Wood mods: preferences

[Graham Carr]

Thanks for the links. The Compass Rose would be a nice touch. I think I’d align South with the bow. That way I’d be sure to head for warmer waters. You say you wish you were in the trades, sometimes it is better to enjoy it as a hobby and romanticize the rest.
Graham

[sailfish02]

I've done a lot of wood work on my 26X over the last couple of years. The cabin was so white, that I had to wear sunglasses at night. I chose African Mahogany because it looks a lot like teak.

A custom cabinet/wood shop can get it for you....not too expensive

[Divecoz]

A question for the wood workers.
I have some white cherry trees that are down at the moment . 1 in fact still has the trunk (6 ft of it ) standing. I would like to try my hand at carving the armrest for my wifes 70 MGB out of some of this. Where and how should I start in preping this wood for working / shaping?

[Graham Carr]

Using your own trees is great. The preparation need to make the wood useable is quite simply and it’s free, but you must have patience. You will have to air dry the wood and that can take up to 1 ½ years. The drying process is affected by several factors such as; Humidity, air temp, size of wood, how you stack it and location. So if time is not an issue, go for it and even if it is you could still dry the wood for other projects.

NOTE: Because this can be read by a large group, which I have no idea on the skill level, knowledge or experience of anyone. I must make this clear statement. Be sure to read and fully understand the operating procedures and safety instructions for your power tools. Always were ear and eye protection. Plus when working with chain saws you should wear full body protection. Please understand and don’t diminish the severity of the high danger of working with power tools. You could cut off a finger, hand, foot, put out your eyes, damage your hearing or worst yet kill yourself. This may sound funny or harsh, but I am not joking. The fact is, serious injuries are on a dramatic raise. Only a small percentage of injuries (mid teens) occur amongst my fellow tradesman. The bulk of emergency room visits from power tool related injuries are from DIY home owners. Now this is not a put down and I encourage anyone to try the joys of working with wood, but understand the home improvement stores do not care what your experience is they just want the money. They will sell you the tools. So if you don’t know, read. If you still don’t understand, ask an expert. Check out your community to see if any classes are offered. Be honest with yourself (it’s not my fingers) are you mucho? If so leave it back at the store. When it comes to safety, I’m not politically correct. Ok enough said lets get started!

1. Start by decide how big the piece of wood will need to be for the finished project. Because the wood will shrink, twist, warp, Crook, split and check from the drying process, you will need to increase the size of the stock. Add 12” to the length (allowance for checking) and double the width and thickness. After the wood has drier and you remove all of the defects, you could still end up with a board that’s too small. So I would make several more blanks then you need.
2. Now you need to cut the log up into planks, but first remove the bark. Cut the log to the desired lengths with a chain saw. Cutting the log into planks is a little more challenging. A stander chain saw blade is set for crosscutting. The teeth can be file for ripping. You might want to do a search on the web on cutting with chain saws. If you have access to a band saw, they do a great job (must have the correct blade installed)
3. You could also find a local woodworker or cabinet shop and ask them to cut up the wood for you.
4. Once the wood is cut you must stack it in such a way to allow air flow between the boards.
a. Places stickers on the ground. Stickers are small uniform-sized boards like 1” x 2”. It’s important to make them all the same size. I like to place them every 24” so the green wood (wet) is well supported. Now lay the boards onto the stickers. Space them about 2" apart. Once again it is important to keep the spacing the same though-out. That way air flow is consistent. Now lay the next row and just keep repeating this until you have laid all of your boards out. Place double high stickers on top of the stack then a piece of plywood or something that you can lay plastic on to shed water. Put a slight slope on it so you’ll have no standing water and the temp roof should extend pass your stack by a few inches in all directions.

That’s it, just sit back and wait. You will need a little more info

• Keep the stack away from direct sun light.
• It is better to put the stack over concrete or asphalt. Dirt or vegetation will hamper the drying process.
• Allowing the lumber to dry fast can cause excess checking.
• The wood will not start to shrink until it drops below 25 to 30% moisture content.
• The wood dries from the out side in. slow don’t be fooled into thinking it’s dry just because it feels that way.
• Boards will dry faster on their ends, which you don’t want. To slow this down, coat the ends with wax.

So only you can decide if it is worth the time, for arm rests, I’d go to a specialty lumber store or order on line. Check www.Rockler.com out.

Have fun and let me know if I can be of any further help.
Graham

[Divecoz]

Thanks Graham.
I have sure hated in the past to do nothing with the White Cherry and Black Walnut over the years , well except to have Burned it in my fire place.

[Graham Carr]

Your welcome and I understand your desire to use the wood. I have two Black Walnuts sitting in my front yard. They are huge; the trunks are 30” and run 10’ tall before the first branch. Lots of board feet! So if they ever die, their slated for slicing, dicing and the air drying stack! I’ll probably go before them. That’s ok they offer incredible shade in the summer. Do you have the ability to cut up the logs?
Graham

[kmclemore]

Our property ("Puffs Woods") is aptly named as it is a *very* wooded lot... but the dang stuff is all tulip poplars and ashes... sigh... the ash is only good if you're gonna make a car frame (Morgan Sports Cars uses ash in their bodies) and the tulip is total crap wood. When we cut them down they aren't worth slicing or burning. *Sigh*

[Graham Carr]

A woodlot that’s not, what a shame . It does provide oxygen and erosion control ! The two trees that I mentioned are the only two of three that I have, other then shrubbery, flowers and lawn, We live in town.

Graham

[Joe 26M Time Warp]

LOL! No, I'm not in the trades, though sometimes I wish I was... I love working with wood....

That reminds me of a job I didn't get. It was some company, I think in Troy Mi., they were looking for cabinetmakers and I was applying for the job.

They had a table about 16-20 foot long with the original Chrysler logo inlaid in veneer. It was beautiful and some of the long pieces had to be specially made (I thought) for this project, it had real wood edging maybe 1/2 - 3/4"?

I've always wanted to work with some cool real veneer projects on quality plywood. Beautiful stuff.

[Divecoz]

Your welcome and I understand your desire to use the wood. I have two Black Walnuts sitting in my front yard. They are huge; the trunks are 30” and run 10’ tall before the first branch. Lots of board feet! So if they ever die, their slated for slicing, dicing and the air drying stack! I’ll probably go before them. That’s ok they offer incredible shade in the summer. Do you have the ability to cut up the logs?
Graham

Yes there are several custom saw mills around.
Most of the tree's we had / HAD Dutch Elm Disease. WE also have Hawthorn and Mulberry and a few Wild Plum and several Black Walnut and maybe a 1/2 dozen White Cherry and Silver Maples. Everything else is ornamental Spruce of one sort or another.