Читать книгу Practical Weekend Projects for Woodworkers - Phillip Gardner - Страница 28

Essentially there are two types of lumber: softwood and hardwood. Hardwood is by far the more expensive, but for some furniture it is the only realistic material. Softwood includes the various species of pine and is sold in a vast array of stock sizes and qualities. It is sold as either “sawn”—unfinished and rough—or S4S (“surfaced,” or planed, on all four sides). The size quoted is always of the rough lumber before it was planed. When the lumber has been planed on all four faces to achieve the S4S state, the section has been reduced by about ³/₁₆ in. (5 mm) in both directions; 2 × 2 in. (50 × 50 mm) S4S is, in fact, about 1 ¾ × 1 ¾ in. (45 × 45 mm). Only buy sawn lumber if you want to feature the rough finish, as with the Corner Cupboard here.

For simple tasks, such as the Kid’s Bed here you can buy S4S lumber from an ordinary building supply store or a DIY store. However, always remember that the stock size will have lost that few millimeters!

In the main, buy your lumber from a good local building supply store or lumberyard. These should have a policy of allowing you to select your own lumber, and you’ll soon develop a good relationship with the sales staff. If you tell them what you need the wood for (furniture), they will help you select the best lengths and quality. Look for defects such as splits, cupping (warping across the width), winding, large knots, and small black dead knots, and politely reject any lumber of this sort.

The sources above are also the places to buy beading, moldings, dowel rods, and boards or sheet material. Many places will cut boards to size, although they may insist that you buy the entire sheet when cut.

Prior to starting work, lumber should be left in the workshop or home for a week or so, to acclimatize to the ambient temperature. Always stack your wood flat and support it well.

For hardwoods and paper-backed or iron-on veneers, you will need to visit a more specialized store; these are usually advertised in woodworking magazines. A visit to your local cabinetmaker will prove useful, since they often sell on small quantities of excess lumber at reasonable rates. The same criteria regarding defects and storage apply as to softwoods.

Of the boards used in this book, MDF (medium-density fiberboard) is a smooth, highly stable board that finishes very well. Always check that the corners haven’t been damaged or that steel packing bands have not destroyed the edges, and reject any board that is offered with these defects. Shuttering plywood is probably the cheapest form of board available, used in the construction industry for boarding up and making molds for pouring concrete. Only use this board when the surface will be completely covered, as in the Kitchen Sink Makeover here.

Birch-faced plywood is a reasonably priced board with a surface that will rarely require more than a light sanding in preparation.

You can, of course, use reclaimed materials. Purchase them from a respectable seller, or better still, keep your eyes open for building sites where places are being renovated—restaurant and bar refurbishments tend to be the most rewarding hunting grounds. Just ask the site foreman what is being sold off: hardwood doors, counters, and strip flooring are firm favorites. You will have to arrange transportation and storage and then undertake the onerous task of de-nailing, which is extremely tedious, but you’ll save a fortune.

Hardwoods: 1 burr maple, 2 ash, 3 walnut, 4 American oak, 5 maple, 6 mahogany

Hardwood and softwood moldings and pine, shown here in both sawn and S4S states

Sheet materials: 1 Paper-backed veneer, 2 birch-faced plywood, 3 MDF, and 4 shuttering plywood are the sheet materials used in this book.