making furniture for my new house

[marknotts]

Hiya, I've been looking all around youtube and found various vids which have helped me somewhat, I've managed to make 3 1930's style doors which I am happy with apart from the slight bows which are not too noticable unless you look for them! , but there are a few projects I have in mind like a king size bed frame, kitchen table plus chairs, coffee table, tv stand/cupboard and the list goes on...

the only problem I have is getting straight wood and keeping it straight!

I live in an end terrace house and the kitchen is large where I do all my woodwork untill the house is done, then I will be looking to build a small workshop at the bottom of the garden, the neighbors are cool about a little noise and mitre saw/band saw is not complained about but I do not have the money or neighbors leniant enough for a waling banshee of a jointer and thicknesser, I have seen jointers and thicknessers online that are a lot quieter but are around 4x the cost.

pine bows way too much and buying a length at 20mm thick to get the bow/cup out of it once aclimatized would reduce it to 10mm thick if lucky ( the pain to make door panels for the 3 doors was quite large ) , or to get the bowing out of a length of say 44x94x2400 would probably reduce it to say 20x94x2400 which is a lot of sawdust and waste.

I need advice on what species of wood to buy for an absolute minimum twist/bow/cup , or even another option like good choices of sheet panels that are solid wood laminated not just mdf/chip vaneered, also is there any good online places where I can buy lengths of wood that are already proccessed ie properly acclimatized then planed/thickened?

any help would be appreciated.

MarkNotts.

 

[marknotts]

youtube/watch?v=bYn_uFTw3NQ

something like this by using a router and a jig setup could be used as a rough planer/thicknesser with bow in air and wedges underneith so gravity does not take some of the bow out on timber that is fairly straight in the first place, but it's just gettign the wood in the first place thats useable

 

[Cheshirechappie]

If noise is an issue - and if one wants to maintain good relations with one's neighbours, it is - it's probably best to avoid hand power planers, which produce a peculiarly penetrating and annoying noise, and hand power routers which are also rather noisy, and messy. Fixed machines are also not really an option in a kitchen - even a large one (fixed machines also create a lot of dust and chippings which need either a proper dust extraction system or a LOT of cleaning up afterwards!).

It is possible to buy planed softwoods and hardwoods, but as they tend to be pushed through machines in bulk, surface finish is sometimes not all one might desire. There is also the problem of timber being planed up in a draughty, damp old workshop somewhere, and distorting as it settles to the dryer, warmer environment of a house. Some timber can warp, twist, split and shrink a lot. It's always a much better plan to bring timber into it's final environment in the rough state, allow it to acclimatise and move for a few weeks, and then finish it to size once it's settled.

Have you considered hand planing? Quite decent planes can be had for much less than most power tools, the mess is much more manageable (dustpan and brush), it's quiet and it's versatile. A simple bench helps, but it is possible without one. It's not as frightening a skill as perhaps you might think - and a properly set up jack plane can shift a lot of wood surprisingly quickly. The capacity to prepare your own stock is very liberating as a woodworker, and a gateway to things you never though you were capable of.

That allows you to buy decent sawn softwoods such as unsorted redwood (which is the best grade of redwood, far fewer knots and other faults than other grades), and sawn hardwoods; much more satisfying to work than DIY shed sheet-goods or PAR softwoods, and generally far cheaper than buying planed timber.

 

[rdesign]

another option if buying pre prepped wood is to laminate two boards together back to back which will stabilize the board.

a jack plane or a number 7 hand plane is probably your best option.

birch plywood is an option but its fairly expensive .

good luck
regards richard.

 

[RobinBHM]

Selecting and planing timber to a cutting list is one of the fundamentals of woodworking. Its not easy when trying to make something and having to rely on pre planed timber.

Planed softwood is prepared in long lengths through a 4 sider and although they have straightening tables, the feed wheels tend to flatten out twists and bows. The timber then sits in a rack at a merchant -not a great recipe for flat timber.

If you can find a merchant that will allow you to select timber can help. The skill is to choose straight grained timber, not too bowed and the best pieces selected for door stiles, bed rails etc.

If you could find a local joinery shop that is friendly they may be able to plane up timber for you

 

[Job and Knock]

For stable pine board to make furniture have you considered pine board? Ron Currie local to you does it in a variety of sizes at 18mm thickness. Good on price, too

 

[no idea]

I made my king size bed with ash sourced from timbercut4u - it was all planed to size by them and none of it has/was distorted. However, I did order the timber and build the bed during the summer so I don't know how much of a factor this was in preventing any bowing etc. The wood was stored in the house and all the woodwork was done outside at the time.

 

[dzj]

If noise is an issue, then go for hand tools.
Chopping mortises by hand in a terrace house kitchen can be rather annoying for the neighbors also.

As said above, if you have a band saw, always better to buy rough sawn and prepare your own stock.
When possible, choose quarter sawn timber.

 

[marknotts]

thanks for all the good advice there is a lot I didn't think of

the points made by RobinBHM and dzj, I didn't think of the way that logs are cut, all the wood I have been getting so far I assume anyway has been plainsawn instead of quartersawn ( yes I had to google quartersawn and the diagrams make sense why wood bows/cups ) so no more going to wickes!

on a side note I drive an artic for a living and I have collected from Vida at Chatham Docks to deliver to SCA at stoke on trent a few times, that timber is destined for wickes, the way the timber is stored at chatham afrter planing for the most part is not under cover, and carried by me and others on a flat bed trailer then stored outside again so no wonder we have the problems with planed off the shelf wickes/B&Q timber

I had some wood I thought was great at the time for the doors, 50x200x2400 that I used for the bottom and middle of the doors, thankfully I made the doors the next day because now the timbers are cut tenoned and glued and hung they are still straight, the spare I have is now bowed to hell and sticking them over a jointer would reduce the thickness to around 45mm, anyway I ramble on

I have concidered hand planing and tried it, tbh I could not get the wood straight, highs ended up lower than the lows and then the same again when I tried to remedy, I forgot to mention that I have a couple of routers and I have made a router table top to fit on my workmate, I experimented with a router jointer setup from an izzy swan video to edge joint using a long straight bit and shims that vary by approx 1mm and it did a good job, the routers I have I can vary the speed and having them set at notch 2 makes them quieter although a little longer to use, though the stock width jointing is limited by the obvious height of the router bit.

I guess I will have to find a workshop in Nottingham that will allow me to use their jointer/thicknesser or even for a fee do it for me on good quality quartersawn timber, I'll store the timber for a few weeks at mine before taking there

oh thanks job and knock for the link about pine board that will save me a lot of time on some furniture like the tv stand to buy boards already made ready to cut rather than straightening and laminating them altogether myself.

 

[marknotts]

and the doors I keep mentioning

 

[yetloh]

Reliably straight softwood is available but, in general, not from the big sheds. The best way of identifying good suppliers locally is to speak to some local joinery outfits to find out where they source theirs from - these people won't put up with being sold rubbish.

Jim

 

[Job and Knock]

I guess I will have to find a workshop in Nottingham that will allow me to use their jointer/thicknesser or even for a fee do it for me on good quality quartersawn timber, I'll store the timber for a few weeks at mine before taking there

Don't take this the wrong way, but anyone running a shop would need to be barking mad to allow a non-employee to use what is by and large relatively dangerous kit - that's both on H&S and insurance grounds. Even if you are a qualified wood machinist (often a requirement nowadays) it's still very iffy

 

[disco_monkey79]

Those doors look great - good work.

If they're slightly bowed I shouldn't worry - I bought original 30's doors in that pattern, and they're bowed all to hell. Yours are just very authentic to the period! ;-)

 

[Wizard9999]

Mark

If you are in Nottingham this may be of interest...

http://rentabenchnottingham.co.uk/

Wizard9999

 

[marknotts]

ha ha, good point disco on the bowing, so I can say my doors so far are authentic bowed

job and knock plus wizard thanks for the info, I have found a place in Hucknall, Nottingham that rents out workshop space plus the machines for £30 a day which to me seems a really nice price for the use of the workshop and all of the gear in there, I am sure I will be able to joint and thicken all the wood I need for a kitchen table and double kingsize bed frame in a day for £30 plus also laminate the table top aswell using their clamps, I'm sure if they have a van also I will be able to pay for delivery of the table top and timber to my house in Long Eaton as the car is not THAT big for a table top

for anyone else near or in nottingham the link is here.. http://hudsoncarpentry.co.uk/rental.php , I have e-mailed them already about supplying the wood but they are not a supplier, I found this site for quarter sawn oak http://www.quartersawnoak.co.uk/ , it will be about £420 for the wood needed just for the tressle table though, the 6 chairs will be later as I already have the chairs with a heavy scratched and damaged table, I have some saving to do but a 2mx1m oak table in the design I want to make for £420 ish is good

the dimensions were a guess because I was designing this in the truck somewhere in the uk I can't remember now, maybe plymouth but the finished dimensions will be 2mx1mx0.7m , the table top won't be so thick either, it will be 1 inch thick so about 25mm which is the same as the table I have at the moment, the idea of the cut outs which will be a lot less sever is to slide the chairs into them when the table is not in use,thus being able to push it further into the corner of the kitchen, plus also give it a different look to the usual oval or bevel edged rectangle tables, the table saw/sanding and router will get a heavy work out

 

[RobinBHM]

As a joiner, I actually wont make external doors in softwood anymore. There is just too much movement.

For the internal doors like you have made, I would use engineered softwood, which is made of 3 thinner pieces of timber and laminated. It is much more stable, especially for the stiles. Bottom rails made of 200 x 50 always cup, so I woild either use engineered or glue up 2 pieces of 100 x 50 or even 3 bits of 67mm wide timber.

Timber shrinks most in a tangential direction, so if you look the end of a board, the "smiley face" will always try and straighten out when shrinkage occurs. Hence the reason it is best for floorboards to be laid smiley face up, as a floorboard is better convex than concave.

Regarding your proposed table, I wouldnt worry about using quatersawn material, movement in the timber in this instance wont give you the same problems as in a door. Quartersawn oak has a particular grain pattern that you may not like, perdonally I would choose crown cut oak, possibly with cats paw figuring for the table. Be aware that once you have glued up the top, when you arent working on it, leave it covered on both sides with some sheet material, or wrap it in plastic. If you leave it on a workbench or leaning somewhere, one side will dry out more than the other and you will soon have a bowed top.

Im sure Ive seen Hudson joinery on this or another forum