What to look for...??

[Chinlover9870]

Which section of home depo do I look for kiln-dried pine boards. Will they be able to cut it for me? I was thinking of making 10 or 12 ledges. Do you have an idea of how much it would cost? Is wood glue ok for chins as long as it's non toxic?
Please and thanx

 

[ChinnyMom]

i get my kd pine boards from the moulding section at home depot. much smoother and nicer wood than in the lumber section. they come in different lengths and widths, so the prices vary according to that. if i recall correctly, my last board was around 6 or 7 dollars, and that made at least 5 shelves for Rhino's cage, including one longer one.

you'll also need to pick up hanger bolts, wing nuts, and washers. there is a tutorial here on the forum that is great for making your shelves!

home depot does do cutting, but they may charge you a small fee per cut. you could luck out with the lumber person there and they may do your cuts for free if there are just a few simple cuts needing done. i do all my cuts at home now, since i got a saw recently.

Elmers wood glue is the one you want. it's safe for making wood houses and such.

 

[caiti]

I buy all my wood in the lumber section. You have to go through each piece and make sure you don't have huge knot holes and they are straight, but it's cheaper. I only spent a few seconds in the moulding section, as at first glance nothing seemed wide enough to be a shelf, but I'm sure the wood is much better quality and will save you having to check out every piece.

Some stores charge, some don't. I've never been charged but others have, so who knows? It's a small fee, though, if you're only making a few cuts.

 

[greychins]

All the Home Depot's I've ever been to will cut wood. I'm not sure that's true for all of the HD's across the country, but the ones here will cut the wood for you. Some charge 25 cents per cut, others do it for free. I've been charged all of once for all the wood I've ever had cut... so at least around here, it's typically free (course, that may have changed, I got a table saw a bit back).

However... they will only cut 12" or longer, no less. Which was part of the reason I wanted to get my own saw - besides the hassle of having to run to HD every time I needed shelves or had an adoptive home that needed shelves... I wanted to be able to make shelves and other wooden things without everything being 12x12x12. But 12" ledges are fine, and if you don't need anything smaller, then you'll have no problem.

Around here, a 6' board of 8" deep kd pine is $5.33. Not sure how much it is by you, but that's our local price (that's what I constantly buy over and over). I buy the wood in the lumber section as well - never did check out the moulding, but I try to keep prices low for the adoptive homes, so the cheaper the wood, the cheaper I can price the shelves. Like caiti noted above, I too, go through the wood and try to find the good looking pieces without a million knots without chunks missing -- just boards that generally look pretty good.

Wood glue, as long as it's non-toxic, should be fine. We use elmer's school glue, simply because that way we can use it for other things around the house (just bought 10 of them for 40 cents each at a back to school sale - yay!!), but the wood glue is fine as well, as long as it's non-toxic.