Building a woodworking project takes several steps. You start with some kind of idea of what you wish to build. You either have it in your head, or you have a set of plans. Once that is accomplished, you need to source the wood for the project. My table project will be made from Cherry hardwood. Cherry does not have bold grain patterns like Oak, it is a very elegant wood. It has a more subdued appearance, but still beautiful.
I usually buy all my hardwood from the local wood store. However, the legs for this project are supposed to be 1 ½ inches thick. It can be difficult to find hardwood at that thickness. If you do, it is typically pricier than ¾ inch wood. To get to 1 ½ inches you would need to glue up two ¾ inch pieces which can leave a glue line.
To avoid all of the above, I went wood shopping online. I found these leg blanks:
This is some nice-looking Cherry that is sized slightly larger than 1 ½ inches so you can finish it yourself. That saves me the hassle of gluing up smaller pieces and trying to make it all look good.
I will buy the remainder of the wood for this project at the local wood store. But, everything connects to the legs, so I am way ahead of the game.
Doug
