rough lumber

[daver828]

If buying rough stock and using hand planes to dimension it, should it be 4/4 or 5/4, if the goal is 3/4 finished?

 

[DaveO]

I think it really depends on the shape the lumber is in when you buy it. 4/4 lumber can be handplaned out to ¾" if it is fairly flat to start with. This is also taking into account a good working knowledge of handplane usage. I would think that most would choose 4/4 stock that is in good shape as planing off ½"+ off 5/4 stock might be a lot of extra work.
Dave

 

[Travis Porter]

Ditto what Dave said. Use 4/4 for 3/4" finished thickness and 5/4 if you want to get 1" finished thickness. FWIW, a lot of people used to go to 13/16 with 4/4. I suspect that was because it meant less planing (hand or power).

 

[DIYGUY]

Whatever you choose, get yourself a big bucket of elbow grease and some liniment for your shoulder - LOL

:gar-La;

 

[Gofor]

From my limited experience, making a traditional workbench and some small furniture (ie end tables, etc, DVD shelf unit, etc) using hand planes, it depends on the condition of the lumber, and the width/length of the boards, with length being the main factor. If you need some long boards (5' - 6' +) for a cabinet/book shelf side, I would go to 5/4 for those pieces. This is due to the amount of wood you will lose to bow and twist. A longer board will have more distortion. If your project is shorter lengths, and you cut to rough length before planing, you remove a lot of the distortion and can get by with a thinner board. Same goes for width, in which cupping is the problem. However, by splitting the board, a lot of the cupping can be eliminated without a lot of surface planing.

The reality with me is the thickness usually gets determined by whatever thickness the most distorted board cleans up to. I then dimension the rest to match. The plans, including dadoes, etc are then adjusted to the actual wood thickness I end up with. If its 7/8, I go with that. If its 11/16, then that's the measurement, altho I will sometimes leave the boards for the structure-critical elements thicker.

Hope this helps

Go