Alternative users for various timbers

[drinksloe]

Alright

 

Hopefully this is in right place and not be in the milling section

Got quite a few windblown trees about my wood still as well as nieghbours, in no danger and still growing so not really wasting and was wondering wot alternative users i can use them for??

 

I have firewood/logs coming out of my ears already, and while i could start selling it, it really wouldn't be viable if i counted the hours involved ( all hand cut moved, possibly removed split with an axe and stacked) yes i could get more mechanical but still a few others in area selling it quite cheap

 

I'm planning on building a leanto porch/type roofed gazebo at my back door mibbee 10 or 12m long, which i'm going to mill some oak for and make a nice feature off.

 

Other species i have needing a use, some big cypres ( with another due to be felled must be near 80-100ft single stem), beech, plenty sycamore, a big oak which i am hoping to plank a good bit possibly make some 4-6" posts too, some ash ( althou most has a touch of ADB now) and some big straight populars 3-4ft butts and nice and straight.

Possibly also a horse chestnut

 

I was thinking down south u use chestnut for fencing? I take it it is untreated?

Is there much difference between the timber of horse chestnut and sweet chestnut? Not familiar with sweet chestnut at all, Horse chestnut seems to dry similar to sycamore i wouldn't of expected it to be a good fencing timber

Done plenty of fencing but never with untreated posts, all just soft woods up here apart from the old sq oak strainers from generations ago

 

 

I could also do with some big boards 6 or 8x2's for holding soil back for  a new lawn or raised garden and some steps too?

Not sure i want to use the oak for all of that.

Wot would be the next best species? Usually plenty of larch up the track behind my house but they must of had a tidy up

 

Also could do with a semi temp car port/shed for trailers, got some 2nd tin coming and thought i could use some of these trees,

Are u better using it as round wood or milling it square?

 

And finally u se eon these alaskan type programmes where there living in the wilds building stuff, i've seen them singe/burn/blacken the outside of timber to prevent it rotten for founds and stuff buried, i think a japanese type name. Does that work

 

Cheers

 

 

[Squaredy]

1 hour ago, drinksloe said:

Alright

 

Hopefully this is in right place and not be in the milling section

Got quite a few windblown trees about my wood still as well as nieghbours, in no danger and still growing so not really wasting and was wondering wot alternative users i can use them for??

 

I have firewood/logs coming out of my ears already, and while i could start selling it, it really wouldn't be viable if i counted the hours involved ( all hand cut moved, possibly removed split with an axe and stacked) yes i could get more mechanical but still a few others in area selling it quite cheap

 

I'm planning on building a leanto porch/type roofed gazebo at my back door mibbee 10 or 12m long, which i'm going to mill some oak for and make a nice feature off.

 

Other species i have needing a use, some big cypres ( with another due to be felled must be near 80-100ft single stem), beech, plenty sycamore, a big oak which i am hoping to plank a good bit possibly make some 4-6" posts too, some ash ( althou most has a touch of ADB now) and some big straight populars 3-4ft butts and nice and straight.

Possibly also a horse chestnut

 

I was thinking down south u use chestnut for fencing? I take it it is untreated?

Is there much difference between the timber of horse chestnut and sweet chestnut? Not familiar with sweet chestnut at all, Horse chestnut seems to dry similar to sycamore i wouldn't of expected it to be a good fencing timber

Done plenty of fencing but never with untreated posts, all just soft woods up here apart from the old sq oak strainers from generations ago

 

 

I could also do with some big boards 6 or 8x2's for holding soil back for  a new lawn or raised garden and some steps too?

Not sure i want to use the oak for all of that.

Wot would be the next best species? Usually plenty of larch up the track behind my house but they must of had a tidy up

 

Also could do with a semi temp car port/shed for trailers, got some 2nd tin coming and thought i could use some of these trees,

Are u better using it as round wood or milling it square?

 

And finally u se eon these alaskan type programmes where there living in the wilds building stuff, i've seen them singe/burn/blacken the outside of timber to prevent it rotten for founds and stuff buried, i think a japanese type name. Does that work

 

Cheers

 

 

Assuming you mean uses not users then you have loads of options.  The horse chestnut is of little use, but everything else you have is very usable.

 

Oak and Sweet Chestnut are both durable outdoor timbers.  Chestnut is superior generally though it depends on the use.  Oak is stronger and tougher but usually has more faults.  Chestnut as fencing needs no treatment.

 

Cypress is an excellent timber (though often very knotty) and is durable and stable.  Good for cladding, construction, almost anything where you don't need great strength or hardness.  Ideal for lawn edging and raised beds.

 

Beech is good for indoor use - no durability outdoors, but ideal for furniture, shelving etc.  Similar comments regarding Sycamore, but more stable than beech and easier to work.

 

Larch also an excellent timber for multiple uses - fairly durable so good for cladding, construction, but also good for indoor projects.

 

Finally poplar is a very under-rated timber - not too durable - though I have heard it has been used successfully for cladding.  But it is certainly very attractive for indoor cladding, kitchen cupboards and many other uses.  Quite a soft timber, not the easiest to work but very beautiful grain (in a subtle way).

 

Hope this helps.

[agg221]

OK, five properties of wood I would regard as relevant here - strength, durability (resistance to decay), permeability, hardness and tendency to warp or split. I am ignoring aesthetics and availability as the first is personal choice and the second is based on what you have.

 

Oak - strong and pretty durable. Also low permeability, high hardness when dry and in general the tendency to warp or split is fairly low. Makes it good for outdoor structures, much easier to work green and design around that, or to use designs which allow for the use of machine tools. Cutting mortice and tenon joints by hand in dry oak is possible, but slow.

 

Ash - strong but not durable. Also not very permeable. Fairly hard when dry and it tends to warp or split about the same as oak. Good for indoor use.

 

Horse chestnut - not strong, not durable. Very permeable and soft, does not tend to split or warp too much. This means it is generally regarded as useless, but one thing it will do well is soak up preservatives without needing a pressure tank. That means it is decent for rough cladding if you treat it regularly. Note, a completely different species to sweet chestnut and they have nothing in common except the name.

 

Sycamore - not very strong or durable. Some permeability and reasonably hard. Doesn't tend to warp or crack too much. That means it isn't useful for construction but does make decent furniture and would probably make a reasonable floor. Probably a rather under-rated timber in my opinion as it's much better than cheap softwood (not that that is cheap anymore).

 

Larch - reasonably strong, reasonably durable. Does tend to crack and warp. Medium on hardness, not very permeable. Good for construction and outdoor exposure except for direct ground contact (fine if buried or really wet, just not in locations where it is nicely damp for fungi to take hold).

 

Cypress - does depend a bit on exactly which one, but fairly similar to larch, possibly a little less durable. If you have plenty of cypress and not much oak, or you want to work with dry rather than green timber, I would look at that as your best construction option so long as you can design in a way that avoids ground contact.

 

Beech - not very strong, not at all durable. Not permeable but very hard. Again, indoor use as it makes good floors and kitchens. Does not tend to warp or crack.

 

Milled vs. round - milled lets you use only the heartwood which matters for oak. Round is far less effort but you do need to design your joints for it.

 

Charring provides a layer which fungi and insects don't get through so easily. Once through it will rot out from the inside (bear that in mind if you are making holes) but it will extend life considerably.

 

Think that's everything?

 

Alec

 

[agg221]

4 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

Assuming you mean uses not users then you have loads of options.  The horse chestnut is of little use, but everything else you have is very usable.

 

Oak and Sweet Chestnut are both durable outdoor timbers.  Chestnut is superior generally though it depends on the use.  Oak is stronger and tougher but usually has more faults.  Chestnut as fencing needs no treatment.

 

Cypress is an excellent timber (though often very knotty) and is durable and stable.  Good for cladding, construction, almost anything where you don't need great strength or hardness.  Ideal for lawn edging and raised beds.

 

Beech is good for indoor use - no durability outdoors, but ideal for furniture, shelving etc.  Similar comments regarding Sycamore, but more stable than beech and easier to work.

 

Larch also an excellent timber for multiple uses - fairly durable so good for cladding, construction, but also good for indoor projects.

 

Finally poplar is a very under-rated timber - not too durable - though I have heard it has been used successfully for cladding.  But it is certainly very attractive for indoor cladding, kitchen cupboards and many other uses.  Quite a soft timber, not the easiest to work but very beautiful grain (in a subtle way).

 

Hope this helps.

Pretty much entirely agree but a few specific exceptions to be aware of.

 

Sweet Chestnut is generally better when it is woodland grown, particularly coppice. Old trees have a tendency to have spiral grain which means the milled timber warps terribly and is weakened as the fibres don't run down the length.

 

Absolutely agree regarding poplar. It's good cladding because it is also permeable, so if you treat it it takes up the preservative easily. It is a fairly light, plain timber but gives a nice look. It is also a good carcassing timber as it is pretty stable. Seriously underrated in my view. The picture shows a ledged door constructed in poplar using clenched nails. There aren't many timbers where you can get clear boards that wide which won't warp.

 

Alec

[drinksloe]

Aye that is exactly the type of thing i was looking for.

 

Aye squardely it was meant to be uses not users, would love to blame auto correct but really just my fat fingers to blame 😃

 

Its sort of along the lines i thought of but good to be reassured.

 

That popular door is stunning. Fits in well with the building style

Wot thickness did u will them down to? Guessing 9"-12" wide boards?

I have just renovated an old stone building so have some big window sils at moment just done with mdf painted but not sat very securely on so at some point i do hope to replace with hard wood sils i have milled.

And could do with some coffee tables too of some description and various other bits and bobs

I did mill some last year, gave a fair bit away and left some stuff down wher ei milled it out the way and some bugger nicked it.

Fair play to them as fairly big slabs 12ft x2ft+ x2"+ took a bit of lifting out the wood

 

Must admit don't think i've ever seen a sweet chestnut tree, and always found it hard to believe folk would use horse chestnut type timber for fence posts or anything else like that.

Usually the only time u deal with a horse chestnut up here its a huge windblown thing

[Dan Maynard]

Sweet chestnut I've seen in numbers was down in the South downs, in coppice woodland. Only seen one or two round here in gardens so not sure quite how far the natural range extends north.

 

[agg221]

I milled the tree into slabs at 2.5" thick. Once seasoned, I cut them down to widths of between 9" and 12.5" and then split them into two boards on a bandsaw and put them through the planer/thicknesser to give a 1" planed finished board. 12.5" is the width limit of my thicknesser.

 

I actually built everything you can see in that picture. Most of the timber I felled, milled and built using timber framing methods but the door frame was made from some old timbers which had floated down the river and jammed up in the Dutch ford at the end of our field, so I fished them out, dried them and re-finished them, leaving the edges with the texture they had developed over the centuries. They are also all properly peg jointed in, which is why it looks like that. I then finished all the panels with lime plaster. Just need to get round to finishing off the ceiling and putting down some carpet.

 

Alec