dilema...

1st off, when I climbed up on that stack of lumber at the mill to fetch 2 planks,I had no idea what the price would be...they were 2"x10"x8' curly maple..knew they'd be salty, but wasn't thinking about it,really. I'm building a crib for my daughters' 1st child due in March, and all I saw was beautiful flamed maple for the project. like the rest of ya, I would hope that this gets passed down the generations. that's what I was thinking about, not how much the check would be for... which totalled over $190 for 2 planks... now all in all, that's not bad($5/bf) but now I have to shave about 1/2" off the thickness.. the plans called for an 1 3/8" board from which to cut 46 slats @ 3/8"....man.. I dont wanna waste 1/2" of an 8" high dollar maple plank...

I can't resaw, cuz my badsaw only cuts 6"...I reckon I shoulda just laminated 2, 4/4 maple boards and planed it down... less costly waste. the plain maple was only 2.90/bf, and that woulda been the smarter move, but now I either gotta p**p or get off the pot, as they say... maybe I should just save those planks for table legs/top or something, I dunno, but I saw this curly maple crib in my mind, knowing that in reality, it doesn't really matter if it is or isn't....

to sand or not to sand.... thats' the question
and, imagine the hardware costing $140...THAT was an eye openner as well....

Maybe you can crosscut to get a couple of manageable pieces, then rip to some convenient width that will maximize utilization but still fit within the 6" constraint of your bandsaw for resawing. And then again, maybe I don't understand the problem...been known to happen.

Any chance you could modify the plan to make better use of your stock?

Are these boards rough sawn?...doesn't have anything to do with anything, just curious.

Cheers.

Ed Gerhard said:

Maybe you can crosscut to get a couple of manageable pieces, then rip to some convenient width that will maximize utilization but still fit within the 6" constraint of your bandsaw for resawing. And then again, maybe I don't understand the problem...been known to happen.

Any chance you could modify the plan to make better use of your stock?

Are these boards rough sawn?...doesn't have anything to do with anything, just curious.

Cheers.

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heres' a pic of the slab I was gonna sand down...it's dressed from the mill on 2 sides(as you can see).. can you imagine cutiing 3/8" slats from this...?

Beautiful. But hope you realize curly maple isn't very strong. In fact, it can be quite delicate.
Keep us up to date on the project.

i can imagine it, and i am on the side of cross cutting to managable sizes, then resaw. just keep thinking, daughter, first child, happy granddaughter, generations to come...

(if you're worried about the waste, you can box it up and send here for proper, dignified disposal...)

cross cut it to about 2" over the length of the slats you need.

Option one:

Rip as many 1 1/2" - or so - sticks as you need from it, then rip your 3/8" slats from that (basically resawing it down for each 3/8" slat). The faces of your slats would be the faces of the current board.

Option two:

Rip it in half to yield 2 4" wide billets. Resaw the extra 1/2" or so off. Then slice off your 3/8" slat material. The face of the slats would be the edge-grain of the current board.

Choose either of the above based on which face has the best lookin' grain. I wouldn't worry too much about the strength of the slats. That stuff is curly, but it ain't super SUPER curly - I doubt you'd have interrupted grain from the curl in 3/8 thickness. You should be okay ... I'd cut a half dozen extra slats, just in case, though

Similar to Jason's option two:

Determine how many slats you can get per 10" wide billet, and cut your billets about 2" over length. _ the number you get will depend on you sawblades kerf.

Rip each billet down the middle to two (nominal) 5" wide pieces.

At the bandsaw, resaw each billet to the 1 3/8" thickness, then cut the slats.

Save the nice ~½" thick resaw cutoffs for a nice jewelry box, or something.

That's how I'd do it.

BTW, if you have a nice smooth-cutting, this kerf bandsaw blade - like Highland's WoodSlicer, you could cut the slats on the bandsaw and save a lot of waste - probably enough to get an extra slat from each billet. I can take resawn boards right from the bandsaw to the sander, using this blade. YMMV...

Man, that's gorgeous wood. Please don't send that to the dust collector. There has to be a way.

I assume I'm looking at a 2" thick plank...or am I? If it's been F2S by the mill is it actually less than 2"?...I'm guessing it is...if so, what is the actual thickness? You're thinking you have to reduce it to 1-3/8 so you can rip off 46 pieces, 3/8" thick, that will be crib slats...slats are 1-3/8 x 3/8. What if the slats are 2 x 3/8? Or if the mill has actually sent some of your 2" to the sawdust pile already and it's now 1-3/4 or something like that, what if the slats are 1-3/4 x 3/8? The plan probably calls for mortising/tenoning the slats into the crib rails...just modify the size and location of the mortises to accomodate your new slat width...and you'll likely end up needing fewer slats. I am reasonably sure it won't look "wrong", and I'll bet that nobody will ever decide not to hand this heirloom down because of the slat width.

Another thought...the figure in that wood is beautiful in the view you've shown, but remember you're going to be ripping slats from the edge. Might be a good idea to rip a small piece off to make sure you still like the figure. If not you should probably crosscut, rip, and resaw (as above) so you're cutting 1-3/8" wide slats from 3/8" thick resawn pieces. This is a lot more work, and a lot more time. But you could end being happier with it.

Keep the pics coming.

Cheers.

Gentlemen, you guys are wonderful.. I like the ideas presented,they're all good. re-sawing the 2- 5" billets wasn't thought of by me, but sounds the best way to go...saving the 1/2" +/- pc for another small project, or just sending to one of you guys for the help...as long as it's not wasted, I HATE wasting wood. as for the WoodMizer blade, I'm thinking of getting one especially for this project.. thanks for the suggestion!!!! my current blades aren't what you'd call "high quality", and I have limited experience in re-sawing,but will practice 1st on some other laminated maple...
as for the s2s planks, they're actually 1 13/16", a tad too wide to push the design, which they say shouldn't be altered for safety issues. not really sure that would matter,tho..changing the thickness of the slats( never really thought about it,to tell the truth) as long as there weren't too wide of gaps between slats...hmmm...gotta ponder that one.

why can't one of you guys live closer???
noooo...all of ya have to live 57 billion miles from here...

Just for clarification James, the WoodMizer is a portable sawmill, not to be confused with the WoodSlicer bandsaw blade Jim DeLaney mentioned.

You do know we'll be expecting pics of the crib as it gets built, right?

Vaughn McMillan said:

Just for clarification James, the WoodMizer is a portable sawmill, not to be confused with the WoodSlicer bandsaw blade Jim DeLaney mentioned.

You do know we'll be expecting pics of the crib as it gets built, right?

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as for pics...but of course!!

the legs are completed...



..the slats have been made... they turned out better than expected...



..and these are the two end pieces that have 5, 1-3/4" square pyramids on each side..I'm thinking Cherry wood for those... but Ebony would really stand out...



only a few set-backs due to operator error( as usual)...

looks like your off to a great start and when yu get ready to finish it ,,its really gonna stand out then

larry merlau said:

looks like your off to a great start and when yu get ready to finish it ,,its really gonna stand out then

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thanks Larry, as for finishing, I'm undecided on which type will bring out the figure best....

shellac first 2 coats sand smooth, hit it with some lacguer....2cnd choice is wipe one poly from minwax. or the bartley gel finish also a wipe on..and i would still hit it with shellac first

..almost completed... the figured maple worked out well...

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..due to not paying attention, I cut kerfs in both rails for the plastic teething guard ... so I put a strip of walnut( to match the pyramids) in the kerf...
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now, to sand and finish.....

That is turning out awesome James Great design also I love curlie maple and the crib displays it wonderfully. Looking forward to the finish

What Tom said. That's beautiful work. You might want to make that kerf mistake again sometime...the "patch" is great.

Cheers.

Beautiful work James. I've been watching and learning from this thread. With all the pieces you need to sand I can really see how beneficial your drum sander is.

lookun good ,, now for the grand finaly,, the finish yu think its sharp looking now wait till yu get some finish on and the long climb up that lumber pile will all be worth it