# is it still a sin



## pvwoodcrafts (Jun 18, 2021)

to cut up 16 inch wide walnut boards to make baskets if thats all you have?

Reactions: Funny 1 | Sincere 1


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## Arn213 (Jun 18, 2021)

In your situation- NO. You have clear intention, you need it and you are working with what is available to you. Now, it would be a different story if you cut that 16” wide board so you can rip it to little pieces to make little individual things- I will not name the trades otherwise I will be “tarred and feathered”. Little blanks should come off left overs from a bigger piece.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Mike1950 (Jun 18, 2021)

it is about production. i prefer to pen blanks or knife blanks out of bigger pieces, time is my most precious commodity. you do understand these 16" boards do not exist without pics...

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 3 | Funny 3


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## Tom Smart (Jun 18, 2021)

Since you asked - YES!


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## Sprung (Jun 18, 2021)

To be honest, I'm at the point of asking myself a similar question. I have a number of 20" to 24" wide 4/4 maple boards. My planer only has a 13" capacity. I've used up almost all the narrower boards from that particular stash of maple. So I'm looking at having to eventually start cutting them down. But, at the same time, how many projects have I built, or am I planning to build, where I need, or could use, a wide board? Unless we have a large enough jointer and planer, realistically it's going to make more sense for us to process narrower pieces and do glue-ups for panels.

I do have a single 16" wide board of walnut that I am going to make into a table someday. I'd have a really hard time cutting it down for other projects. But I've set aside that board because I have a specific plan for it that makes use of that width (and it's already been planned, so I don't have to figure out how I'm going to accomplish that.)

But, at the same time, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Especially in your case, running a business. Does it make better sense from a business/financial/time/etc. standpoint to use what you have on hand or to go out and source more material?

For most of us, as hobbyists, cutting that 16" board up would be a thought we wouldn't even entertain. And we'd probably go out and pick up a few more boards for our project to save that one special piece.

But, unless you have a specific need for a 16" wide walnut board, saving those boards and sourcing new material, probably doesn't make sense from a business standpoint.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Great Post 1


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## Karl_TN (Jun 18, 2021)

Just do it because those baskets are worth it. There’s always more trees to get wood 16” across including walnut.

Reactions: Agree 3


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## woodtickgreg (Jun 18, 2021)

I have a garage full of wide boards, when I need it I use it as necessary, cut em up. I'll make more, lol.


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## Nubsnstubs (Jun 18, 2021)

If it's only 4/4" thick, I personally think it's a sin to use any solid wood that wide as a finished piece. It has a tendency to warp, cup, twist, and split years later. Therefore, I cut any 4/4 stuff to smaller widths to accomodate the surface I'm making. I'll get my width, divide by x number of pieces needed, cut them, drill for dowels and then make that 16" wide piece of board I just ripped. They don't twist because stress factors have been relieved. .............. Jerry (in Tucson)

Reactions: Agree 1 | Useful 1


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## djg (Jun 18, 2021)

Mike1950 said:


> .... you do understand these 16" boards do not exist without pics...


Yes pics, but don't show us the pics of the board butchered up. I won't be able to stomach that.

Reactions: Funny 4


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## cionow777 (Jun 18, 2021)

I think that I am on reasonably solid ground to point out that this act would not be considered a sin. I know of no religion by name that would prohibit the cutting of larger planks of wood into small planks of wood. That said, many might consider it a "crime".

But I agree with others above that it is really more of the perspective of "intention". If you intended to go out and purchase a 16" wide board to make pens out of then many people might consider that a violation of something holy. If all you have is that 16" board and you need to make a living, gift, etc. and can't get anything else to fit the bill then by all means use what's available.

As way of an example. If I went out and bought a filet mignon to bring home specifically to cut into small little pieces to put into my chili then many people would consider that a "crime". But if all I had was that filet mignon and I needed to feed a large group of people then I would probably be forgiven for using what I had to make the best of the situation.

Its just perspective and yours is the only one that counts in this situation. We are not in your shoes.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1


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## pvwoodcrafts (Jun 18, 2021)

OK pics
I did rip down half of a 12 footer



Still have couple left but the ones on top are 18 and 20 wide. theyre safe for now





but I will have serious problems cutting down my 30 wide walnut board. Its kinda safe since it has 3-400 bd ft of 8/4 stock on it

Reactions: Like 1 | EyeCandy! 3 | Way Cool 3 | +Karma 1


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## 2feathers Creative Making (Jun 18, 2021)

pvwoodcrafts said:


> OK pics
> I did rip down half of a 12 footer
> View attachment 211010
> Still have couple left but the ones on top are 18 and 20 wide. theyre safe for now
> ...


 
That being said... carry on. I hope to make a few primitive reproductions when my shop gets up and running. I have kept a few 16 wide cherry and poplar and chestnut for those projects. But while building my shop I will likely violate several sensibilities by cutting a few of my older non selling live edge slabs into framing for my shop.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Tony (Jun 18, 2021)

I will certainly never call it a sin. Everyone here knows I rip most of my flat stock sown into 1" and 2" pieces for my cutting boards. Your baskets are works of art and whatever material you use will be better for it.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1


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## pvwoodcrafts (Jun 19, 2021)

Tony said:


> I will certainly never call it a sin. Everyone here knows I rip most of my flat stock sown into 1" and 2" pieces for my cutting boards. Your baskets are works of art and whatever material you use will be better for it.


OK guys thanks. Guess I shouldn't feel so bad ripping up wide stock , just 30 years of buying lumber I know how hard it is to come across the really nice wide ones


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## djg (Jun 19, 2021)

pvwoodcrafts said:


> OK pics
> I did rip down half of a 12 footer
> View attachment 211010


Oh the Horror! Pics like that should be banned from public view!

Not really. The board you ripped wasn't as nice as I thought it would be. I wasn't familiar with your baskets so I had to look them up. WOW! Beautiful baskets. Wish I had the talent like that.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## Schroedc (Jun 19, 2021)

Unless you yourself will actually have a use for a board that wide, Rip away. I just picked up some 18-24 wide white oak, guys widow said he never cut it up because he couldn't find a project for it. By the time he passed, it had sat in an unheated shed for 20 years, warped and twisted and is covered in mouse urine. Of course since it was already planed to 3/4, to use it it'll have to go down to something less than that and it'll have to get planed in shorter sections due to the warp/twist. So either use it up or pass it on to someone else in trade for narrower boards. Sitting on it makes no profit and in the long run may make them worth a lot less.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 2 | Great Post 1


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