Coffee Table Next Steps

Having decided to build an eccentric trestle base for the upcoming coffee table project, I needed to source some lumber. I was considering red elm as it is a bit of an unusual species and its color would accent the clear finished bubinga quite well, but eventually settled on cherry, as the sawmill and lumberyard, Timms Lumber and Sawing, had a good supply. (They had red elm too, so I can use it in a future project.) 

Timms is a family-owned business that I have used as a great source of lumber for many years now. I’ve had a wide selection of species to choose from, mostly trees common to the central Minnesota area where I live. So, a variety of oak species, black walnut, butternut, red and white cedar, red elm, birch, pine ... and the list goes on.  

Cherry lumber waiting to be cut up.

I can recommend looking around and purchasing from a local sawmill. As I said, I’ve used Timms for years as well as a couple other small sawmills. I often get great pricing and I can hand pick my boards. This is not a great option for everyone, but I have had good results. 

My cherry was 6/4 stock, all from the same tree cut in the summer of 2021. It is air dried and measures around 12% moisture content – so just about perfect for my use. But here is the catch, it is rough cut.  

Close up of the lumber.

Rough cut lumber is a great way to buy stock, especially if you have a planer and a jointer. But in my wimpy little garage shop, I have neither. (I actually sold a 1970s Craftsman jointer recently. Maybe should have waited on that.) But never fear, I will deal with preparing the stock using a series of less-than-optimal tricks and will document them in an upcoming blog post. I am certain your comments on the process will be interesting. 

You should see progress on the coffee table next week. As you can see, I have another short video on the blog and the comment feature is active.