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General Category => Ask Steve a question. => Topic started by: Shufflex on October 22, 2017, 02:42:58 pm
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Hi folks,
I would like a little advice please,
I am due to buy my very first wood Tomorrow and have just realized I don't really have a clue as to what I will need to buy.
My intentions are to make absolutely everything that can be made, but you folks know that enthusiasm is soon replaced with realism.
As someone who is brand new to this hobby wood should I be buying and what sizes? also what amounts?
I know this is very basic, but to me it looks like a massive hobby with so many potential wrong turns,
that I need to at least get the beginning bit correct.
Many thanks
Gary
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The type of wood you buy depends on the projects you have in mind.
I buy Baltic Birch (the real stuff in 5'x5') sheets in both 1/8 and 1/4. Use for ornaments, plaques pictures etc.
I also get thin wood at my local wood supplier (Woodchuckers in Toronto). I often find 1/4 and 3/8 in maple, cherry and walnut. I also have a planner that I make thin wood from.
I recently cut a bunch of puzzles out or popular that I got at Home Depot. I make a lot of ribbon rack out of popular too as they get painted.
For Intarsia it is every pretty colored wood you can hoard.
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Thanks for your reply Don,
I got myself 3 bits of Sapele (not the lighter shade, mine looks like mahogany) 14 x 12 x 1
3 oak same sizes as above
3 pine same sizes as above
3 walnut 8 x 12 x 3/4
3 different thicknesses of ply 1/16 3/16 5/16
Paid £65 for it, not sure if that is a good price or not. I also picked up loads of off cuts and some good sized thin ply that was in the scrap bin.
Tomorrow I start making things that will make the world go wow, then realism will creep in and I will start learning, either way I'm really looking forward to it. ;D
Gary
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Keep in mind true baltic birch only comes in 5x5 sheets, if its 4x8 baltic birch its veenered plywood with baltic birch. I can get smaller pieces of baltic birch at a craft store but its a little more costly that way I am sure but its the closest place for me to get it.
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Most commercially available patterns will suggest the size and thickness of wood needed. The species is up to you. Baltic birch ply is a very versatile and relatively affordable alternative, but it lacks the beauty and character of solid hardwood. If you are looking at using solid wood, then choose the species that offers the appearance you desire. Natural hardwoods come in a variety of colors, shades and grain patterns, so use them to your advantage to make the piece as visually appealing as possible.
Provided you have no allergies, then just about any wood can be utilized. Some folks scavenge wood off of old pieces of furniture, shipping crates and pallets. Cabinet shops generate a load of scraps that sometimes can he bad for the asking. Cut what is available to you and affordable. That said, the ease of cutting the wood is also a major factor. Some hardwoods are extremely dense and hard to cut, especially imported exotic species like bloodwood purpleheart, etc. Most North American hardwoods aren't quite as hard, but it's good to know their relative hardness rating to judge how difficult they may be to scroll. Google the term "Janka scale" and you can find charts on-line that will tell you how hard each species of wood is. I don't know what is available to you locally, but if you are ordering lumber on-line, from a place such as Ocooch Hardwoods, you will have a variety of species to pick from.