Kitchen project?

[agg221]

James, nice cupboard. Personally, I feel there is very little point in trying to make something -exactly- like you could buy. It's not just about saving the money, it's about making something unique, which is clearly made from real wood, not made in such a way that it may as well be made from plastic. I particularly like the way the doors are constructed.

 

As an aside, I visited one of the top window and door manufacturers in the UK yesterday. The quality and engineering precision is phenomenal, but the finished product when painted white can end up looking like it's made in plastic as it's just so uniform and smooth. That's not my style.

 

Also worth using the search box to look at TrollSpiel's bathroom thread for ideas.

 

How big are the oak trees you have access to? This will play a big part as timbermillers has said in what quality of timber you get. I have always found oak one of the most forgiving timbers to season, partly because the heartwood doesn't get bluestain fungus and end up ruined. I suggest you either find one which is dead (standing or fallen - doesn't matter much as only the sapwood rots), or get one felled fairly quickly. It's much better to fell trees whilst dormant to get good quality timber. You don't need to mill straight away - it will wait years if you need it to. I have one butt which was standing dead for at least 5yrs and has been waiting roadside for the past year since I felled it for my neighbour to recover enough from his heart attack that he can pick it up for me. The sapwood will rot off, but personally I don't like it anyway as the insects and fungi go for it. It also means the bark has gone, which is good as that is always a pain for milling as it dulls the chain.

 

Woodland grown trees are also less likely to contain stressed wood in the main stem, so less likely to twist too much. Quarter sawing will give you more stable boards, and a distinctive pattern from the medullary rays, but through-and-through sawn boards will dry reasonably flat if you keep plenty of weight on them while they're drying. With through-and-through sawn boards I tend to build my stacks with the ones from furthest out at the bottom, progressing to quartersawn at the top. That way, you have the most weight on the most cupping-prone boards.

 

The art in air drying is steady drying. The water can only migrate out from the centre at a certain rate, so if you dry the outside too fast it tends to shrink faster and therefore crack at the surface because it has become smaller than the timber underneath. You can slow down drying rate by stacking boards closer together (thinner sticks, say 3/8" at the worst time of year rather than 3/4" at the best), in a shadier area, with less air movement and ultimately by covering the sides too (although this is only necessary when you've milled at the wrong time of year in hot weather and desperately need to slow everything right down - you then cover during the day, uncover at night).

 

Ideally, you would mill for air drying between late September and mid-March. However, you can push this range if you are prepared to take more care with your stack. I once milled a large oak in the middle of an August heatwave, having hired in a bandmill at the only time we could get access across the field. The operator ran the mill as fast as possible to avoid leaving a surface exposed, I took every board straight off, stacked them with no sticks directly in the shade, building the pile so fast that the surfaces never dried. I then stuck the outer slabs on the top and sides to leave no surface exposed and picked up in a curtainside lorry, only unloading in the evening and sticking covers straight over, then moving it to stack properly early the following morning and late the following evening, keeping the sides covered during the day and the top all the time right through until the end of September. Didn't get a single surface check, but my labour input was much higher than if I'd milled in October, stacked and forgotten about it! That lot became a floor btw.

 

When using boards, think about the grain. Anything which might cup is best cut narrow (rails). Quartersawn is very stable so makes good wide panels. Thicker sections are less likely to move. If you're milling your own you can pre-plan for this when breaking down the tree, so for example I tend to cut heavy sections first, then switch to thin boards, then back to thicker sections. For structural stuff, on a 2ft dia tree, that might mean skimming the top for a 6" width all the way down, then taking off a 4" thick slice which will be split down the middle for two near quartersawn 4"x3". Then go to 2" boards. When I get near the middle I go for the thinnest cuts I want, then repeat in reverse as I work out again. No true quartersawing, but a few quartered and rift-sawn bits taken to best effect. Obviously for kitchen components everything is scaled down on the above, but the basic idea is still the same.

 

This post is probably long enough!

 

Alec

Edited January 30, 2013 by agg221

[jamesd]

Thanks alec.

I have access to a range of different trees from large standing deadwood to smaller standing deadwood i could even fell a live tree if necessary. I have one eyed up which is about 3 feet in diameter.

 

I understand through and through sawing is just taking a plank out of the stem and quarter sawn is taking a plank out of the stem and then cutting this down the middle which usually is using a thicker width of wood?

 

I intend to dry the wood in a barn will these mean the wood will dry out too fast and possibly split?

[muttley9050]

You got through and through right but your description of quarter sawn is also through and through really. Look at this thread http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/milling-forum/41065-1-4-sawing.html

Got a good pic in it to explain.

James

[jamesd]

Ok cheers looks a fair bit more complicated than i thought! would it be easy to do with an alasken mill?

[muttley9050]

Look at this thread it explains it, theres a part two aswell you can search for.

james

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/alaskan-mill/49497-quarter-sawing-using-alaskan-mini-mill-part-1-a.html