What wood should I buy ?

[monito]

Hi everyone

 

I am seeking advice as to what wood to buy.

I am happy about buying plywood, MDF, vaneered plywood, and similar sheet stock.

 

But for some of my woodwork I plan to build frames which will have vaneered plywood attached on the outside. I am not sure what to build these frames out of.

 

Typically I will want the wood to be 2"x2" by various lengths or 1"x2" by various length. I want to minimise any shape change due to shrinkage/warpage after I have made the frames.

 

Do I want to have "kiln dried" wood ?

Should I look for a softwood or a hardwood? Does it matter ?

Is redwood or pine better ?

 

The sides of the boat have been lined by the builder using oak vaneered plywood. I want to keep this look for some of the doors of built in furniture. I plan to build the doors in shaker style. 4 short 2" wide "planks" of wood being 2 rails and 2 styles. These jointed together to form a square with a piece of vaneered plywood in the middle. Should I make the rails/styles out of real oak ? Or can I use other woods that I stain with "oak varnesh" ?

 

I have bought some rough sawn treated timber for the first frame I have made for the rear steps. I bought this because I thought that treated timber would be better incase of water getting in through the back hatch. However I now see that this timber really was not the best choice. It was suppossed to be 2"x2" x various lengths but infact each piece is slightly different in size leading to problems lining up. Some pieces have turned out to be very curved. I now see why I want to use "planed all round" wood as it will be much easier to work with.

However I dont know if I should throw away my work to date. It's practially done but I am concerned by the posibility of shrinkage once I heat the boat and also some of the pieces of wood have bright green flecks on them, especially round knots in the wood. I dont know if this is a side-effect of the treatment process or if there is something (lichen?) growing on my wood.

 

Any and all help gratefully received.

 

Thanks

 

Monito

[Richard Bustens]

The first thing to bare in mind is that wood will shrink as it dries and expand when it gets wet, this happens with the change in humidity in the air and not just as it is in contact with water.

The amount of movement will differ between different woods and will be more across the grain than with it, so a board of say 6' in length and 6'' in width will increase in the width but not as much in the length. pine etc soft woods will react more, and faster than say oak which is a hard wood.

So the first thing to do is what ever you go for is to let it settle for at least 3-4 weeks in the boat to acclimatise to the basic conditions there.

Your skills will determine the material you use as it is easer to use pine than oak.

I personally would not advocate the use of treated wood in the boat as the chemicals used are not nice.

You should get no movement on ply as it is a mixed grain so one is fighting the other not to move and there is no reason you can not cut 1 or 2 '' strips from a sheet of 1'' ply.

[DHutch]

It also depends apon how visable these frames are going to be, and how much wood you need (and how mig your bugdet is) for example, you wouldnt use 2*3" oak to make a partition wall, but you woulnt use white deal to make a coffee table!

- If you want a semi decroative softwood, somthing like domestic grade doughlas fir is quite nice (faster grown the better)

 

 

Daniel

[Richard Bustens]

Dan the slower grown the better, the rings are closer and the movement less.

You will not get slow grown timber these days unless you use reclaimed from reclamation yards.

And why would you not use oak for partition walls,, i am using oak for everything?

[DHutch]

Dan the slower grown the better, the rings are closer and the movement less.

Thats that case with most woods, but doughlas fir is one of the exceptions, it is better grown faster, honestly.

 

Also, a lot of the timber that russia (an others) are fooding the market with at the moment is very slow grown, and hence soon it will run out and they will have none left and we will hopfully make a profit on our woodland. (which is mainly doughlas fir)

 

As for why you dont make party walls from oak, cost.

 

Daniel

[Amicus]

I think most of the plantation timber grown in the UK is Sitka, innit? And bloddy rubbish it is too.

 

Picea sitchensis I've just been informed

Edited May 9, 2005 by Amicus

[John Orentas]

I think most of the plantation timber grown in the UK is Sitka, innit? And bloddy rubbish it is too.

 

Picea sitchensis  I've just been informed

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Better known as 'Pallet Wood'.

[DHutch]

I think most of the plantation timber grown in the UK is Sitka, innit?

 

yeah its, we have a small amount of sitka down the bottom becuase the spruces can cope with the damp (bottom of a vallery, right upto a steam)

- Most of its doughlas fir tho, which should sell for a goodly profit in 15/20years

- Its 18years old now, and more than due its first thining, but the prices are so rock bottom at the moment it isnt even worth extracting it (the first thin)

 

 

 

Daniel

[Richard Bustens]

Dan

With all timber it is a compromise the faster grown the straighter the trunk, and as most soft woods are used for building it is better to have a long straight grain at the sacrifice of a tight grain.

All woods put on two different growth rings each year the early spring one is a softer less compressed growth and the cellular structure is open and less dense the late growth is all together more compresses and of a tighter composition.

The more quickly the tree grows the larger these deposits are and the more moisture is absorbed into the finished bit of timber. with the spring growth absorbing more than the Autumn growth.

This is not a problem in buildings as the conditions do not alter a great deal so the movement is minimal it is of greater value to have long straight lengths with a even grain.

[Clive A]

quick note about straight wood - if your wood is not straight sawn or planed, change your timber merchant! He is not storing it properly prior to cutting or his machinery needs a servicing!

[Richard Bustens]

Timber is a natural product and as such is not always straight , trees do not grow straight but have things sticking out of the sides called branches.

 

With most soft woods they are selected for straight grain, but with hardwood it is different and adds to the beauty of the wood.

 

With both soft and hard wood as the moisture content changes there will be movement, and it will only be the 1/4 sawn that will react with any consistancy.

Edited May 13, 2005 by Richard Bustens