ordering wood....for plans

[Patrick Melchior]

hello,

this is a very basic simple question and I'm not afraid to ask it. I am planning to build a bed for my son with his help. I have the plans and the cut list that lists all the dimensions of the wood. Do I give the plans to the lumber yard and have them figure how of each dimension I need?

thank you for your time

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Patrick, I wouldn't do that.

Are you purchasing rough material that needs jointing/planing?

If so, bring your list, a tape measure and a small handplane.

Ask permission of the owner before you check anything with your plane.

I plane a couple of little skips along the board to check grain, and decide which pieces of the project the piece would be good for.

Always buy more wood than you need, since you may not like the grain or colour once it's all prepped, so you want a couple of spare lengths for contingency.



regards, Rod.

[Lee Schierer]

You can, but they may just hand them back to you. You need to figure out what sort of material they carry and determine what you want and need to buy. You can optimize your cutting with a program like Sheetlayout to minimize your waste when cutting smaller pieces from longer or larger stock. Some lumber places sell dimensioned stock, some sell rough cut, some sell what is referred to as S2S whichhas the faces smooth and the edges are rough. In any event take your plans with you and see what they come up with. Where I buy my dimensioned hardwood, I generally get more for my money becuase I can use their short pieces 2.5-4 feet) for making cabinets and such. The building contractors all want 8 foot and longer pieces.

Depending on your level of experience you may want to order about 10% more than you think you need in case of an oops. It may save you a trip back to the lumber yard.