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Thread: What size lumber do you WISH you could find?

  1. #1

    What size lumber do you WISH you could find?

    I have both a large cherry and a large walnut log that look like they could yield whatever size pieces I want. I already have loads of 4/4 and a fair amount of 8/4 stock, just like every other vendor. I even have a few 4x4s set aside.

    So what size should I cut? If you have not remembered any of my once-a-month posts around here , I am talking about an urban log recycling business that occassionally saws up a few boards. Heck, we probably only have 18,000 bf on the 'dry' racks or air drying. Okay, I confess - I have a wood problem and buyers haven't kept up with the sawing. This wood will not be for my own use.

    The limit on width is probably around 18-20". My first thought on wide wood is table tops, which suggests 6/4 or maybe 8/4. I am inclined towards 6/4 since it is a choice that is more rarely found elsewhere and I figure that is our niche. But then cabriole legs want 3x3 or 4x4s, right? And you don't see that at many lumber yards around here. Really thick material of course is harder to dry and thus would deserve a premium price, but who wants to wrestle a 16" wide 12/4 - 8 footer? I have not had anyone ask me for a mantle piece in two years.

    Help me decide! Big clear cherry and walnut: what size would you be ecstatic to discover?

    [This is not a solicitation - we do not ship smaller orders anyway]

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Chappell Hill, Texas
    Posts
    4,741
    Tom, when I was deep into having logs sawed up, I quickly made the realization that just "sawing for regular, normal, boring lumber" was a waste of my time and money.

    Then, I went for the oddities - figure, width, thickness, grain patterns, etc. You never know - that log may be hollow!

    Wide wood is always desireable in my book. 6/4 & 8/4 is nice for a tabletop, but I would leave a natural edge on those pieces and let the buyer come to the idea of an organically shaped tabletop.

    Sometimes I cut certain sizes just so my stack would stack nicely. ("Hey Sawyer - I need 3 more 5/4, then let's change to 8/4", or so on.)

    Wide walnut is great, but quartersawn walnut is not as pretty (figure-full) as flatsawn. Same with cherry. Unless, you're going to go to the trouble and keep them in a flitch and numbered as the come off the saw and onto the drying stack.

    Oak - I go with quartersawn everytime - the wider the better.

  3. #3
    I just saw a wide walnut slab at my supplier. Man did I want to pick it up. I would say that wide 8/4 would be my choice.
    Jeff Sudmeier

    "It's not the quality of the tool being used, it's the skills of the craftsman using the tool that really matter. Unfortunately, I don't have high quality in either"

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Philadelphia, Pa
    Posts
    2,266
    If you are going to make some leg stock (and I would if I were you), then I would pay attention to the grain. I only use rift sawn for 12/4 or 16/4 leg stock.
    Alan Turner
    Philadelphia Furniture Workshop

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Griswold Connecticut
    Posts
    6,927
    Tom. I find the most desirable size is 8/4, as wide as you can get it, and as long as practical. I've been building a desk /shelving unit lately and have had a heck of time finding wide Jatoba that was over 8 ft, and I needed at least 10ft finished. I also have found a need for 4x4's that had to be 48" long to cut down for newel posts. I say 48" because it has been my experience that the first 6" on either end is generally waste due to one defect or the other.
    By the way, what is considered a "small order"?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Granbury, TX
    Posts
    1,458
    Tom,

    I specialize in wide cherry, at least I try to...

    If the cherry is under 15" wide, saw it 4/4, or 8/4, as you prefer.

    If it is in the 15-22" range, saw it at least 5/4. I was told by Hearne or Groff that once you get it that wide, you need it a little thicker, so it will either cup less, or the cupping that you invariably get will plane out.

    So, if you want to set that wide cherry aside for me, saw the widest boards 5/4, and I'll be by in a year or so to pick it up. (if it is really nice, I am serious)

    For a kitchen table, 6/4 would probably be best, and I would plane it down to about an inch and a quarter.

    For table legs, it is important for the grain to be straight, and as you look at the end of the 2" square, the growth rings should run from corner to corner.
    That makes for a uniform appearance on all 4 sides. The problem is, if you flat saw an 8/4 board, you only get "perfect" leg blanks from the outer 4 inches or so of the board, then you are left with a narrow, 8/4 strip down the middle. A while back, Popular WW had an article about how to get 4 matching legs from a 16/4 blank. It was a really neat idea, but I rarely see 16/4 cherry, and when I do, it either has too much sap, or costs a fortune.

    Let me know when my cherry is dry...
    Martin, Granbury, TX
    Student of the Shaker style

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