Michael10101 Posted May 31, 2014 Report Share Posted May 31, 2014 Howdy everyone, This chair is going to be my first attempt at a real project. I've been watching in the back ground saving for a few tools and now I have them. Anyway, I live in the boonies and it's hard to get anything other than basic pine, cedar and some redwood. I would like to try cedar b/c I have the options of 1 or 2 inch thick boards. The problem is that finding 5/4 is going to be impossible. Can I just use a 1" board or do I need to mill it down (which seems like a lot of extra work)? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikbrown Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 Are the boards you are buying 1" & 2" in the rough? Or have they been milled down to 3/4" and 1.5"? If your board is really 1" then you are fine... but most 1" softwood you buy is actually 3/4" thick. The reason for buying 5/4 is so after milling you can get 1" thick boards out of it. You might be able to make adjustments to the plan to make it work with boards that are > 1" but the visual proportions may be a bit off. Finding hardwood lumber mills and dealers is sometimes difficult... but even when I lived in rural TN I managed to find a mill that had a few basic hardwoods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael10101 Posted June 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 The wood will definitely be rough cut, and milling it down would be required. I'm just worried about milling down so much would, I didn't know if people really did that or if it would be detrimental to the tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewoodwhisperer Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 That's what the tools are made to do. The real concern is usually waste. If your 1" boards are actually 3/4", you'll have to mill your 2" thick stock down to 1". Most woodworkers are pretty stingy about wood so if this is the only option you have, you might consider resawing the boards first to reduce them in thickness and then plane to final size. The resaw cut-off will probably be around 1/4"-1/2" thick and can be used for another project some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael10101 Posted June 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 Well, I was thinking that I would get two of the 1"(really .75") boards, glue them together and then mill those down. It won't look near as pretty if it were a solid piece, but who's first projects are perfect? As far as resawing the boards, I'm not sure I have the means to do that. The band saw I have doesn't have the clearance to cut 6" boards. I plan on changing that but getting into wood working is expensive to start out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barron Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 It may be your first "real" project, but you are going to spend a good deal of time and effort on this project. Marc will walk you through it, so you focus you will end up with a really nice chair. Given that, please consider Bell Forest or another online source for your wood if you can't find it locally. With care a first project can be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgreenb Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 It may be your first "real" project, but you are going to spend a good deal of time and effort on this project. Marc will walk you through it, so you focus you will end up with a really nice chair. Given that, please consider Bell Forest or another online source for your wood if you can't find it locally. With care a first project can be great. +1 My first project was the Shaker table guild build (I modified it to be a longer hall table with two drawers). I took my time, used some expensive Cherry, got help from Marc a couple times, and I was very happy with the end result. People were very surprised to hear it was my first project. Like Barron said - you first project can be as great as you want to make it, especially with all the guild content/help. I would consider Bell Forest if I were you. In fact, they are doing free shipping right now for orders over $100. That plus the guild discount makes it an incredibly attractive option I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael10101 Posted June 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 Thanks everyone. I went ahead, bit the bullet, and ordered the cherry from Bellforest. Cannot wait to formally get started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodworker100 Posted June 6, 2014 Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 Have you tried woodfinder.com? I found some off the beaten path lumber places this way. Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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