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Thin Stock 1/8" thru 5/8"

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4K views 16 replies 13 participants last post by  Ottis 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi Guys,

I see all these beautiful jewelry and keepsake boxes and I want to make some. Where do you find, or how do you make, solid / hardwood stock from 1/8" to 5/8" thick.

I've tried local suppliers and cabinet makers around town and zip, nada. I know that you don't need much at a time. Is there an outlet for a variety of thin wood stock or someone that specializes in it?

Thanks,
 
#4 ·
most of the time i use my planner to get thinner stock.. if it's 4 quarter or better you can resaw. buying stock that thin is a costly. lowes locally sells red oak in thin stock BUT the price is stupid.. you can find some on ebay at times
 
#5 ·
This is gonna sound really weird, but I just recently used my Festool circular saw on a rail to rip/resaw three 1½ by 1/8" strips from ¾ thick stock. I actually ripped to about 3/16" and planed the last 1/16" off because my jig and rail weren't as long as my strip, so I had to reposition in the middle of the rip.

If i can do that with a circular saw, you can probably do it with a tablesaw. The circular saw only has a max 2" depth, and both a circular saw and a table saw have a huge kerf relative to a bandsaw, but it is possible.
 
#9 ·
Daniel, yeah, you can buy the stock from HD, but it's usually pretty plain. If I'm going to spend time building a box I want interesting grain and book matching (or at least as much as one can get with a 2.5mm kerf blade…).

Barry, yeah, I've had me a few pieces explode.
 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thanks guys. You're right Gary, I should have told you all what tools I have. My problem is that the only power tools that I have are a table mounted router and an old radial arm saw. I do most of my work with hand tools.

I don't have the money now to buy a band saw. I was hoping to find a source where I could buy thin stock.
 
#12 ·
since jewelery boxed aren't that large, you could also resaw your thicker stock with a handsaw, sure it takes some practice, but with an aid of a fixture to keep your saw inline this is very doable., and the saw kerf is thinner than a table/circular saw, so you won't lose much materials. look into a japanese ryoba pull saw for this.
 
#14 ·
PurpLev,

Since your last post I have in fact tried re-sawing 4/4 and 3/4 oak about 4" - 8" wide and up to 2 feet long and then hand planing to flat. I'm using a japanese pull saw, and I'm glad for the two handed handle. It is a fair amount of work and takes me about an hour to re-saw and plane about 120 sq. in.

It does make me more careful with planning and use.

Not for everyday use, but not as bad as I thought.

Thanks for your suggestion.
 
#15 ·
cool, glad it works for you, and glad I could have helped.

as others have stated bowsaws are also a good tool for that purpose. they might give you a faster cut because of their mechanics - I've just never used one myself, so I recommended what I knew that would work. 8" x 24" is quite a large board to resaw though - touche!
 
#17 ·
Parkerdude,
If your only going to be making "Small" boxes….and you say a band saw is not in the future for now. Instead of a high-end band saw for re-sawing large stock..maybe you could consider a small table top band saw. I have seen lower end tabletop band saws go for under $99 at the local box store. Something to think about anyways.
 
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