Wasting Wood

Have you ever had one of those days where it seems like you aren't getting anything done?  For me that was today.

I was all set to cut out the rough pieces of my upcoming project, a Shaker side table in cherry.  Perhaps even plane a few pieces to close to their final dimensions.

Instead, life goes on.  I wasn't able to get in the shop until around six o'clock this evening.  I am, however, extremely excited about what I did accomplish.

I know, it doesn't look like much.

Yesterday I bought some lumber at the lumber yard.  I got a wide board (shown) and a narrower board.  I had to cut both of them at the lumber yard to fit them in my car.  In my previous post, I mentioned that I usually wind up paying about twice what I could if I was careful at the lumber yard, and this is why.

I decided to be super anal about what the stuff I am using for this project looks like.  I started with the top, as it will be the most visible and require the widest boards.  I wanted the top to be made from two boards, each 9 inches wide to make an 18 inch square top.  Also, I decided to take Christopher Schwarz' advice about setting up the top to look as beautiful as possible. 

I laid out a half of a top on one end of the big piece.  I set it up with the cathedrals lined up in a straight line directly down the center of this board.

Unfortunately, I noticed when I was done that the knot I barely avoided was pointed at an angle toward my piece, and there was another knot at the other end.  Both of these would have showed on the end grain of the finished piece.

Darned knots!

This isn't the end of the world, as there is plenty more from which to choose.  I found another place on the board to use, and used a piece from the short board, too.

I thought there might be enough wood on the side of Top "C" for a leg or two, but the heartwood does not go all the way through.

Next was setting up the drawer front, and the three side rails.

I don't think I have ever set up a board this way before.  If you can't see what I did, each piece here has the cathedral running through the exact center of the piece.  I think if I set it up differently, I could have saved a lot of wood. 

In a couple years, I would probably regret having not done it this way.  With cathedral grain running off of the edge of the piece rather than down the center, this piece would not look nearly as elegant as I envision.

Even so, I will be able to get most of the entire piece out of this one board.  Only a leg or two, and the back rail will come from the other board.

This whole process took me about two hours to lay out today.  At one time, I would have started cutting things up and been half done with the project in that amount of time.  We'll see if this effort pays off.

Let's see if I can keep from jacking up the joinery.