# 8 Steps to preparing rough lumber



## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

At Cerritos Community College, every woodworking class is taught the following "Eight Steps to Squaring Lumber". It is a handout for each class. I usually add step 4a but it is essentially the closest thing to a perfect procedure that I've ever seen. Remember you're starting with rough sawn lumber.

1 Cut lumber to rough length plus an inch or two using a Radial Arm Saw
2 Surface one face flat on the jointer. (Concave face down)
3 Surface the remaining rough face flat and to thickness using planer
4 Joint one edge flat and square to the face using jointer
4a Joint opposite edge to prevent splinters (Typical 1/32" removal)
5 Rip edge to desired width plus 1/32" on table saw
6 Joint ripped edge on jointer
7 Cut best end square on table saw or miter saw
8 Cut opposite end square and to length on table saw or miter saw

I know that there is a lot of opinions about this however it works very well for me at school or in my shop.


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## Old Skhool (Oct 31, 2009)

rrich said:


> At Cerritos Community College, every woodworking class is taught the following "Eight Steps to Squaring Lumber". It is a handout for each class. I usually add step 4a but it is essentially the closest thing to a perfect procedure that I've ever seen. Remember you're starting with rough sawn lumber.
> 
> 1 Cut lumber to rough length plus an inch or two using a Radial Arm Saw
> 2 Surface one face flat on the jointer. (Concave face down)
> ...


Rich - Do you teach at Cerritos? How's their shop set up and equipped? Just curious as I spent many years teaching woodworking at the H.S. level. As far as the procedure goes, you've got it nailed. People always have different ways of working, but your procedure should work every time.:smile:


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## TomC (Oct 27, 2008)

Thats the way i was taught at the local community college. However, we reversed step 3 and 4 so you finished at the jointer prior to going to the planner.
Tom


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## ScottyB (Mar 1, 2009)

I am learning here, not trying to start something. If you don't have the planer, how do you get the two faces flat AND parallel? Seems to me that without the planer you would get two faces that are flat, but not parallel. Am I missing something (other than having a planer)?


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## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

Scotty,

You are correct, you need the planer to get the surfaces parallel.

Sounds like an upcoming present!

Bill


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## skymaster (Oct 30, 2006)

The only thing I think is not necessary is step 4A; once it is planed to dimension and one edge is jointed to those faces, jointing the edge to be cut off is kinda wasted effort. :shifty:


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Looks spot on to me too rrich. 



skymaster said:


> The only thing I think is not necessary is step 4A; once it is planed to dimension and one edge is jointed to those faces, jointing the edge to be cut off is kinda wasted effort. :shifty:


I agree sky, but he gave a valid reason in that he's teaching. They have to instruct with safety (liability) in mind. Avoiding splinters is common sense to some, and happens routinely to others so I can see why he includes the step, especially for beginners. 

All that said I don't joint the waste side either. Be right back fellas I got to ask the wife to dig a splinter out . . . . . .


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

" Cut lumber to rough length plus an inch or two using a Radial Arm Saw"

I disagree with the above statement on the 1 to 2" thing. Unless you have a planer that can GUARANTEE it will NEVER snipe more than 1/2" to 1" on both ends you will have ruined a few good pieces of wood at the very beginning of your project. When my planer leaves snipe it could be as much as 2". I have a Grizzly 5850 planer and it performs as good or better than most home shop planers.


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## Streamwinner (Nov 25, 2008)

Great steps. Thanks for posting.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

Old Skhool said:


> Rich - Do you teach at Cerritos? How's their shop set up and equipped? Just curious as I spent many years teaching woodworking at the H.S. level. As far as the procedure goes, you've got it nailed. People always have different ways of working, but your procedure should work every time.:smile:


Nah, I don't teach. I would have enjoyed doing it but there was always the issue of the sheep skin. When I was working I would occasionally teach computer networking classes. 

It was sort of like woodworking. If you don't square up the stock first, you ain't going to be successful. (You can't solve access problems if the physical layer ain't working.)


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

Tony B said:


> " Cut lumber to rough length plus an inch or two using a Radial Arm Saw"
> 
> I disagree with the above statement on the 1 to 2" thing. Unless you have a planer that can GUARANTEE it will NEVER snipe more than 1/2" to 1" on both ends you will have ruined a few good pieces of wood at the very beginning of your project. When my planer leaves snipe it could be as much as 2".


Yeah, you're right. At school we have a 735 and a 24" old Oliver. The 735 is way too noisy but is for all intents and purposes snipe-less. The Oliver doesn't know what snipe is.

At home my 733 is almost snipe-less. If I support the work at the out feed, the snipe is not detectable. BTW - I rearely take more than 1/64" off during a single pass.


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## cellophane (Oct 6, 2009)

Tony B said:


> " Cut lumber to rough length plus an inch or two using a Radial Arm Saw"
> 
> I disagree with the above statement on the 1 to 2" thing. Unless you have a planer that can GUARANTEE it will NEVER snipe more than 1/2" to 1" on both ends you will have ruined a few good pieces of wood at the very beginning of your project. When my planer leaves snipe it could be as much as 2". I have a Grizzly 5850 planer and it performs as good or better than most home shop planers.


what's snipe?


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

cellophane said:


> what's snipe?


Very rare, hard to catch, bird meat. 


rrich that old Oliver will still be running snipeless when the DeWalt has been in the trash heap for 50 years. 

cellophane, snipe is what happens to the last few inches of a board as it passes over (or under) the cutterhead of the planer/jointer either because the feed rollers are not adjusted correctly, or in the case where there are no rollers, the feed technique is not adequate (operator) or the machine is so cheaply made/designed that it just can't be adjusted to make a flat cut. 

The actual "snipe" refers to the last few inches that are "gouged" making is thinner than what the rest of the board is.


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## cellophane (Oct 6, 2009)

gotcha. thanks! =D


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## johnroy (Dec 3, 2009)

*8 steps to squaring rough lumber*

This is pretty much the way i do it.I would add , check for debris on the wood . Determine if twists etc. , are too severe to use for what is intended. I am sure you presumed this would be done before the milling and squaring process is started.But depending on lumber mill , they might tell you its great and it may not be true.


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## noclue (Nov 23, 2009)

Can I ask the obviously dumb question? What if my planer is too small to plane the side of a plank, say a 6 inch planer with a 7 inch plank. Why can't I just run it through the planer, alternating sides untill I get the thickness I desire? Inquiring minds need to know...maybe I can talk my wife into me getting a 10 inch planer with an 86 inch bed......


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

noclue said:


> Can I ask the obviously dumb question? What if my planer is too small to plane the side of a plank, say a 6 inch planer with a 7 inch plank. Why can't I just run it through the planer, alternating sides untill I get the thickness I desire? Inquiring minds need to know...maybe I can talk my wife into me getting a 10 inch planer with an 86 inch bed......


I've never heard of a planer that narrow. I believe that you are talking of a jointer. 

There are solutions: 
Rip the wood so that you can run it through the jointer. BTW - I usually find it difficult to get wood much wider than 6".

Use a hand plane to get the face smooth and straight.

Purchase S2S wood. That stuff is usually good enough to skip the face jointing step.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Planer vs Jointer*

This is a planer:
 

This is a jointer:
 

This will help since sometimes jointers are called "jointer/planers" only adding to the confusion! 
A jointer works on the bottom side of the board whereas a planer works on the top side which is pressed against the bed creating a surface parallel to the bed and of uniform thickness, hence the full term applied is "thickness planer" :yes: bill
BTW jointer sizes run from 4" wide,in a bench top model, most commonly 6" wide, in a stationary tool, and up to 16" and rarely 20" wide.
Planers are usually 12"or 13" wide at the minimum, most commonly 15" in a stationary tool, and run up 20" and rarely 24" in a home shop.
*BTW2 Unless your boards were parallel to start with your alternating side approach on a jointer will only duplicate any out of parallelism you started with initially. So no, you can't just use a jointer to create 
a board with parallel surfaces on both opposing sides.

You can however run a rough board through the planer alternating sides but you run the risk of it getting wedged or unable to be fed properly as the variation in the initial thickness may be excessive.
I did this very thing today on a piece of 14" maple, since my jointer is only 6" wide.
*


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## noclue (Nov 23, 2009)

Thanks, my bust, I meant to say Jointer. I have a delta 6 inch jointer and a jet 15 inch planer.

Just not sure I feel safe pushing a board 4-6 inches wide, 6 -7 ft long on the jointer and be able to keep it pressed flat against the outfeed table.

Thanks in advance for your patience and time in educating me.

Bob


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

woodnthings said:


> This is a planer:
> 
> 
> This is a jointer:



No, those are expensive boat anchors manufactured in China. :chinese:


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