I wanted to make a low folding work platform similar to those commercially available in aluminum. I wanted them nice and light, yet stiff. So I located two nice pieces of doug fir 2-3/4″ thick and resawed them. This is what I got. I think that I shall have to design another project to make better use of the materials at hand.
(See the post below for a smaller pic)
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
(soon to be www.flairwoodworks.com)
– Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer
Edited 1/23/2009 10:35 pm by flairwoodworks
Replies
A smaller file...
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
(soon to be www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
HI,Are you saying it would be a shame to waste this on a work bench ? If so I agree. Interesting anomaly ! I am thinking cabinet doors. Is this spalted sort of ? Almost looks like stain from coming in contact with iron.Hummmroc
Before I got into hand planes I had a whacky experience sanding douglas fir. Kind of hard and soft. Was trying to take the surface down a bit. Splintery too. I had a timber from a foundation. Nothing special. Not even sure it was douglas fir but think it was.Don't know why I wrote that other than planes seem better than sanding it.
Roc,This doug fir was from a railroad bridge in the Kettle Valley (BC interior). The discoloration is from the iron spikes.Your description of working with doug fir sound accurate. There is a huge difference in hardness between the early and late wood. If you aren't careful, you will end up with a textured surface following the grain. This is exactly what I hope to replicate. If doug fir is one thing, it is splintery.I am thinking rather than a work bench, a sitting bench.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com(soon to be http://www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
>splintery. . . sitting bench.. . . . splintery. . . sitting bench. . . . splintery. . . sitting bench.Your are either daft or have a sense of humor. Just kidding. I don't really know. Just messing around with the words.Cool pieces of wood !roc
No, no, no!!! Don't sit on the bench!Hmm. Never thought of it that way. The splintering tendency disappears once the corners are eased.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com(soon to be http://www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I salvaged doug fir timbers out of a slaughterhouse built in 1900. The rough dimensioned 6x6s, 8x8s and 2x12s were all 30 feet long generally free of knots and defects. It is really beautiful tight grained wood and almost all of the 2x12s were quarter sawn to boot.I could have resawn this down into beautiful panels for interior use but I wanted it for a 25'x25' outdoor pergola covering an entry courtyard for my own house. It's been up for 6 years and people still stop to ask about the structure.There were some bugs in the wood, as would be expected from wood that had been in such a structure for 100 years, but I built the pergola on a concrete slab covered with stone with no ground contact; they pretty much cooked out over one summer, we don't get any rain in the summer months and it's hot. There were some holes from bolts that I filled with epoxy and it was covered in paint (probably lead-based) that I powerwashed off. I loved working with that old growth doug fir, it's really an under-rated species of lumber.
I agree - old growth doug fir is really nice to work with. And you can find it in large sizes too. The slabs I have are 6x12s or wider and about 6-7' long. Unfortunately, they weren't all clear. They were however quarter-sawn. Doug fir is really easy to hand plane too.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com(soon to be http://www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Nice boards, but it looks like you've got some blue stain there. Common problem with sawing fir. It can cause finishing problems for you. You can read all about it at the Forestryforum.com.
Nice looking wood, though.
Jeff
Jeff,Thanks for the warning. Not what I wanted to hear though. I'll do some reserach before finishing.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com(soon to be http://www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Definately cool boards. Why do they look green though?
Brian
Brian,The stain is caused by the presence of iron. See my post to Roc above.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com(soon to be http://www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Spoilage is a bad thing, Chris. I think you should send these boards to me for proper disposal before the "infection" spreads. ;-)
Not a chance - they're under quarantine by the IWA (Infectious Wood Association).Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com(soon to be http://www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Well, at least I tried to "help". ;-)
Chris, looks like a great set up for matching hall and sofa tables.
Verne
If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to cut it up and make something with it . . . what a waste!
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled