The One-Stop Shop Guide to Lumber

Art of Manliness ^ | March 4, 2015 | Staff

[Eddie01]

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts over the years, while I’m not the handiest or craftiest guy, I do make an effort to expand my DIY skills when I can. One thing that often leaves me scratching my head is purchasing lumber whenever I take on a project that requires it.

You’d think lumber would be simple; it’s just going and buying a piece of wood, right? But it’s surprisingly complex. There are so many choices that, even with a supply list in hand, I often find myself wandering the lumber section at the home improvement store for 20 minutes trying to figure out which pieces of wood I should buy. Common board? Structural? C or D grade plywood? Pressure treated?

[snip]

[kiryandil]

Mix the fine sawdust from the sanding of the doug fir with lacquer, to the consistency of runny baby poop.

Use a putty knife to pack the cracks in the floor, then do the hand sand after the lacquer/sawdust mixture dries.

Vacuum once again.

Lacquer is pretty nasty, so wear a respirator.

[kiryandil]

After he left, I vacuumed that sawdust considering that when poly will be applied that sawdust will mix with the poly and create a visual nightmare.

I forgot - just so. It would be vile.

[KC Burke]

see
http://www.tedswoodworking.com/toxic-wood.htm

Respirator masks as opposed to cheap dust masks are the best when sanding down a floor. Douglas fir is not one that has a lot of problems.

Wood shops should have a good vac system around tool usage areas and good exhaust and ventilation systems. The dust can be a fire hazard with heaters that get it into their internals.

Likewise the fumes from a lot of wood working chemicals are best avoided or done outside.

[1_Rain_Drop]

Thank you VERY MUCH for the lacquer/sawdust hint.

I do have a respirator which I love. It has interchangeable parts, one for dust and another one for fumes. Works great since I can't smell anything till I take it off.

[1_Rain_Drop]

Thank you for the link.
I notice no fruit trees are listed such as cherry.

[Daffynition]

DYI lumber project

[KC Burke]

There are other sites which give a variety of cautions.

Cherry pits are best to avoid, but we hear of lots of smoking pit cooking with a variety of woods — personally I like to smoke salmon with apple wood.

My basic point was that saw dust is very problematic and we don’t always know to avoid whatever exposure we can. Some that smell the best are actually the most harmful.