Surfacing Rough Lumber/Identifying Lumber Defects

The first step in our folding stool building project will be to surface rough lumber for our use.

We have already started by cross-cutting 10′ boards to shorter lengths for ease of jointing and planing.

Take some time today to read the information at the links below and then answer the following questions. Please email your responses to me at mrdarling@mrdarling.com

1. Jointing and Planing Rough Lumber: This is a detailed overview of the process of finishing rough lumber. We will follow a similar process when we begin finishing our lumber.

a. What are some advantages of working with rough lumber?

b. What are the disadvantages of working with rough lumber?

c. What machines are required to surface rough lumber?

d. Briefly describe the 8 steps of surfacing rough lumber outlined in the article.

2. Identifying Wood Defects: Read this article about common wood defects and answer the following:

a. Some people say that “Lumber just isn’t as good as it used to be”. Why is that?

b. What are the potential problems in using “heavy” lumber?

c. What is cupped lumber? What is problematic about using it?

d. What is warping? How do you check for warping in lumber?

e. What are wanes? What causes wane?

f. What are knots? Why are large knots a problem?