Popular mechanics’ senior home editor solves your most pressing problems.
Q. I bought some timber that has cup-shaped marks on its face. The guys behind the counter said it was all like that. What can I do about it?
A .There are two options for how timber emerges from a log and leaves the sawmill. It can be left as is, rough and damp, or processed to perfection; dry, smooth, flat, and straight. It sounds like you bought wood that is somewhere between the two.
The cup marks are caused by a rapid trip through a planer. To remove them, you’ll need to run the boards through a bench-top planer. If you don’t have one, they can be quite useful and save you money.
Begin by passing the timber through the machine so its knives barely contact the wood surface. By making several semiplaned areas, you’ll create a temporary flat reference face, giving you a continuous surface to run over the planer bed. Turn the board over and run the semi-planed surface against the planer bed, taking several light passes until the top of the board is smooth and straight. Flip the board again and use the newly straightened surface as the reference against the planer bed. Take a few more passes until both the top and bottom are smooth and straight.
Q. The inspection report on our new house says we have wood truss-roof construction. What’s that?
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