Milling Lumber: From Rough to Ready

Class Preview

Reap the satisfying rewards of milling your own wood! Confidently navigate your local lumberyard and gain valuable skills for beautiful results on your next project.

Know Your Wood

Meet your instructor, furniture maker and professional woodworking instructor Luke Goodhue, as he introduces you to the basics of wood. Discover how wood is formed and gain an understanding of how working with, against and across grain affects your lumber.

Before Heading to the Lumberyard

Learn how to create a “story stick,” a thin plank of wood that has all of your project’s measurements on it, and be sure to get exactly what you need at the lumberyard. Then explore the woods commonly available at lumberyards and get Luke’s tips for what wood is best for beginning millers. Then, gets clued into lumberyard lingo so you know what to ask for and how to ask for it. Finally, see the different ways lumber is cut to create the wide variety of boards available at the lumberyard.

Navigating the Lumberyard

Travel along with Luke to the lumberyard as he shows you how to pick out the perfect board for your project, making sure you don’t buy too much or too little. Discover what to look for in a board and what to avoid. Then, pick up invaluable tips for roughing out your project’s needs, as you make initial cuts using a circular saw and a jigsaw.

Jointer Anatomy

Now that you have the individual pieces of your project cut out, it’s time to refine them into workable elements. See how using a jointer can flatten, straighten and square stock as Luke gives you a peek into this useful machine. Discover how to read the grain of your wood so you can minimize tear out and maximize success before you even turn on the machine.

Using the Jointer

It’s time to put the jointer to work. Luke demonstrates proper technique and safety measures as he demonstrates how to flatten, straighten and square a variety of boards: long, short, and even table legs. Then, he highlights some of the most common pitfalls that confront woodworkers as he shows you how to turn bowed pieces into flat planks and minimize tear out.

Using the Planer

Learn how to use a planer to achieve a uniform thickness on a plank, or even on multiple planks. First, delve into how a planer works and how you should operate it to achieve maximum success with minimal danger and tear out. Then, see how to achieve uniform thickness over your entire project as you plane multiple boards to the exact same width. Finally, learn how to create perfectly square table legs and how to avoid snipe, where the ends of your board are thinner than the middle.

Using the Table Saw

Finish milling out your lumber as you take one last pass on the sides and edges with a table saw. Learn essential safety tips and the tools you’ll need to achieve safe, smooth cuts. Gather tips for cutting long sides and short edges as you finish creating lumber that has flat and parallel faces, sides and edges.