A small wood store.

[breffni]

I made a small wood store last winter. As can be seen its not very big but i wanted to try out working with Western Red Cedar. I got some rings of a mate and used a froe to split it into the right size shingles. Some of it wasn't great to use but it was good experience. Anyone information or advice on making shingles would be greatly appreciated:001_smile:

[harvey b davison]

Hey, that looks great, i take it 'shingles' is the name you give to the timber roof tiles.

[breffni]

Cheers mate, ye that what ive heard them called. I've read that sweet chestnut can be used to make good shingles as well but i didnt know anyone that had any.

[agg221]

Are you in Melbourne as in Oz? If so, I have absolutely no idea what's available to you that works, but the cedar you've used seems to have come out pretty well.

 

Westover Woodlands do a lot of shingles in sweet chestnut:

 

Westover Woodlands - Shingles for roofing

 

There's also a really good video on Youtube, made by Woodlands TV. I can't remember if they're using oak or sweet chestnut, but the video shows the process in some detail.

 

Alec

[breffni]

Ye im in oz at the minute but im back in the UK at the end of the year. I done that when i was living in North Wales. Someday id like to use them on a house roof. The ones i made were only 8 x 4 but if i was putting them on a larger roof id like to make ones around 16 x 8. I made a few with oak but the oak i had wasn't great quality. The cedar cleaved very easy especially the pieces that had no knots.

[pgkevet]

I was reading something the other day about how good Birch bark is as waterproofing and historically used as shingles. Supposedly the bark dries and comes away fairly well and is rich in tars?

 

I don't know any more but might speculate that partial drying/peeling then flattening with weights prior to trimming up??

[breffni]

Really i never knew that, would it not be a bit thin though?

[Baggy]

Hiya

 

I was reading something the other day about how good Birch bark is as waterproofing ........and is rich in tars?

The oils in birch bark burn well, scrape some birch bark with the back of a knife until you have a pile of powder/scrapings them throw a spark at it from a fire steel and it flares up beautifully, even if wet.

 

I would guess that the same oils in the bark be a good waterproofer for it.

 

I friend of mine is building a garden shed with wood (looks like a minature tudor building) and using oak shingles from oak.

 

 

Mark

[breffni]

Do you know what size are the shingles he is using? Is he making them himself?

[pgkevet]

Really i never knew that, would it not be a bit thin though?

 

I used to think of bitch bark as the thin silvery flakes - but then I can be dense at times:001_smile:

 

It was when I found some of the Ray Meers youtube stuff on building birch bark canoes that I realised how tough and leathery the stuff can be. Cut up into manageable pieces and tacked down it should be good. I suppose an enthusiast could even stitch sheets into a canvas using the canoe method.

 

My going back to being a country person after decades away means I'm going to have to start looking all these old crafts up again. Heck, I can't even remember which trees split straight! The last thing I did was make a chair out of Willow when i was fourteen : split and shaped and morticed out of a log split to staves rather cane style. It was a poor effort visually but supported my weight - that's 47 years ago!