Using SYP As a Secondary Wood

moisture content

Jack Guzman from Maine

>The only problem I see is moisture content. Framing lumber from home centers is usually pretty wet stuff.If you stacked it at home and dried it it might work. I've never worked with it myself. The only SYP we get around here is pressure treated.---Jack

Douglas Fir?

Tom Colligan

>Also available here is Douglas fir, Jack. Would you use this as a secondary wood? Tia, Tom.

Re: Douglas Fir?

Stuart Hough

>Tom, you might want to use Poplar for the interior parts. It is strong, works very well with hand or power tools, and in the case of drawer sides, burnishes smooth quickly, so the drawers slide with little resistance. It doesn't stain well, but will take paint easily, and holds up for a long time. JMHO

Not me...

John in New Mexico

>Doug fir is pretty nasty, splintery stuff in my experience, not suitable for drawer boxes. You can sometimes find very nice white pine and spruce at the big boxes, its all s4s, but is dry and makes nice secondary parts. I've rarely seen much better than #1 there though.

I've also used some of the non-borg yards in my extended area and been a little surprised at some of the findings. Two in particular had nice dry (probably 12% but for framing stuff thats dry) local pine. At one of them we loaded 50 2x6's off the top of a new unit and 27 of them were stamped #1, and about 5 of those probably could have been graded select.

As to the local HD's, I buy their 2x4's and sometimes 2x6's if they're Canadian stamped spf, rather than domestic hemlock, doug fir, etc. If they carry that in your area it might be dry enough to use too - 'course, stuff gets A LOT dryer out here just sitting around ;)

Re: Douglas Fir?

Jack Guzman from Maine

>The only doug fir we see is 4x4s and those are loaded with sap pockets. It's a regional thing Tom. When I build drawers I use poplar or white pine. All old drawers I have examined are built from either of these species.---Jack

Re: Douglas Fir?

Warren in Lancaster, Pa

>The three qualities we want in a secondary wood are workability (labor and neatness}, availability (cost), and lightness (easier to move the piece). In Pennsylvania the most common secondary wood, both today and historically is poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera}. Eastern white pine, also mentioned by Jack and more common in New Engalnd is also a good choice. Historically Yellow pine was used as a secondary wood in Southern states, but that was more old growth, quite different from the plantation stuff available today.

I suggest you make a sample drawer side with anything you are considering and see how it planes and dovetails etc. If you use a wood that is nasty to work with you are in for some unpleasant days.

Re: Douglas Fir?

HB

>If y9ou go with wood from HD, pick the 2x 12's. As Adam C. Mentioned, and I have since verified, most of that stuff will yield quartersawn stock when you slice it up.

HB

This is what I use too...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Poplar is a great secondary wood.

was commonly used

Bill Tindall, E.TN

>Yellow pine was commonly used in southern period furniture for secondary wood. Personally I don't like the looks of it or working it. It may be my Yankee roots.

I have been trying hemlock because I had some and I don' t like it either. I seems to be a brittle wood and I suppose that is why it is often wind shaken when the trees get big. I will continue to use poplar and white pine.

Re: was commonly used

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>In the Williamsburg wood shop they had several pieces with long leaf pine secondary wood drawers. This was beautiful. I don't know how much SYP differs.

Pam

Re: was commonly used

Roy Anderson

>I think loblolly, longleaf and slash pine are all lumped in together as SYP. Many moons ago I worked for a forest products company and I vaguely remember that.

Thanks to all . . .

Tom Colligan

>Right you are Roy. SYP is not a single species; I checked the Center for Wood Anatomy. For flooring, the industry considers just two pines as 'Heart Pine'. They are slash pine and longleaf pine.

I knew that poplar is premier as a secondary wood but I'm hoping for something less expensive. Warren made a good point, try it first and it will tell me if it's a go or not. Thanks again, Tom.

A challenge to your thinking- a lumber rant

Bill Tindall, E.TN

>First let me say that my intent is a global look at building-something-economics and not a personal attack on why you are considering pine drawer sides. And, it may well be that having sold lumber for years, occasionally to retail buyers , has affected my perspective on this issue, for better or worse. But that said.....

I don't understand why woodworkers tend to be so frugal (dare I say cheap in cases) when it comes to obtaining wood. If one is striving for the best design, joinery, finish and in cases tools, does it not follow that these skills, effort and tools should be employed on the best available wood for the task at hand? The stuff that gets posted here and Shop Shots would sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Why risk or degrade this potential value with anything but the best wood for the job?

In your specific case you can find poplar of equivalent grade for about the same price as SYP framing, but you may have to buy a quantity of it. But it will be dry and relaible to use. For my secondary wood I buy #2 common poplar. It is $350/ 1000 bdft at the saw mill and not a lot more KD.

Re: A challenge to your thinking- a lumber rant

wilbur

>Bill,

That reminds me of something my woodworking neighbor said to me once.

"If woodworking is about making things, why is the tool store always crowded on Saturdays, and the lumber yard always empty?"