Jakes's Chairs (was Hemlock vs Pine)

Ned Bulken

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Location
Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
Hey gang, I'm thinking a little bit 'ahead' here... I saw a sign at a local lumber yard that they had Hemlock in 4/4 and 5/4 available. I've used it before, but not for outdoor use. I'm planning on making a set of Jake's Chair adirondack style chairs, and they will be painted. Think Hemlock would hold up with a couple of coats of paint on them? I'd love to use Cypress, but at $4 a bf locally, no way that's in the budget right now. The Hemlock would probably run me about half that, if not less.
 
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the price is very attractive, often around 1.00 a bf or less, but its not for outdoor furniture. warps bad, and from what Im told, it will rot fast also.
a guy I was going to buy it from a while back told me not to waste time painting it, it doesnt take paint well either.
(I never purchased any.)

Im sure you can secure white oak around 2.00 a bf, that makes a great looking chair.

I know in western NY, larch is available, and that will never rot, and its really cheap stuff, like 1.00 a bf.

If you are making any more runs I think I have enough white oak to make a couple of chairs, we can trade, you seem like you have a decent size stash.
 
I don't know what it's like where your at Ned, but could you look for a local small sawmill guy. I've been selling flatsawn white oak for a buck a foot air dried. If you where only closer I'd hook you up!
 
Ned, DO NOT use hemlock for chairs. DO NOT.
I did. It carries micro splinters you can't see.
I ended up burning the chairs.
I can direct you to a sawyer who carries larch for about $.50 a bd ft, but I'm afraid it would likely feel the same, it has a very rough surface.
 
the price is very attractive, often around 1.00 a bf or less, but its not for outdoor furniture. warps bad, and from what Im told, it will rot fast also.
a guy I was going to buy it from a while back told me not to waste time painting it, it doesnt take paint well either.
(I never purchased any.)

Im sure you can secure white oak around 2.00 a bf, that makes a great looking chair.

I know in western NY, larch is available, and that will never rot, and its really cheap stuff, like 1.00 a bf.

If you are making any more runs I think I have enough white oak to make a couple of chairs, we can trade, you seem like you have a decent size stash.
Thanks Allen, I'm rethinking the whole hemlock thing for now...

I don't know what it's like where your at Ned, but could you look for a local small sawmill guy. I've been selling flatsawn white oak for a buck a foot air dried. If you where only closer I'd hook you up!
John, I was going with a 'larger' local mill, but may wind up going another route. Yeah, TN to NY takes all the fun out of buying lumber.


sorry ned, been straightening out the lumber, and I dont have enough white oak in that pile to make one chair.
going to have to drop back 10 yards and punt.

Ned, DO NOT use hemlock for chairs. DO NOT.
I did. It carries micro splinters you can't see.
I ended up burning the chairs.
I can direct you to a sawyer who carries larch for about $.50 a bd ft, but I'm afraid it would likely feel the same, it has a very rough surface.

Ken,
I take I should NOT use hemlock? Gotcha. Going to just save up for some cypress, or I might just do what I did when I made my first 'Norm' chairs... and use painted pine.
 
theres an option for free wood.

I glance at craigslist free, or materials now and then, and find people wanting to get someone to dismantle an old deck in exchange for the lumber.
Theres always a chance someone will have a redwood deck, cleaned and planed to 3/4, you could score alot of wood for a little work.
Just an idea Im tossing out there. You got some young healthy strong kids, couldnt hurt to help their old dad.
 
ditto on the splinters with Hemlock. Not nice wood to work with in that department. It is good for construction grade as long as you are willing to saw out the wind splints. It has been used for barn siding and will last for better than 100 years as long as the water can run off of it. If it stays wet for long it will rot quick.
 
well I picked up the pine lumber the other day, dropping $45 on 10 4/4 10' long rough cut pine at a measely 65c/bf.

lumber-1.jpg


I've started planing them down to thickness and will be working on building myself a set of Jake's Chairs over the next few days. If I like them, and funds improve work-wise, I'll be making more out of Cypress later on. THese prototypes will get painted and should serve for 'yard chairs' for at least this summer, if not longer.
 
man it's hot out there...

taking a break, might as well update with some action shots.

planerinaction.jpg


here's how I set up my planer... I use the TS as a stack point for the workpieces

Nice fluffy shavings... my shop smelled Wonderful! (if you like domestic conifer that is)

planerpoo.jpg


widepine.jpg


they're at just a shade under 4/4 finished thickness... I need to do a bunch more... think I'm going to drag the planer out of the shop and plane into a box outside... I just about filled my trash can with shavings. (forgot how much mess that thing made...)
 
Ned, I would use larch. There is a guy up near you where I used to get my larch from. I was paying$.065 a bf. I will see if I still have his number for you.
 
That had to be fun Ned, being able to swing boards around any ole way without worrying about smacking something :D
Cool photos as well :thumb: I really like the Blk & wht shots!

Thanks Ken, despite my shop's small footprint, I don't generally feel 'limited' handling lumber in there... having over 12' tall ceilings helps in that respect a LOT! It was kind of liberating to be out in the open air doing woodworking though. I think that I'm going to revisit a long ago 'plan' and build a deck onto the end of the shop so I can simply open the doors, and then do some open air woodworking in the hot weather. That was the main reason I pulled the planer outside. Funny thing though, when it came time for cleanup, I literally was sweeping shavings up from the grass! Obviously didn't get them all, but I figured I could at least gather the larger piles of shavings that didn't get into the box.

Ned, I would use larch. There is a guy up near you where I used to get my larch from. I was paying$.065 a bf. I will see if I still have his number for you.
Al, sounds like a plan.

I'm treating this set of chairs as a refresher course in workflow in and around the shop. For example I had one board today which was cupped more than the others. I was pleased that the old habits kicked in, I kept flipping it taking a bit off of both convex and concave sides until I got it to 'match' the other boards. I think the entire set got two or three more passes through the planer than I would have done otherwise as a result. That way I have consistent thickness across the entire batch of wood.

I'm 'out' less than $50 for a pair of chairs, including hardware (if I have to buy any; I think I have enough stuff on hand that I shouldn't have to buy much), So far, I've gotten the planer, miter saw and bandsaw up and running, and tomorrow I should get the TS and DC hooked up and working as well (of course the TS has pretty much been ready to roll the whole time).

I got a call from my new area manager for work, and after a couple of phone calls, it looks 'good' for my transfer from VA back to this area. I just 'missed' a training session here in Syracuse this week though, because he didn't know i was here and available to attend. :rolleyes: I told him I would be available in a pinch next week, and that otherwise he could put me on schedule for the following week. Lori started a new banking job 2 weeks ago, and next week she's working all 5 days 9-5 (she'll be part time after that for awhile), I don't want to have to juggle her work schedule vs mine when she's concentrating on getting up to speed.
 
well I didn't take a lot of photos during the messy parts, but here's what I accomplished today:
readytogo.jpg


cuttowidth.jpg


safety first:
safetyfirst.jpg


boy was a I glad that I wore that while ripping, had a few pieces fly off the blade at me... nothing large, but it was an 'aha' moment.

whatamess.jpg


there's two of the longer legs, yet to be detailed, plus two blanks which I forget what they're for off the top of my head. One of these days I'll find my workbench again.


I need to plane down the last two long rough boards, I have some pieces yet to go, and they should be just enough for me to finish these prototypes.
 
...boy was a I glad that I wore that while ripping, had a few pieces fly off the blade at me... nothing large, but it was an 'aha' moment.

Were you ripping on the tablesaw? Good on you for wearing face protection, but if you're getting stuff flying back at you while ripping on a tablesaw, you might want to review your technique and process. In the 6 or 7 years I've been actively back into woodworking (during which time I've ripped a lot of ~18" to 24" cutting board parts), I can count on two fingers the number of pieces of wood that have kicked back at me, and in both cases it was due to improper holding/feeding technique.
 
Were you ripping on the tablesaw? Good on you for wearing face protection, but if you're getting stuff flying back at you while ripping on a tablesaw, you might want to review your technique and process. In the 6 or 7 years I've been actively back into woodworking (during which time I've ripped a lot of ~18" to 24" cutting board parts), I can count on two fingers the number of pieces of wood that have kicked back at me, and in both cases it was due to improper holding/feeding technique.

Vaughn, thanks, but it wasn't a kickback, more like a crumbly bit that the blade picked up. I was using the TS to 'joint' the edges of the boards, taking off as little as I could, and every once in awhile a small 1/8" or so size bit would set sail. More like heavy sawdust than anything else. I'm just cautious is all.
 
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