I did finish this coffee table over the weekend. I don’t know much at all about wood yet but I’m starting to learn Menards Pine kind of sucks depending on what they get in any particular batch from the truck.
Woodworkers Thread
- Thread starter AgronAlum
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I did finish this coffee table over the weekend. I don’t know much at all about wood yet but I’m starting to learn Menards Pine kind of sucks depending on what they get in any particular batch from the truck.
I don't buy any large 2x lumber from Menards because it sucks. Pine warps easily because it isn't kiln dried as much as hardwoods, and they ship it in large bundles, which prevents further drying. Plus it always seems to be flatsawn pieces, which warp the easiest. I always try to cut up any pine I buy right away.
I hear ya. I just am not confident enough in my skills at this point to spend more on wood. That way when I **** something up, I don't feel like I wasted a bunch money. Someday I will get that point where it isn't a big deal.
The other comment with the 2X lumber is when you get it home take it to wherever you'll be doing the work and stack it with thin strips between the layers on the stack (called stickering) and leave it for at least 2 weeks. You'd be shocked by how much it'll move as it acclimates to the humidity level in your house/shop.
Edit: You should do this with any wood not just 2X material, and when you get setup with a jointer/planer it's always a good idea to plane it down to close to your final thickness and sticker your boards for a couple days before planing to final thickness because stuff will move on you no matter how dry you think it is.
This is kind of what I figured. In browsing their website, their stuff appears to be for very advanced woodworkers. To the uninitiated (myself included), those tools are at a level of accuracy that is many, many years of practice away from being useful. I have no doubt they are of the highest quality, though!
Finally completed a woodworking project. It's been a while. Don't tell my wife that I'm more productive when I can't watch sports.
The built ins below are Phase 1. Next Phase is a desk which has started to replace the cheap Walmart desk you see a bit of in the picture.. Phase 3 will be upper cabinets/shelves above Phase 1.
Irony says I'll get the desk done shortly after I go back to work and don't work remotely anymore. Reality says sport come back and I'll finish everything somewhere are 2037.
The built ins below are Phase 1. Next Phase is a desk which has started to replace the cheap Walmart desk you see a bit of in the picture.. Phase 3 will be upper cabinets/shelves above Phase 1.
Irony says I'll get the desk done shortly after I go back to work and don't work remotely anymore. Reality says sport come back and I'll finish everything somewhere are 2037.
I was laid off a few years back for like 2 months and ended up building a wet bar in the basement of my old house. I'd bought the material for it like 6 months prior to losing my job so I'd job hunt for a couple hours every morning and build cabinets until the kids got home from school. I literally finished it 3 days before starting my new job.Finally completed a woodworking project. It's been a while. Don't tell my wife that I'm more productive when I can't watch sports.
The built ins below are Phase 1. Next Phase is a desk which has started to replace the cheap Walmart desk you see a bit of in the picture.. Phase 3 will be upper cabinets/shelves above Phase 1.
Irony says I'll get the desk done shortly after I go back to work and don't work remotely anymore. Reality says sport come back and I'll finish everything somewhere are 2037.
Looks good. But can it do this?Finally completed a woodworking project. It's been a while. Don't tell my wife that I'm more productive when I can't watch sports.
The built ins below are Phase 1. Next Phase is a desk which has started to replace the cheap Walmart desk you see a bit of in the picture.. Phase 3 will be upper cabinets/shelves above Phase 1.
Irony says I'll get the desk done shortly after I go back to work and don't work remotely anymore. Reality says sport come back and I'll finish everything somewhere are 2037.
That's amazing. Though, I imagine in a crisis, it would go something like this:
"Alexa, we need lots of guns!"
[Pause 5 seconds]
"I found four recommendations for pots and pans on amazon, would you like me to order them?"
Lol I saw that. I had a smart home obsession that distracted me from woodworking for a few months this winter. So no that set of cabinets can not, but it’s possible elsewhere in my house.
Good to know. I haven’t been using glue in some end tables and coffee tables I’ve been building. Any problems I should expect over time?
Just plan for movement. I used to think that was poppycock, but I learned the hard way. I’ve had panels secured with mechanical fastners that have done fine (still moves, but no cracks or checks), but have others that cracked widen open. Best thing to do if using screws is to elongate the screw hole a bit to allow seasonal movement. Once I started doing that I never had problems.
It depends a little. As dosry said you have to be aware of seasonal movement and the general advice is to finish both sides. There are places you do and don't need to worry about movement though. Dosry mentioned glued up panels and table tops. Those are definitely ones to plan well for movement. You mentioned backs of projects as well. Say you are making cabinets and you have a 1/4 plywood panel as the back. In that case I don't think you are going to have any problems only finishing the front side.
Understanding wood movement is one of the tricky parts of woodworking and most woodworkers (myself included) have projects that didn't go well in the past and are still learning.
They way I look at it is it's always easier to put finish on before you do assembly because it's so much easier to get good coverage on a single board or panels than it is to try and find a way to stick your brush or sprayer in a little tiny corner. Just make sure to mask off where you'll be gluing when you do it because glue usually won't stick to finish.
I also found this out the hard way. Table top I built last summer I screwed all the 2x6s in and stained the top. Was damn proud of it. Now I realized I really messed it up and can see in between the boards unstained wood. I think I’m gonna sell that one and build another one now that I’ve learned a few things.
