I “Play” with wood and am by no means a “Wood craftsman” and only have a marginal understanding of grades etc.
So can some explain to me why I can buy a 2" x 12" x 8’ #2 or better board, I’m assuming based for construction, for cheaper than I can buy a 1" x 12" x 8’ of any grade?
Furthermore does anyone sell 1" x 12" x 8’ at the same grade as the 2" version?
Seems to me that buying twice the volume of wood at less cost just doesn’t make sense especially when by looks, number of knots, cracks, warp, bow etc the construction lumber seems to be as good of quality or better than the lower grades of the 1" versions.
I’m making some stuff that is not “Cabinet grade” by any means. Just can’t have huge loose knot holes and cracks in it. Would be nice to pay .30-.40$ a board foot like the 2" rather than .75-1.00$ for the 1".
A lumber yard should sell you based on MBF (1000 board feet), (1) nominal 1x12x1’ = 1 MBF (144 in^3).
I called a couple lumber yards and they are more expensive than the big box store. Big box doesn’t “Grade” it’s 1" boards so I can’t really compare. They have “Select”, “Quality” and “Standard”. The Lumber yard was ~40-50% more for a #1 grade than the Big boxes “Quality” board.
The Big boxes “Quality” 1" x 12" x 8’ is ~40% more than the same stores 2" x 12" x 8" “construction lumber”. The big boxes “Standard” board, which IMO, is of a lesser quality than the construction lumber is still ~25% more than the 2" x 12" x 8’ construction lumber. So the crappiest 1" board is 25% more than 2X the volume of wood in the construction lumber.
If I could figure out a way to accurately rip the 2" in half I could save myself a ton of money
Are the 2x plain sawn and the 1x quartersawn?
by looking at them I’d say they are all plain sawn.
Your construction stuff is SPF (Spruce/Pine/Fir) - whatever is cheapest and rarely pine, especially at wider dimensions.
Your 1x12 will be pine, which is pricier. It needs to have a relatively stable grain to avoid warping and cupping, so the loss rate is pretty high. Also, narrow diemensions will move more readily than thicker dimensions. You would really not want to use spruce or fir for basic cabinet work.
If you actually did rip the wider stock ( and you would need a pretty good dedicated resaw band saw to do it well, plus a planer/thicknesser that could handle the width, you would probably find your relatively straight 2" board is going to twist over a couple of days or weeks once you cut it down. I generally find a lot of the wood in big box a bit high in moisture content.
Don’t search out lumber yards - search out lumber mills. Many yards only have simple cutting capabilities,if you go to a mill you may be able to get what you need for relatively cheap.
Is this basic indoor cabinetry (book shelf type of thing) - if so you need to also be carefully with your finishing in pine, unless your are just going to go for a clear varnish.
Is this basic indoor cabinetry (book shelf type of thing)
No, bee hives.The woods goes all over anyway because the inside is not finished at all. The outside I just used a decking stain. The only “Necessity” is that the wood is relatively flat and that there aren’t any large knot holes, loose knots that will fall out or cracks.
I actually use 2 x 8 construction lumber planed down to 1 3/8 for the ends of the hive frames and it works fine. The boxes themselves I used the 1" x 12" and 1" x 10" boards for my last ones I built, but am looking for something less expensive.
It needs to have a relatively stable grain to avoid warping and cupping,
This is an issue mostly for the construction. I do finger joints to make the hive bodies, basically boxes that are 16 1/4 x 19 7/8** **by 9 5/8 tall and 6 1/4 tall. If the boards are horrifically bowed it’s tough to get a decent joint and it leaves a gap, which isn’t good but something I can live with if it’s not too terrible. The bees fill it up anyway.
If you actually did rip the wider stock
I doubt that would work. With an 1/8 blade that would leave me with 11/16" thick wood under “Perfect” conditions. Likely I’d be under 5/8 when all was said and done and that’s getting too think for what I’m doing from a fit and function stand point.
I’ll look into the link you gave me. I’ve actually been looking for mills and it seems they either don’t deal with pine and specialize in hard woods or only offer very high grade pine. I’m looking for a “Construction lumber mill” that sells cheap ass wood in 1" sizes
Have you checked into finger jointed Radiata Pine? Our local plywood specialty store carries it at a fairly decent price and it might work for your application.
If your Resawing the 2 by down, you would use a bandsaw and the blade is a lot less than 1/8".
Call your nearest mill and talk to them about the least expensive 1x knot free they could get you. They might have some extra stuff or not moving stuff they could mill cheaply for you. Or ask them how much to mill a 2x down to 1x if you bring it in. Most will do it for a very small fee.
Have you thought of using hardwood plywood. You can by 7 or 9 ply Maple or Birch and get iron-on maple edging veneer. I used to make the shelves and cases in all my kitchen and bathroom cabinets…
Probably would, but it appears more expensive than the wood. 69.99$ for a 4’ x 8’ sheet versus 10.49$ for a 1 x 12 x 8 board. 2.18$ per square foot for the plywood. 1.40$ per sqft for the board.
I got a quote from a lumber mill I found online for 1.25$ a board foot for 4/4 rough cut Red Elm, but they are claiming it’s a lot that is 75% select. A select 1 x 12 x 8 is crazy expensive like 32$, 4$ a board foot. That seems like a good deal for select, but they didn’t have any “Lesser quality”.
