I might be a bit spunky with this project, but I've learned if I go slow, think hard, and give myself forgiveness for mistakes, I can manage a project that is a big stretch for my actual skill set. I'm going to build this dresser…
https://www.canadianwoodworking.com/plans-projects/heirloom-dresser
Problem is, I've never bought wood outside a big box store, and this is my first project calling for board feet, and not dimensional lumber. Naturally, I have a lot of questions, and I just don't feel comfortable going to the lumber yard and trying to get answers to all of them, so I decided to start here. I'll try to be concise with my questions, as I want to be respectful of the time of anyone who decides to read this and offer help, so thank you in advance.
1. Looking at the project outline, I'm not sure what width the boards need to be. I understand the 4/4, 8/4, etc., but I'm totally thrown off without the actual dimensions I need. After doing some calculations, I THINK it seems I should be looking for 6" wide boards all around, but I just can't be sure. I know once I get the wood I'll be able to lay out all the cuts and get a real visual of what to do, but I would really be appreciative if an expert could look at the plans and give me some guidance on the widths of what I should be looking for.
2. I'd love to go for Cherry and Yellow Birch as suggested, but while I'm confident in tackling this project, I am not comfortable with risk of spending hundreds of dollars on the wood to find out I've truly bit off more than I can chew. I thought about just using straight pine, but I'm just not sure that would turn out well, especially since the plans call for two types of wood… Can anyone suggest affordable woods that would still preserve the quality of the piece? Maybe I can get away with less than $200 on the wood? Seems unlikely… But it sure doesn't help that hardwood dealers don't seem to advertise their prices online, and from what I understand, things aren't exactly stocked with barcode stickers once you do get there lol.
Again, I will be immensely grateful for any guidance offered.
Below I'm including the materials list that contains a cut list, along the suggested BF.
5 BF 8/4, 2 BF 6/4, 18BF 5/4, 24 BF 4/4, 2 BF 3/4 cherry lumber
24 BF 4/4, 25 BF 3/4 yellow birch lumber
https://www.canadianwoodworking.com/plans-projects/heirloom-dresser
Problem is, I've never bought wood outside a big box store, and this is my first project calling for board feet, and not dimensional lumber. Naturally, I have a lot of questions, and I just don't feel comfortable going to the lumber yard and trying to get answers to all of them, so I decided to start here. I'll try to be concise with my questions, as I want to be respectful of the time of anyone who decides to read this and offer help, so thank you in advance.
1. Looking at the project outline, I'm not sure what width the boards need to be. I understand the 4/4, 8/4, etc., but I'm totally thrown off without the actual dimensions I need. After doing some calculations, I THINK it seems I should be looking for 6" wide boards all around, but I just can't be sure. I know once I get the wood I'll be able to lay out all the cuts and get a real visual of what to do, but I would really be appreciative if an expert could look at the plans and give me some guidance on the widths of what I should be looking for.
2. I'd love to go for Cherry and Yellow Birch as suggested, but while I'm confident in tackling this project, I am not comfortable with risk of spending hundreds of dollars on the wood to find out I've truly bit off more than I can chew. I thought about just using straight pine, but I'm just not sure that would turn out well, especially since the plans call for two types of wood… Can anyone suggest affordable woods that would still preserve the quality of the piece? Maybe I can get away with less than $200 on the wood? Seems unlikely… But it sure doesn't help that hardwood dealers don't seem to advertise their prices online, and from what I understand, things aren't exactly stocked with barcode stickers once you do get there lol.
Again, I will be immensely grateful for any guidance offered.
Below I'm including the materials list that contains a cut list, along the suggested BF.
5 BF 8/4, 2 BF 6/4, 18BF 5/4, 24 BF 4/4, 2 BF 3/4 cherry lumber
24 BF 4/4, 25 BF 3/4 yellow birch lumber