5/4 Lumber, you may already know this

[Scott Brandstetter]

but wanted to pass along what I learned this morning. I've been asking in other threads about building drawer boxes; what material, thickness, etc. Most have come back that 1/2 inch is the right thickness (I am building bedroom sets and selling them). I've been struggling with the idea of planing, jointing my 4/4 lumber all the way down to 1/2 inch.

Someone mentioned 5/4 lumber and I thought no way this was possible but I called my mill today. Amazingly, they said no problem 20 bf or 2000 bf. Now I can get two 1/2 inches out of it with much less weight.

I might be embarassing myself but I really didn't think a mill would do this for such little amount of bf. Cost of 4/4 is $1.75, cost for 5/4 is $2.00. Problem solved.

[Charles Lent]

Have you asked your mill if they could make 5/8" thick rough stock so you wouldn't need to re-saw it? I get quite a bit of loss from my re-sawing attempts. They may be willing to do this too. You could then just run it a few passes through your planer and then make the drawers from it. I used to live near a family run lumber yard that stocked 1/2" X 10" select and planed fir for their cabinet making customers. It was almost the cost of 3/4" select pine, but well worth it for the ease of using it. That was over 30 years ago and I think I still have some of it left. The drawers in a double wide bathroom vanity that I made for this house all have drawer sides that I made from it.

Charley

[Kent A Bathurst]

scott - is it an actual sawmill, or are you buying from a lumber distributor?

either way - depending on the species, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4 and 8/4 are pretty standard items

[Allan Speers]

What Kent said.

Also, I doubt they are custom-cutting it for you, because then it would be green wood, and you'd have to sticker it for a year or so.


FWIW, I like Charles' idea re getting 5/8" Maple, if possible, and stock it just for drawers. I've always used plywood, but I want to start building nicer stuff. Plus, Maple has considerably less sag than plywood.

[Judson Green]

When I was in the business I would use 1common ash and plane it down to ½". Made lots of shavings but those went to some clients with horses. Don't know if its your thing, but maple is usually available in a 1C and also a brown grade too. The brown grade has, as the name might imply, lots of brown mineral streaking in it- usually used for painted woodwork.

[David Kumm]

I prefer 1" rails and stiles too so I always order 5/4 stock. Thicker stuff is often nicer too as they come from bigger trees. Dave

[Larry Fox]

Another idea. You mention you are making things with drawers and selling them. To me, I have made enough drawers and done the math and for my own situation I can't even come close to these guys when making my own. I also find drawer making thankless work - you might feel otherwise.

http://www.newenglanddrawer.com

great product, great prices, great service - all delivered to your door The economics of scale is a wonderful thing.

This is isn't even close to being related to 5/4 lumber but I thought I would throw it out there.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Another idea. You mention you are making things with drawers and selling them. To me, I have made enough drawers and done the math and for my own situation I can't even come close to these guys when making my own. I also find drawer making thankless work - you might feel otherwise.

http://www.newenglanddrawer.com

great product, great prices, great service - all delivered to your door The economics of scale is a wonderful thing.

This is isn't even close to being related to 5/4 lumber but I thought I would throw it out there.

Larry - did not follow your link, but I get the point.

For a custom piece with one or two drawers - marking tools, handsaws, planes, and chisels. But - If I ever get conned into another kitchen, it is purchased drawers with a 1/8" veneer front. LIfe's too short, and I got nothing to prove.

[Judson Green]

I prefer 1" rails and stiles too so I always order 5/4 stock. Thicker stuff is often nicer too as they come from bigger trees. Dave

Same here regarding the face frame and doors. Actually I made the face frame as thick as would mill proper stock, then milled the door stock down further to accommodate for the bumpers - this was for inset doors.

Drawers I never resawed. Two reasons... 1) was afraid the halves would cup or warp or other wise be no good after and 2) cuz I didn't really have a decent resaw setup, onesie twosie wouldn't have been a problem, but a kitchen worth? No thanks.

[Scott Brandstetter]

Kent, Allan, it is a sawmill but they don't stock anything other than 8/4 or 4/4....it's a small family run place. You've peaked my interest though. When I spoke to them this morning they said they would cut it and then put it in the kiln. Said something about it wouldn't take too long in the kiln to dry. Since I wouldn't be in a hurry, I figured even if it took a month, that would work for me. I would buy enough to last 4-6 months at a time. Does this sound correct or will I be getting wet wood? I could take my meter I guess to read the moisture.

[Allan Speers]

Kent, Allan, it is a sawmill but they don't stock anything other than 8/4 or 4/4....it's a small family run place. You've peaked my interest though. When I spoke to them this morning they said they would cut it and then put it in the kiln. Said something about it wouldn't take too long in the kiln to dry. Since I wouldn't be in a hurry, I figured even if it took a month, that would work for me. I would buy enough to last 4-6 months at a time. Does this sound correct or will I be getting wet wood? I could take my meter I guess to read the moisture.

I forgot about kiln drying. My bad ! The only sawyer I've ever bought from doesn't use a kiln, so this slipped my mind.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Kent, Allan, it is a sawmill but they don't stock anything other than 8/4 or 4/4....it's a small family run place. You've peaked my interest though. When I spoke to them this morning they said they would cut it and then put it in the kiln. Said something about it wouldn't take too long in the kiln to dry. Since I wouldn't be in a hurry, I figured even if it took a month, that would work for me. I would buy enough to last 4-6 months at a time. Does this sound correct or will I be getting wet wood? I could take my meter I guess to read the moisture.

Nah - you'll be fine - but you should ask him what MC% you will see on the 5/4 out of the kiln - that's a reasonable question for anyone to ask.

[Jim Andrew]

Drawer material is usually a problem for me, so this spring I sawed a bunch of red elm 5/4, figured I could flatten one side, resaw it and have two flat pieces 5/8" thick. Did 22 drawers for my nephews kitchen, some were 12" deep this last winter, hard to find enough stuff to make all those boxes.

[Scott T Smith]

Kent, Allan, it is a sawmill but they don't stock anything other than 8/4 or 4/4....it's a small family run place. You've peaked my interest though. When I spoke to them this morning they said they would cut it and then put it in the kiln. Said something about it wouldn't take too long in the kiln to dry. Since I wouldn't be in a hurry, I figured even if it took a month, that would work for me. I would buy enough to last 4-6 months at a time. Does this sound correct or will I be getting wet wood? I could take my meter I guess to read the moisture.

Scott, I could not find where you indicated what species of wood that you're buying, but usually 5/4 takes about a 20% longer than 4/4 to dry. For resawing purposes, it is critical that the lumber have the same MC% in the core as it does on the shell, otherwise the resawn boards will cup coming off of the resaw. If you are buying flat sawn oak, the typical kiln schedule calls for at least 5 weeks for 5/4 material. Quartersawn material requires about 10% - 15% greater drying time.

If you go with the thinner stock, it is more difficult to dry straight (5/8" thickness). 11/16 - 3/4" is about as thin as you can dry flat, and that requires perfect stickering.

Most mills charge the same for lumber < 1" thick as they do for 1" stock. The reason why is that it costs them the same in labor and milling related costs to mill 3/4 as it does to mill 1", so usually the milling cost per board foot is the same for any material 1" and less.

Thicker boards cost more due to the increased costs in handling them, plus the fact that the drying costs are much greater per bd ft for 4/3 and 8/4 than they are for 4/4.

[Peter Quinn]

Ime splitting 5/4, even well dried KD material, is not a perfect solution to the drawer box problem. That only leaves you 1/8" to flatten and dress both faces.It doesn't always stay flat over its length and can bow enough over its length to render it useless. Maybe not every board, but enough to influence your waste factor. At least you can use ruined re saw material for fuel versus shavings from 4/4. But for ordering purposes do consider the potential waste. I've heard of drawer box companies ordering loads of thinner material, like heavy 3/4? Like Scott said there are limits to how thin they can dry and it's a lot more handling, it only works at a certain scale. I'm interested to see how this works out for you. The shop I'm in makes maybe 20 to 150 drawer boxes in a given month, 5/8 thickness, splitting stock has never worked well for us.