Hi,
The attached picture shows some wood that’s been sitting down the road from me for months.
Can this type of wood be used to make a small japanese style bench? Is this type of wood decent enough use for a project like this?
best,
g
Hi,
The attached picture shows some wood that’s been sitting down the road from me for months.
Can this type of wood be used to make a small japanese style bench? Is this type of wood decent enough use for a project like this?
best,
g
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Replies
Is a Japanese bench just a plank of wood?
Chris @ flairwoodworks
- 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
If the wood is sound and dry, it should be fine. Wood that has been dried "in the log" tends to have lots of cracks, so extracting a piece that's free of defects may be a challenge.
If you're unsure about its dryness, you can cut out a piece somewhat oversize. If it feels at all damp, it's going to need to air dry for some time, probably at least a couple of years for something that's as thick as a benchtop. If it seems dry, then store it indoors with good air circulation all around. If there are any inherent problems, they should become evident within a couple of months. If all looks good after a few months of indoor drying, it would be best to have access to a good moisture meter, so you can know for sure, but if you want to take your chances, you can start working the wood, with the knowledge that if it isn't really dry, bad things can happen.
-Steve
thanks for your response.i live in brooklyn ny, and there is all this wood laying around the neighborhood that construction teams or g.c.'s have forgotten about.I thought that this might be a cool way to make use of it in an experimental/recycled way.best,
starza
I salvage wood from pallets. The pieces are small, but they're sometimes interesting. There's a lot of red and white oak from locally-made pallets, and all kinds of unidentifiable exotics from overseas. I've had my eye on this large crate that's been sitting in the hallway in my wife's building at the university. It's from China, and it's made out of wood that looks like bleached curly mahogany, if you can imagine what that would look like. Unfortunately, it still contains its shipment of a bunch of dinosaur fossils....
-Steve
It would be impossible to be sure without cutting it into planks but it is not likely to be good.
Points against it are the large cross sections which usually cause cracking, the fact that it hasn't been stored well and probably not dried well, again causing cracking and rot, and the strong chance that it is very dirty and will be rough on your tools.
If it is free, or close to it, the wood is worth cutting into but don't put a lot of money into it.
John White
Save yourself a lot of pain and leave the wood where it sits.
That looks like fire wood to me.
Even fire wood has to be dry.
Building a fire may be easier
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