re: It was a lot of fun

Actually Alex, that is another aspect of Alex (hmm didn't think about 2 Alex's in the same statement.) Anyhow Alex Snodgrass on both his boards, and his bandsaw boxes advocates doing your glue up, right off the 2 cut ends of your piece. In use we found he was correct, and after cutting off a piece with a new, clean cutting blade, if kept in the same alignment as they  came off the saw, Plus everything he does is based on his "perfect bandsaw" which he has free videos showing his set up method on you tube, and using his method, your saw will be optimal, you just need to watch the cuts, and if they do quit nesting well, it's a dull blade.

They should nest perfectly. Try it on some scrap with a good blade, I have to say I was walking around for 2 days pretty much with my mouth open, having a lot of old beliefs changed. So no, we just glued them up, no jointing edges first. It really matters on the BS boxes, because jointing them after a cut makes them shrink up, and your drawer fits are sloppy, with the board the size of it just shrinks.

Actually they had the stock prepped before the one day class started, For that they did a standard TS rip, jointer one face, one edge, and planer to consistent thickness. We went in around 8 to 8:30, class was prompt at 9AM, and all of us were done by 3PM, so in reality you could build 3 to 7 boards a day, if you got cracking, because as you go through each step there is a LOT more time waiting for glue to dry, then actually doing the steps. Being a newvb and by myself for much of the second build at home, I took longer, but I had to keep referencing back to his plan. After a few of the same plan, you would gain speed.

He sells these wholesale to a place in Virginia at $350.00 apiece, so if you found an outlet, woodworking really could pay you a living. He makes all year between shows, his Wife does the finishing. They only sell once a year a few weeks before Black Friday. He says a few weeks later the biggest account is already sold out, and begging for more stock, he just says next year. he has been doing that for 30 + years A few of us were guessing based on the numbers of boards, and BS boxes he was talking about that they probably pull in a Million or better based on his numbers. that is a pretty sweet paying part time job. But he is lightning fast, and makes NO false moves on that BS. Actually on his website Bandsaw Life if you scroll down the home page to where he has the spot about the "Bandsaw method tour 2024" he is sitting in front of a few of his Powermatic bandsaws. They and Jet are 2 of his main sponsors, and he gets every model of saw he asks for, and then goes about selling a LOT of them, so he has equipment set up for whatever job he wants them as, so he can change one out completely in minutes, or walk up to one perfectly set up, So his fast, and most peoples fast are some kinda different. His other site is also bandsaw life, just at you tube, lots of great videos. He truly is a bandsaw savant.

I think between a face grain, and an end grain is 2 to 3 glue ups, with a cutting of the parts in between each. A lot more flipping end to end, so you get rows of opposing patterns. He currently has DVDs sold through Carter products, for several types of boards, and his method of teaching is spot on. Like I said the entire class made a perfect board. Keeping in mind all of the different levels of years, experience, and abilities in 9 random people, that is a bragging type statement, but darned if everyone didn't finish, perfect boards all around, smiling faces everywhere. The person with the best board was Female, had 3 years woodworking experience, was a really sharp Woman, smart. Alex used her as his helper, and she did each step first, and though he coached her a bit more, he didn't just make her board, more like a bandsaw whisperer, and hers was biggest in size, and was a true winner. Best woodworking class I ever took, and I love me some Chuck Bender, Glenn Huey, and Marc Adams.