Craftsmanship in Wood

Very good sirs,

we will look at making a few model joints next (after the andon is done), so you may wish to start shopping for materials. The exact dimensions are not especially important and joinery is often done - well, the way I do it - on the basis of proportions. That said, you will probably have an easier time if you stick is on the chunkier side. So, look to find yourself some 10/4, 12/4 or 16/4 material if you can, something dry and reasonable to work. Pine, mahogany, basswood, cypress would all work. Red Cedar is a bit too soft for more complicated joinery, though it can be done. Probably working with Ipe is going to be a struggle.

Post up when you've obtained your material - let's see what you're going to work with.

Douglas fir for me if thats acceptable. I generally have lots of it and the thicker dimensions of which you referred Chris would be easily got. Whoops, bad english there i think, sorry.

Fir is one of the more difficult hardwood to work with handtools, especially the plane, so I admire your determination.

Sounds a bit ominous and i'm wondering what i am stumbling into. Is spruce acceptable Chris? And would cypress include yellow cedar?john

Well, coastal Doug Fir, which I imagine is what you have ready access to, has extremely variable qualities. The difference in density between the early wood (cream colored) and the late wood (orange colored) is quite pronounced, and this makes hand planing without tear-out quite challenging.

By 'cypress' I was speaking fairly generically, and you could consider yellow cedar as very similar. In fact, Yellow cedar would be the most ideal material for cutting joinery. Sitka Spruce would also be good, and larch, if you can find some. Even alder, though that is not generally going to be something you find in larger sizes as the tree typically dies after about 50 years of growth.

Okay, sounds good. Clear picture now. John

You live in the softwood paradise my friend

Would soft maple work?
Having a bit of difficulty finding those thicker thicknesses.
What about other dims: width? length?
How much wood should we get? roughly.
Is plain sawn OK? quarter?

Hi Charlie,

I appreciate the specific questions. I'll take them in random order.

How much wood should we get? roughly.

For each joint, I would think 24" will be sufficient. If we do three joints, then you need 6' of material. If you think you'll want to practice each joint at least once before making the 'final' version (which I would recommend, by the way), then get 12' of material.

Is plain sawn OK? quarter?

For this, either will work fine, however as a general principle i avoid flatsawn material for joined things. Ideal is riftsawn, then quartersawn. Last, flatsawn.

Would soft maple work?

I'm sure it would. Just about any wood, staying away from the hardest 5%~10% and softest 5%~10% of species, will be fine. Preferably select a material with minimal movement in service, like mesquite, or mahogany or teak, etc..

Having a bit of difficulty finding those thicker thicknesses.
What about other dims: width? length?

If you can't find thick enough stock, then the recourse is to either make joints with tiny pieces of wood, or to laminate two or more pieces together to build up the thicknesses you need. The latter is preferable - not the optimal aesthetic, but the benefit is that you can be sure the piece is completely dry to the core.

We'll plan to use rectangular section stock for these joints, though if one joint gets changed to using square section stock that is no big deal of course. A golden ration between the thickness and height of the section would be nice, but by no means critical, and if you only have square-section stock, you could do all the joints in that all the same.