This morning I worked on a few details on the case base. But then on to the clock case waist. The pieces I planed-down and trued-up for the base started out as 34" pieces of stock. For the waist sides, I have to pair-up stock that is starting out at 54". Being longer, it will likely be more difficult to join the boards together for the required width, but I'm up for the challenge. I tried to go with a single piece of stock for the sides but they just are not wide enough. In total, I'm thinking I need 6 pieces of stock at 54". Hopefully I can find the right pieces to make that happen. Here are a few pics from today showing the length of the planed stock. Click to enlarge.
A word on wood preparation. I am planning to plane-up all the necessary 6 pieces of lumber first before moving on to construction. The reason for this is that the planed stock needs to "breath" and "move". This is woodworking speak for the wood shrinking further following all the planing. Yes, even with the wood being 7-year seasoned lumber, it will move further each time it is aggressively planed or cut. I had read about that but learned first-hand when I planed, cut and assembled the base floor all in one day. Since then, the wood has noticeably shrunk. So, I'm planing all the waist pieces first and will let them "breath" and "move" all they want before I true them up and move on with the construction. It will likely take a week waiting on the wood. And that's OK as my wife has plans for us this coming Wednesday. BTW, today marks the 20th straight day of case construction!
A word on wood preparation. I am planning to plane-up all the necessary 6 pieces of lumber first before moving on to construction. The reason for this is that the planed stock needs to "breath" and "move". This is woodworking speak for the wood shrinking further following all the planing. Yes, even with the wood being 7-year seasoned lumber, it will move further each time it is aggressively planed or cut. I had read about that but learned first-hand when I planed, cut and assembled the base floor all in one day. Since then, the wood has noticeably shrunk. So, I'm planing all the waist pieces first and will let them "breath" and "move" all they want before I true them up and move on with the construction. It will likely take a week waiting on the wood. And that's OK as my wife has plans for us this coming Wednesday. BTW, today marks the 20th straight day of case construction!