Types of Woods – Softwood

May 16th, 2012 · · Types of Wood No comments - Tags: , ,

softwood,types of wood, kinds of wood

Softwood

Of course an important part of any woodworking plan is to decide what type of of wood you will use to construct your project. Generally speaking you have a choice of three main types of wood materials: softwood, hardwood, and commercially manufactured wood such as plywood. Here we will be focusing on softwood. Check for more posts that deal with both plywood and hardwood.

Softwood

When speaking about softwood, we are mostly talking about wood coming from naturally growing trees such as evergreens and other coniferous species (“coniferous” means cone bearing). The most common varieties are:

  • Redwood
  • Pine
  • Cedar
  • Fir
  • Hemlock
  • Spruce

The home construction industry makes wide use of all these types of woods. If your project will be placed outside in the elements both Cedar and Redwood are excellent choices because they resist both rot and insects.

Other softwood, such as Pine are not good choices for outside project for the reason that they will both absorb and expel water which makes them much less able to retain their desired dimensions. But, for any projects that will remain away from the weather these woods work very well. Just one example is the so called “country style” furniture which uses a great deal of Pine.

Grades of Softwood

Most suppliers, including the big box stores, sell softwood in two grades; “No. 2 common” and “select”. The difference between the two is that the No. 2 common permits solid knots to be present in the face of the wood while the select grade permits only very small pin knots on the face. If your project is a piece of furniture, the select grade is what you should use.

Prepping Softwood

Because softwood will retain moisture so readily it is a good practice to buy your softwood lumber at least a couple of weeks prior to beginning your project and store it in your shop environment to stabilize. Putting small pieces of scrap wood between the new softwood boards will allow air to circulate around each new piece. Taking the time to do this step will pretty much prevent the new softwood from radically changing its shape once you have completed your project.

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Home Improvement Projects

April 9th, 2012 · · Uncategorized No comments - Tags: , ,
home improvement projects,home improvements,home improvement tips,

Home Improvement

Although you might have begun your woodworking as a hobby, sooner or later you are going to start to take on some of the things around the house that need fixing. As your skill level increases along with your confidence in your own abilities, you will find that there are many home improvement and repair tasks you can tackle on your own, without the need to call a “professional”. While the step from the woodworking as a hobby to making home improvement and repairs can be a big one, here are just a few ideas to make that step easier. The knowledge you have gained working with wood as a hobby is much the same you will need working around the house.

To start, make a list of the things in the house that need to be fixed that you think you can take on by yourself. Once your list is complete it’s a good idea to “guesstimate” how long each project will take. Then add all that up to get an idea of how long everything will take. This exercise provides you both with an idea of how much needs to be done time wise as well as a reminder to not get sidetracked in the middle of something. In other words, you are setting goals. For example, you might want to allow yourself a day to reframe a garage window and three or four days to add insulation to the garage itself. There is no rule here, it is all up to you and what you think you can take on without help.

Unlike hobby projects, home improvement projects usually need to be done sooner rather than later. Setting even loose goals will help you stay on track and also discover how long a particular project can take and, as you set your time goals you should set your budgetary goals as well. Ideally, you want to set both your time and dollar budgets so that you can get the most benefits from each. Both your time and your money are precious and you don’t want to waste either.

Before beginning, make a complete list of all the materials you will need and have them available when you start. Having to stop in the middle of a project to go get more supplies just adds time and expense to the job. It may be just me, but I think a job always ends up better if you don’t have to stop in the middle for one reason or another so be sure you plan well and have everything available.

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Table Saws

March 22nd, 2012 · · Woodworking Tools No comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

table saws,easy woodworking projects,woodworking tools,wood,woodworking,wood working

table saws

Another of the “must have” woodworking tools for almost any easy woodworking project is a dependable table saw. Like many other tools, there is a wide variety of table saws, all with slightly different uses but they all have many of the same characteristics.

All table saws have a blade much like that used in a circular saws mounted perpendicular to an arbor and is driven by an electrical motor, either by belts, gears, or directly. The cutting blade protrudes up from a table on which the wood is placed to be cut.

The blade is adjustable both in height above the table to fix how deep into the wood the blade will cut, and also in the angle of the blade to the wood. In all modern table saws, these adjustments are performed on the blade and not on the table itself as was the case in older models.

Benchtop Table Saws

This type of saw is lightweight, portable, and is designed to be placed on a bench or other horizontal support. Benchtop table saws are virtually always direct drive (no belts or gears) and, due to their lightweight construction, are the least capable type of table saw.

Contractor Table Saws

These are quite a bit heavier, larger, and include an attached support structure, quite often with wheels to make moving the saw easier. As with the benchtop saw, they are most often direct drive but a few do use belt drive. The contractor saw also has a more powerful motor. This is the type most often used by homeowners and hobbyists.

Cabinet Table Saws

These are very heavy saws designed to be installed, and stay, in one location. They use much more powerful motors, and generally require a 220 volt power supply. They get their name from their closed base. Generally, only the most serious woodworking hobbyists will make the investment for this type of table as they are quite expensive and require quite a bit of room as well as the specialized power requirement.

Hybrid Table Saws

Hybrids are meant to compete with the higher end contractor saws by offering some of the advantages of a cabinet saw at a lower price. Frequently, hybrids are lighter in weight than a traditional cabinet table saw but heavier than a contractor saw.

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