straight boards without a planer or jointer

[rnelson0]

Hi,

I just started woodworking since Christmas. So far, I've got a table saw, miter saw, belt sander, and a router that hasn't arrived yet. I figured before I get into anything big, like building my workbench, I'd start with some simple projects that are cheap, will teach me how to use my tools, and that I won't care about if they're totally hosed up either when I'm done or when they break a week later.

The first thing I am working on is a simple stool/stepladder from a magazine. While I attempted to buy the straightest 1x4's at the store, it quickly became apparent once I joined both legs that, well, it's not what I'd call square. Some of it probably has to do with the feet not being entirely level (hey, it's the first time I've used a table saw, so the fact that it wobbles doesn't surprise me) but you can also see how the boards themselves contribute to some of the wobble.

What can I do to get myself some straight boards without the planer and jointer? There is no way I can fit them in my garage. I bought these boards from Home Depot in the generic section (i.e. from the "1x4" pile, not the "1x4 oak" pile). Is there a specific species I should buy, or a better place to go to get straight lumber? I don't really mind if the stool is a bit out of square, that should be mostly fixed once I put the seat on, but I don't want a bookshelf or workbench to be out of square because of the components. I can improve my skills, but the components are pretty much what they are!

Thanks for the help.

Rob Nelson

[Uncle Cracker]

Finding perfectly straight lumber "off the rack" is difficult, if not impossible. If your lumber is simply bent along its flat plane, you can joint the first edge using your router with a straightedge guide, or your table saw with a jointing jig. The second edge can then be jointed using the rip fence and your table saw. If the lumber is twisted, that's a tall order with the tools you have, unfortunately.

[sweensdv]

Here is one way you can use your table saw to joint boards, http://www.newwoodworker.com/tsjointjigpln.html

[cwithboat]

Rob,
Try this
http://www.generaltools.com/Products...lamp__846.aspx
I use it with a piece of 1/4" thick masonite taped on the table to the left of the saw blade under the board to be straightened.
regards,
Charlie

[iceman61]

Even if you're lucky enough to hand pick some straight lumber, it can still warp & twist on you in a few days. A new stack of lumber with the bands just cut will appear to have alot of straight lumber but alot of it will start to warp as it sets for a few days. Use your lumber as soon as you get it.

Check out the woodworking mags in your local bookstore. There are alot of jigs for tablesaws & routers specifically for jointing & planing.

[rnelson0]

Okay, I looked at the jig plans and the jointer pieces. Not sure if I understand them though. Say I've got a 1x4x96 plank that I want to use for a stepladder's steps and rails (just making it up). The jig plans showed a basic platform that the wood would sit on and I assume you'd rip it along the 1" side for 96" to square up that side. The jig looked like it clamped down so that even if the wood isn't exactly flush against the jig, it would be held on place such that the saw cut would be straight. Is that correct?

Now, I've got the 4" face to get squared up. How do I safely and effectively get that side squared up? I could see standing the piece on the 1" edge but not sure how you'd anchor it properly while pushing it through to ensure a straight cut. Maybe I'm missing something there.

For something like shelves, I'm sure I'd use plywood or MDF instead of straight (er, simple?) lumber pieces. Do Ply and MDF come pretty much straight and square or would I have to do something similar with them?

Thanks.

[Anna]

Rob, you probably would be better off cross cutting the long plank into more manageable, shorter pieces before ripping.

If you really need a jointer and planer, see if you can rent shop time at Woodcraft or the local high school wood shop. I think just imagining you trying to face joint a 1x4x96 plank with a table saw is probably giving a bunch of people a heart attack just about now.

[Uncle Cracker]

Anna's suggestion is a good one, Rod. Cut the 96"er up into lengths a little longer than what you need for the pieces, then joint one edge on all the boards, then set your rip fence for whatever the narrowest dimension is among all the boards (or for whatever you plan calls for, if narrower than that) and rip all the boards down parallel to the jointed edge. Then all the boards will be uniform in width, and you can stack similar pieces on the table saw or miter saw to cut to length.

[drumpriest]

I probably forward this once every other week or so. Check out the tutorials that are available RIGHT HERE on BT3!

This one I did on edge jointing with a router for making large glue-ups. Works fine for smaller stuff too.

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=27458

[cbrown]

Now, I've got the 4" face to get squared up. How do I safely and effectively get that side squared up? I could see standing the piece on the 1" edge but not sure how you'd anchor it properly while pushing it through to ensure a straight cut. Maybe I'm missing something there.

To flatten a 4" face, you need to use a hand plane or (possibly) set up a pair of rails and use a router to flatten it.

It is a lot easier, IMO, to create a straight edge on a crooked piece of wood then it is to flatten out a cupped face.

Chris

[Uncle Cracker]

It is a lot easier, IMO, to create a straight edge on a crooked piece of wood then it is to flatten out a cupped face.

No doubt about it, particularly with a limited tool collection...

[rnelson0]

If you really need a jointer and planer, see if you can rent shop time at Woodcraft or the local high school wood shop. I think just imagining you trying to face joint a 1x4x96 plank with a table saw is probably giving a bunch of people a heart attack just about now.

Yeah, I didn't think through what I was saying when I wrote it, but obviously cutting 8' like that, particularly of 1x4, would be heart-attack worthy!

So that explains how to get the proper joint. Now, how do I handle the slightly twisted (not the totally deranged) pieces of lumber that I need to be flat? It's the 4" or 6" side that I'm having problems with in this case. For the moment, assume that it won't be nailed down onto something, maybe used as a shelf or only attached on one side, so fasteners won't flatten it.



And another question about wood. What I bought was the generic 1x4, 1x6 lumber. I've got some issues with some 2x4's as well, but not quite as much. It seems to be mostly the 1" boards. When I am ready to tackle, say, a bookshelf, what kind of lumber do I want to use to avoid warping as much as possible. For something in the bedroom I'll be looking at a hardwood, but for a shop case, what materials would work and still be reasonably cheap? Would plywood and MDF of appropriate thickness (1/2" and above?) be straight and without warp? Would they hold that shape? Or should I be looking at hardwoods even for 1x4's?


I finished that crappy little stool/ladder and the belt sander got the wobble out. It's still horribly out of square, but I feel safe sitting on it and it's no longer a rocking stool. I can't wait to build something a little more exciting, once I learn what to make it out of

[drumpriest]

I've built quite a few plywood bookcases. Plywood tends to be better behaved than some woods, but still isn't greatly behaved. In the case of a bookcase though, your joinery will help it to behave. You would typically use dado joints for "fixed" shelves at the top and bottom, and the middle for tall bookcases. This creates a nice torsion frame that will help keep things straight. You will also have a back panel, that will ensure that things remain square and help keep things straight.

Even for bookcases in the house, I usually use hardwood veneer plywood. I've made some solid wood ones as well, but I honestly don't see a big advantage in using a hardwood other than having to deal with edges being exposed. Mostly I don't see this as a problem as my bookcases are designed to hold a lot of...well...books, as opposed to lighter objects. So I face my shelves with 3/4" thick x 1" wide stock or so, which stiffens up the shelves to carry a lot.

Here are a couple done in BORG oak ply and solid oak faces....

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=24732

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=16635

Hope that helps.

[poolhound]

Rob,

Most of the lumber that you will find at HD (other than the expensive hardwood) is quite low grade and intended more for construction it will still have quite a high moisture content especially the 2x4s. The clear pine is not too bad.

Your ID doesnt indicate where in the country you are. If you let the folks here know where you live I am sure you can get many reccomendations where to go to get good wood. Even if you dont have a planer most places will face plane for you. You can edge joint on the TS or router but they will do that for you as well if you want and it would still be cheaper than the Borg.

For basic HWood here in AZ I can get poplar for $1.60bf (rough) or less (HD= >$4.00)

The foundation of any woodworking project no matter how small is square flat material. Using anything with a warp will lead to hours of frustration. I know I have been there :-)

good luck and keep posting your questions, this is a great group and are happy to help.

Jon

[Anna]

Full disclosure: I'm pretty much a newbie, too, so take my advice with a huge grain of salt. Or hope that someone corrects me if I say something incorrect.


I know some people use solid wood for shelves, but most of the ones I've read use plywood, melamine or MDF. There's generally less movement of the wood, and there's less chance of the wood warping, etc. For nicer projects, they just edge the shelf with real wood.

For the shop, I'm pretty sloppy and I just leave the plywood edge alone. If you want inspiration, look up Rod Kirby's shop pictures online (although I have to warn you that he has magical powers: his shop always looks pristine and his shop cabinets look better than most people's house cabinets).

There are sag calculators online to let you know how much a certain length of a certain thickness of a material will sag with a given load. For shelves, at a minimum you'll probably want 3/4" thick plywood for up to about 2 feet long. The thicker the shelf, the less sag over longer lengths.

Building shop shelving is a great way to practice. My first shop cabinets were hopelessly out of square. It got better as I built more. Oh, and they were mostly out of 3/4" plywood because plywood is cheap and it doesn't produce as much dust as MDF. I did build a jointer cabinet with MDF which surprisingly came out okay. But I avoid MDF when I can because of the dust.

For the board faces, you really have no choice. You either use a jointer or you use a plane. When I started setting up my shop a couple years ago (and not knowing much about woodworking at all), I used my husband's power planer to flatten out my stock. It wasn't perfect. The 4x4 that I used for my bench legs were not exactly square, but it was good enough.

You can get a hand plane, but that requires some practice which, if you are like I was, you probably don't have the patience for right now. I've also read of using a router to joint the face using a jig, but you'll need a flat bench and also know how to build the jig. I never did get around to doing that one. My husband flattened a laminated bench top with a belt sander, so you can also try that. And finally, just go and rent a jointer and planer from either Woodcraft or the local high school wood shop. Or make friends with guys in your area who own more tools than you do.

One last option: if you have two boards that are both cupped, you can attach them face to face with the cupped faces in opposite directions. The cupping tends to cancel each other out. I only did this once, and it did work. But it's never wise to extrapolate from a single data point.

Lastly, if you are at all unsure about anything, do keep asking questions here. And make sure you know all the safety stuff. (Sorry for sounding like a mother hen. I just can't get that face-jointing-with-a-table-saw image out of my mind. )