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I am assuming you are not a woodworker? There are physical constraints that make it really hard to scale like that. Whether it's clamps, glue drying time, plane

by dfc 2y ago

I am assuming you are not a woodworker? There are physical constraints that make it really hard to scale like that. Whether it's clamps, glue drying time, planer capacity, shop space etc. You also don't get the same economies of scale when you start to get to the end of the process, eg sanding, routing edges/ blood groves/handles, applying finish, etc.

coryrc 2y ago
I am assuming you are not a woodworker? Of course it's way easier. You can fit ten cutting boards on one set of bar clamps. Adjusting the planer takes longer than sending one board through. You only have to change sanding paper 3 times instead of 3N. You only have to change your router bits twice instead of 2N. You only use one rag per finish pass.
- dfc 2y ago
  The number of clamps you need for the first (long grain) glue ups depends on the number of lineal feet you are gluing up. How are you using the same set of clamps for the ten boards that would suffice for one board? All of the examples I saw are end grain cutting boards. So for the final glue up you need one complete set of clamps for each board. So you are either taking ten times as long to do that glue up or you need 10x clamps. Side note: what planer are you using that sending work through is quicker than adjusting the height? Every planer I have ever used takes less than 5 seconds to adjust the height.
  - coryrc 2y ago
    Make it twice as wide -- instead of 16x120 it's 32x60. Half as many clamps opened twice as wide. Repeat as necessary. Goes for every step. It only takes four seconds for a board to go through mine. Takes much longer to crank the wheel down from the 5" I had it at before.
    - ok_dad 2y ago
      You both have a point. Commercially, make ten boards because efficiency equals money. For pleasure, do it one at a time because that’s more fun than an assembly line. I’m not a woodworker most of the time, but I am building a 35 foot privacy fence at my house from rough redwood that I have to prepare myself (flattening, ripping, etc), and I would rather die than prepare the wood for more than one section of the fence at a time. I like doing it the hard way where I just do a bit at a time because it’s more enjoyable. If this were a job, I would certainly plane everything then cut everything then oil everything then drill all the holes then cut down the boards then I would bring that onsite to assemble it in a few days. Instead it’s going to take three months.
    - dfc 2y ago
      Wow, you have a 32 inch planer? That's awesome. That has to be an industrial planer? The brands I am familiar with, Powermatic/Laguna/etc, do not even make one that big. If your 32 inch planer processes 5 feet in 4 seconds? That's 75 feet per minute! What kind of dust collection do you have?
      - jimnotgym 2y ago
        He didn't say he had a 32 inch planer. You can glue two separate 16 inch sets of boards side by side in one set of clamps. You don't have to glue them together!
  - 1-more 2y ago
    Another economy of scale for clamping is to put everything into a clamp rack, rather than onto your assembly table in parallel clamps https://www.jamesltaylor.com/product/8-panel-clamp-79f-8-pc/ https://www.jamesltaylor.com/product/8-panel-clamp-79f-8-pc/
dymk 2y ago
Making large batches of the same board is absolutely faster; I'm having a hard time thinking of a single counterexample. I estimate each additional board I make is only 10% more work than the time to make a single. Best example I've got is an 3D cubes design. Took me a week to make one of them, took me a week and a half to make 12, with less wastage due to division remainders. Sanding, edge routing, handles - all goes so much faster when I only have to set up the drum sander once, the CNC once, each grit on the the palm sander once... As for clamps, those certainly are not the limiting factor. Harbor Freight clamps are less than $10, can be exchanged no questions asked if (when) they break, and you can never have enough of them anyways.

by dfc 2y ago

coryrc 2y ago

I am assuming you are not a woodworker? Of course it's way easier. You can fit ten cutting boards on one set of bar clamps. Adjusting the planer takes longer than sending one board through. You only have to change sanding paper 3 times instead of 3N. You only have to change your router bits twice instead of 2N. You only use one rag per finish pass.

dfc 2y ago
The number of clamps you need for the first (long grain) glue ups depends on the number of lineal feet you are gluing up. How are you using the same set of clamps for the ten boards that would suffice for one board? All of the examples I saw are end grain cutting boards. So for the final glue up you need one complete set of clamps for each board. So you are either taking ten times as long to do that glue up or you need 10x clamps. Side note: what planer are you using that sending work through is quicker than adjusting the height? Every planer I have ever used takes less than 5 seconds to adjust the height.
- coryrc 2y ago
  Make it twice as wide -- instead of 16x120 it's 32x60. Half as many clamps opened twice as wide. Repeat as necessary. Goes for every step. It only takes four seconds for a board to go through mine. Takes much longer to crank the wheel down from the 5" I had it at before.
  - ok_dad 2y ago
    You both have a point. Commercially, make ten boards because efficiency equals money. For pleasure, do it one at a time because that’s more fun than an assembly line. I’m not a woodworker most of the time, but I am building a 35 foot privacy fence at my house from rough redwood that I have to prepare myself (flattening, ripping, etc), and I would rather die than prepare the wood for more than one section of the fence at a time. I like doing it the hard way where I just do a bit at a time because it’s more enjoyable. If this were a job, I would certainly plane everything then cut everything then oil everything then drill all the holes then cut down the boards then I would bring that onsite to assemble it in a few days. Instead it’s going to take three months.
  - dfc 2y ago
    Wow, you have a 32 inch planer? That's awesome. That has to be an industrial planer? The brands I am familiar with, Powermatic/Laguna/etc, do not even make one that big. If your 32 inch planer processes 5 feet in 4 seconds? That's 75 feet per minute! What kind of dust collection do you have?
    - jimnotgym 2y ago
      He didn't say he had a 32 inch planer. You can glue two separate 16 inch sets of boards side by side in one set of clamps. You don't have to glue them together!
- 1-more 2y ago
  Another economy of scale for clamping is to put everything into a clamp rack, rather than onto your assembly table in parallel clamps https://www.jamesltaylor.com/product/8-panel-clamp-79f-8-pc/ https://www.jamesltaylor.com/product/8-panel-clamp-79f-8-pc/

dymk 2y ago

Making large batches of the same board is absolutely faster; I'm having a hard time thinking of a single counterexample. I estimate each additional board I make is only 10% more work than the time to make a single. Best example I've got is an 3D cubes design. Took me a week to make one of them, took me a week and a half to make 12, with less wastage due to division remainders. Sanding, edge routing, handles - all goes so much faster when I only have to set up the drum sander once, the CNC once, each grit on the the palm sander once... As for clamps, those certainly are not the limiting factor. Harbor Freight clamps are less than $10, can be exchanged no questions asked if (when) they break, and you can never have enough of them anyways.