Off The Rack vs Tailor Made

Off The Rack vs Tailor Made

Most of us, when we get to making a solid wood pieces, as opposed to ply
and face frame, start with “off the rack” stock (S4S boards bought at
The Borg, “lumber store” or perhaps from a lumber yard that deals mainly
with construction material). Typically the wood is 3/4” thick - or
less. If we want to make something that is greater than 3/4” thick we
have to fake it - tapered legs made of four mitered edge pieces glued
together, maybe some molding/ trim around a fire place mantle or table
top, etc.) Long shaped parts that must be thicker than 3/4” - a chair’s
rear legs, a contoured solid wood chair seat, a tall curved leg, a
cabriolet leg and the like aren’t even on the To Do list. Granted, you
can mail order cabriolet legs, but you have to take what you get.

By the time you get to making solid wood furniture you’ve probably
already acquired a good table saw, joiner and planer and the basic hand
tools that allow for more interesting joinery than biscuits or pocket
screws, - chisels, a mallet or two, hand planes, marking knife/knives,
try square, bevel gauge, a dovetail saw or a dozuki and maybe a saber
saw or even a bandsaw for curves. Eventually though, “off the rack”
wood can box you in, 3/4” thickness limits things.

BUT - if you have the patience, and access to a good sawyer, whole new
possibilities open up. Patience because you may have to wait a year or
two to use the wood, have a place to keep it flat and dry and spend time
prepping it for final use. But a good sawyer will cut to your specified
dry size, share experience with, and knowledge of, stuff he cuts AND, if
you’re willing to sacrifice board width or waste some wood, get you the
best pieces out of a log. That also opens up the option for bookmatched
boards, resawing and more. If you need the best stock for the long
slightly curved rear legs of a chair idea you have, a crotch section at
8/4 or thicker can provide grain that follows that curve, or inspire a
leg shape.

Of course, when you move away from “off the rack” stock and straight
parts, a bandsaw becomes a “must have” tool. The resulting design
possibilities that open up boggle the mind. And while your wood is
drying, you’ll have plenty of time to think of what it will become
because it will help you by whispering in your ear. Stand two or three
slabs up against the wall, stand back and get into a conversation.

If you’ve started with wood a step or two before Off the Rack, how did
it change your design approach? What did it do to your joinery
repetoire
(I’m thinking of the Maloof leg to chair seat blended joint). Did it
change your edge treatments from square, chamfered or quarter round to
more sculpted, blended? Did it cause you to “waste” more wood to get
the parts you wanted to have the right grain? (Since most of us don’t
seem to be able to throw away “good wood” - little of what is initially
“waste” is actually wasted).

I raise this subject because of my recent acquistion of an en boule log,
four nice claro walnut slabs and a bunch of stuff that’s definietly not
“off the shelf”. (See Got Wood? In a.b.p.w.)

Now I look for sawyer sites - and drool. If some of them started
sending out Lee Valley type catalogues I’m sure their business would
boom - and a new term would enter the woodworker’s lexicon - wood porn.
And the term “woody / woodie” would take on a whole new meaning. Here
are two worth checking out,

http://www.bakerhardwoods.com/figured.html
(this one will take a while to load. Check out the whole site)

watch the line wrap on this one)
http://www.hearnehardwoods.com/Inventory/InventoryLinks/WoodoftheMonth.html

charlie b