LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Do you trust a 2x4...

2K views 39 replies 23 participants last post by  stefang 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
...to be parallel?

Assuming you found a straight board at the home center, how confident are you that the two faces are parallel to each and the two edges are parallel to each other?

I don't have a jointer but I'd like to square up some 2×4's, i.e. rip off the rounded corners, using just my table saw. I have seen plenty of videos on YouTube on how to do it, usually involving a jig of some type. But is all that really necessary?

I'm not looking to make fine furniture or anything, just a nice looking base for a Paulk-style table.
 
#27 · (Edited by Moderator)
You loan your toosl out for beer to someone who has never used a planer or jointer? You are a pretty nice guy.

- AlaskaGuy

I suspect the majority of us would show someone the ropes and let them run lumber while we oversee the operation from the stool with said beer in hand!

- GrantA
Not me, I'd do it for him.

Edit to add: I wouldn't ask for beer either.
 
#28 ·
@ OP…

Some 2x's are reliable but most are a mess. Yes, a shop full of tools is better than a skeleton collection but don't sweat that: if you stay with woodworking you'll eventually fill in the gaps. As suggested above, mixed in amonsgst the clucking, is a reasonable suggestion for upping your game: "clear" and appearance-grade offerings from the big boxes. But if you insist upon construction-grade dimensional stock then by all means give it a shot. You may get lucky, but whether or not you do you will be learning and so achieving incremental progress.
 
#29 ·
Thanks for the good information, CaptainKlutz. I assumed there must be places that sell decent lumber, I just need to find them. San Antonio is a big town. I'm sure it won't be hard.

Jonah, I had the same thoughts. We have a Woodcraft store in town and that was going to be my first place to ask around for people to meet. I'm sure there's a Meet Up group around here as well. That can be a bit like Craigslist in that the type of people you can encounter may not be your cup of tea.

To be clear, I wasn't being insistent on using construction lumber, I was just asking about it. I've received some pretty good advice and I am very appreciative of that.
 
#30 ·
You can get a half decent hand plane for pretty cheap. You can use extra fine sandpaper (1000 and up) to sharpen your blade. Since you don't have a jointer you use a hand plane to joint an edge. Then you can reference that off of your fence and cut the other edge on the table saw.
 
#31 · (Edited by Moderator)
AwlThat When I need to find hardwood supplies with zero background, start with 2 online resources:

1) map.google.com
Looking at San Antonio search results for 'hardwood lumber' I find 4 full line hardwood suppliers at top of list.
A search using 'Saw mill' returns a number of different folks. Couple appear to be urban lumber sawyers, recycling landscape trees into slabs. One is a member on LJ.

2) Wood Mizer - Find a local Sawyer
The find a local sawyer page is probably not as useful for folks just starting out, and without planer/jointer to deal with rough sawn lumber. But buying from sawyer is usually cheaper than buying in retail/wholesale market.

Big challenge with WWW online search for hardwood lumber is it can be hard to determine if outlet sells to amateur wood working crowd or is strictly whole sale for commercial mfg operations. So it takes phone calls, and visits to learn which suppliers are a good match for your needs.

Another fantastic resource is local wood working, wood turning, or wood carving social clubs. The club members will be able to quickly help you filter out the long list provided by online search engines. Best place to find the clubs in your area is to visit Wood Craft or Rockler stores, as they cater to DIY wood workers.

If want to poll LJ community for sources, start a new thread. There are others with similar wood finding challenges.

Best Luck.
 
#32 ·
...Im afraid that I wouldnt really trust any as parallel off the shelf. You can easily make a straight line ripping jig with just a cheap piece of melamine shelf - I added some non slip padding so I wouldnt need to clamp the board to mine
Product Wood Motor vehicle Magenta Audio equipment


A quick you tube search will get you started.

That Will get you very close to parallel for the width of the 2×4 after just 2 cuts on the table saw.

As for the parallel in the top and bottom planes, it seems as though you should be able to use the same concept as above, just with the 2×4 on its side, to rip one face flat - you will need an already sqare piece of stock to run against your fence, set the blade just high enough to rip it all (about 3.75in), and reapeat on the other side using your now flat flace as reference.

This should get you fairly square. And for no more than the cost of the shelf, matting, and square stock. Likely under 25 bucks total.

This is my best option on the limited supply/budget. And , again, it wont be perfect… But it SHOULD be more than sufficint given the method.
 

Attachments

#33 · (Edited by Moderator)
When I was a lot younger I wasted time on 2×4 and trying to get even basic portable workbenches and stuff, with hopes they would stay somewhat square just through the completion of whatever jib I was working on. Never had any constants in them.

What I will suggest is if you do want to try this sort of thing, that 2×4 just plain sux. 2×6 sux a little less. 2×8, 10, 12 can be ripped down for parts and you can almost expect them to stay ok, more than half the time. The bigger stuff is the better grade of the 2x stuff, and it is far more stable than the trash they make 2×4's out of.
 
#34 ·
Others above have suggested wider boards and I agree but let me make one more suggestion. Consider yellow pine instead of the "whitewood" that HD and Lowes sell. Whitewood is usually spruce and it is fast growth soft lumber intended for carpentry not fine woodworking.

I have a life long love affair with yellow pine. It is harder, stronger, and straighter than the other construction grade lumbers. I always buy it in wide boards and mill it to size. It also finishes up a lot nicer because the knots are tighter.

Plus it smells great while you are milling it.
Just my 2 centavos.
 
#35 · (Edited by Moderator)
If you have a table saw with a perfectly square miter slot to the blade, spend $50 building this ($45 for 2 clamps and $5 for the MDF) and you have a jointer for the thing sides:

To deal with squaring up the wide side, you can either use a lunchbox planer with a leveling sled, or since it's just a 2×4, I'd be ok putting it vertical on the newly perfectly flat side, clamping it and using your jointer for the long side too.

I've done this with great results, but I'm not building super duper fine furniture. If I were, I'd have a real jointer, but until then, this is IMO perfectly great and acceptable results for hobbyists
 
#36 ·
I mean no disrespect or offense, but I know I m limited, so tell me how I can get by until I can acquire the things that will eliminate those limitations. That s why I m here. To learn.

- AwlThat
I don't have a joiner either. To get things straight that are less than 6' I use my 6' level with a "toe" attached to the end that I use to push pieces thru the table saw. Put the bowed side against the level and run it thru the saw and you'll have a pretty good edge. Flip the board over and cut the bow off. I used that method to make this table.
Table Furniture Bookcase Wood Shelf
 

Attachments

#38 ·
I appreciate all the responses. I just knew I would get this kind of help here.

I like the idea of ripping wider boards. Looking at the prices just at HD, it looks like I'd be saving money by ripping one 2×12 into 3 boards compared to buying 3 2×4's, and I'd get better results.

I have no experience hand planing and I don't own any, but I can imagine the satisfaction I'd get doing it by hand and being successful at it.

I'm not looking for precise results, as I'm only building a workbench, but I'm looking forward to the project from a learning perspective. And, if it turns out nice, I won't mind showing it off. ;-)
 
#39 ·
You won't get three usable boards from a 2×12. You're better off with a 2×10 and trying to get two usable boards from it. Lots of 2×12s will have pith or other weirdness in them, and you can't cut the pith out and still have the boards you need. You can, however, do that with a 2×10.
 
#40 ·
2X4s are mainly made for house framing so being perfectly parallel isn't usually a problem. Of course it is a problem if you are making something that requires precision, which mean planing and if you have one straight edge and one straight face you true it up in the table saw without further ado.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top