I really do enjoy making these things and trying different things out. I like having projects to work on at home as it relaxes me and takes my mind off work, so I went to Woodcraft this weekend with the idea of buying some Walnut wood to make a new pipe rack from and using other natural woods and trim for contrast, but the Walnut was going for around $17.90 per board foot.
After making my calculations I felt good about needing around 5.0 board foot to make another pipe rack, just a little smaller than my last one. That would have come in around $90 for my material, plus around $20 for hardware. It was a little more than I bargained for, especially considering they won't cut down any boards they have, and to get one large enough to cut out the pieces I required I would have had to buy around 8 board feet, which was about $145 for the board.
Then I found this:
That's Ambrosia Maple (with worm holes). It's quite beautiful and coming in at about $4.20 per board foot, much more within reason. I came away with enough board feet to make my pipe rack, but no extra if I make any uh ohs, so it's no uh-oh time. I got all the pieces out of it I needed and had one slab to spare for all the trim/accent pieces I needed, but I lost some material having to square up the boards. They were close, but had a few curves in places I didn't need.
I also discovered why I needed to square off the bottom of my last one to make it sit flat....my chop saw is not cutting a square edge anymore. I borrowed it from my Dad a few years ago and he told me to keep it, but in all my rough work, a nice square edge on the end wasn't completely necessary. I wondered why I had to tweak, twist and square cut edges on my last rack, and that's why. It's about 1 degree off while sitting at 0 degrees, just enough to really screw with fine cabinet work. So now I have to account for that in all my cuts until I can afford a new one.
Additionally, this one created a few setbacks for me as it's a hardwood and kept shearing my screws when I would get it almost tight. Had to go buy screws meant for hardwood and man they work great!
I'm planning to leave this one natural and not stain it, except for a trim piece or two for the contrast. I currently have the sides and shelves and pegs in it and need to perform a good sanding this evening, but this is where she's at right now, and I'll update as I progress through to the final product:
After making my calculations I felt good about needing around 5.0 board foot to make another pipe rack, just a little smaller than my last one. That would have come in around $90 for my material, plus around $20 for hardware. It was a little more than I bargained for, especially considering they won't cut down any boards they have, and to get one large enough to cut out the pieces I required I would have had to buy around 8 board feet, which was about $145 for the board.
Then I found this:
That's Ambrosia Maple (with worm holes). It's quite beautiful and coming in at about $4.20 per board foot, much more within reason. I came away with enough board feet to make my pipe rack, but no extra if I make any uh ohs, so it's no uh-oh time. I got all the pieces out of it I needed and had one slab to spare for all the trim/accent pieces I needed, but I lost some material having to square up the boards. They were close, but had a few curves in places I didn't need.
I also discovered why I needed to square off the bottom of my last one to make it sit flat....my chop saw is not cutting a square edge anymore. I borrowed it from my Dad a few years ago and he told me to keep it, but in all my rough work, a nice square edge on the end wasn't completely necessary. I wondered why I had to tweak, twist and square cut edges on my last rack, and that's why. It's about 1 degree off while sitting at 0 degrees, just enough to really screw with fine cabinet work. So now I have to account for that in all my cuts until I can afford a new one.
Additionally, this one created a few setbacks for me as it's a hardwood and kept shearing my screws when I would get it almost tight. Had to go buy screws meant for hardwood and man they work great!
I'm planning to leave this one natural and not stain it, except for a trim piece or two for the contrast. I currently have the sides and shelves and pegs in it and need to perform a good sanding this evening, but this is where she's at right now, and I'll update as I progress through to the final product:
