"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote:
Doug Fir construction lumber is sometimes sold green, other
construction
lumber is usually partially kiln dried, not dried to stability
though. Some
say this is so that after it is nailed together the wood will shrink
around
the nails and hold them tight. Given the amount of energy needed to
kiln dry wood I suspect that economics has more to do with it and
any benefit is incidental.
Was told Doug Fir is sold "wet" here in SoCal since it drys straight
while Spruce must be kiln dried or it will twist if air dried, thus
there is a shipping cost savings shipping Spruce via rail to the
MidWest.
Not confirmed but it makes sense.
Lew
On Nov 11, 11:24=A0am, [email protected] wrote:
> I want to make an entry table, but think I wont want to wait for Home
> Depot wood to dry. =A0Can someone point me to a source of reasonably dry
> hardwood ? =A0I'm in east Texas.
>
> ...
As others have noted, the hardwoods at Home Depot are kiln dried.
Doug Fir construction lumber is sometimes sold green, other
construction
lumber is usually partially kiln dried, not dried to stability
though. Some
say this is so that after it is nailed together the wood will shrink
around
the nails and hold them tight. Given the amount of energy needed to
kiln dry wood I suspect that economics has more to do with it and
any benefit is incidental.
If your local Hope Depots carry maple, you can find curly maple in the
stacks along with plain grained boards.
IMHO, it is worthwhile to spend the time looking for it.
On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:24:27 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:
>I want to make an entry table, but think I wont want to wait for Home
>Depot wood to dry. Can someone point me to a source of reasonably dry
>hardwood ? I'm in east Texas.
>
>Thanks for your help.
>
>David
Home Depot's wood is dry except for the pressure treated stuff. If it
contains less than 10% moisture it's about as dry as it gets. But,
there better hardwoods and better value elsewhere.
The one I use most sells both red and white oak, with white a little
higher. When you get into quarter sawn it doubles in price. They
also sell a variety of hardwoods including walnut, cherry (imported
from out of state), maple (imported), pecan, sassafras, and others.
Occasionally he gets a small amount of exotics like purpleheart. They
also stock a pretty good supply of hardwood veneer plywoods and baltic
birch plywood. Nothing fancy. He and his sons run the operation our
of a couple of metal buildings in the west Missouri Ozarks near I-44.
He drys what he cuts and buys some pre-dried.
He told me he takes his out of the kiln at about 5-6% moisture content
and then puts it in his storage shed so it can start soaking up the
Missouri humidity :^}
RonB
When we moved into this house, we built 33 book cases from construction
pine. It was wet - I worked on quality joints - locking boards into each other
and when we brought one in, it was screwed to the one next to it - matching the
rails and screwing it to the wall. In the hall way is the best example -
9 - group of 4 and then 5 - they are DVD shelves that are 7' tall - 9 shelves.
Those dried in place and are true to themselves and the wall.
Bowls are often turned wet and allowed to dry. I used to turn and then when
finished I would microwave them - on low heat and short times. (they can
burn... think fruit woods - ugh!) - once hot and steaming, using gloves...
stretch and compress making ovals or odd shapes.
Martin
Nonny wrote:
>
> "Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> "Fred the Red Shirt" wrote:
>>
>> Doug Fir construction lumber is sometimes sold green, other
>> construction
>> lumber is usually partially kiln dried, not dried to stability
>> though. Some
>> say this is so that after it is nailed together the wood will shrink
>> around
>> the nails and hold them tight. Given the amount of energy needed to
>> kiln dry wood I suspect that economics has more to do with it and
>> any benefit is incidental.
>>
>>
>> Was told Doug Fir is sold "wet" here in SoCal since it drys straight
>> while Spruce must be kiln dried or it will twist if air dried, thus
>> there is a shipping cost savings shipping Spruce via rail to the MidWest.
>
> Dunno if it's of interest, but until the days of kiln dried or air dried
> lumberyard lumber, many of the farn homes in my part of the country were
> cut and framed from lumber that came from either the farm or a
> neighbor's farm. Much of it was green Oak. According to what I was
> told by any number of folk whose grandparents, great grandparents etc.
> had "built the old home place," the wood was generally cut, sawed and
> the framing, sheathing, subfloor, siding and lathwork done as if the
> home was framed from dry materials. It was essentially dried in, as they
> say, with the exception of windows and doors. It was then left to dry
> over a summer, with plaster, windows, doors and cabinets built after the
> home had "settled in." Using oak as an example, the reason it was
> lathed was because the oak would be too blasted hard to use normal nails
> on after it dried.
>
> BTW, framing back then was "balloon," with no thought given to firestops
> in the open and uninsulated walls.
>
>
On Nov 11, 10:30=A0am, Greg G.<[email protected]> wrote:
> [email protected] said:
>
> >I want to make an entry table, but think I wont want to wait for Home
> >Depot wood to dry. =A0Can someone point me to a source of reasonably dry
> >hardwood ? =A0I'm in east Texas.
>
> Here is one way to find local sources. There are others...
>
> http://www.woodfinder.com/
>
> Greg G.
Thanks Greg. I'll check there.
Anywhere near Mt. Enterprise? Try www.hardwoodbarn.com. Good
selection, good prices, nice staff.
On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:24:27 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:
>I want to make an entry table, but think I wont want to wait for Home
>Depot wood to dry. Can someone point me to a source of reasonably dry
>hardwood ? I'm in east Texas.
>
>Thanks for your help.
>
>David
In our area hardwood from big box stores is high.... as in obscenely
high. Their hardwood is previously dried and planed, but oak can cost
up to $7.50/board ft.. Maple is higher, when available.
We live in extreme southeast Kansas. Local mills in SE Kansas and SW
Missouri sell Oak in the $1.65 - $2.50 range. I just bought 150 bf of
oak last week that was planed to 15/16" with one straight edge - $2.00/
bf. Widths ranged from 5" to 12" with very few flaws. The wood was
dried to an average moisture content of about 5-6%. So avoid the box
stores if possible. The Woodfinder.com suggestion is good and it does
identify some of the suppliers we use. However, the SW Missouri area
mills are plentiful and some are very small, but provide good
product.
In addition to woodfinder.com try the local yellow pages under
"sawmills", "hardwood", "Lumber", etc. Also search around for local
woodworkers clubs, guilds, etc. If you are in a more rural area,
Google yellow pages for the above topics in surrounding areas. Also
check around for small, independent cabinet and furniture makers.
Some of those folks buy hardwood by the truckload; but some buy from
local suppliers. Also check local schools that offer woodworking
classes because several of the local small hardwood dealers do much of
their business with high schools and an area college.
I am not familiar with your area, but I would think as you moved east
in in Texas you might be close to areas that have fairly plentiful
local hardwood. For that matter, some of the Maple sold by local
hardwood dealers is imported from out of state and is still much
cheaper that Lowes or HD.
Shop around. It can take time, but if you are buying much product it
is well worth your time.
RonB
[email protected] wrote:
> I want to make an entry table, but think I wont want to wait for Home
> Depot wood to dry. Can someone point me to a source of reasonably dry
> hardwood ? I'm in east Texas.
>
> Thanks for your help.
Home Depot's hardwood is kiln dried and ready to use. The selection is poor
and the price is high, but you don't need to wait for it to dry. The same
for Lowes.
It's their softwood construction lumber that comes green, and not even all
of that.
Beyond that I second Greg's suggestion of http://www.woodfinder.com. Also,
call the Woodcraft stores and see if they have any sage advice--I don't
think that there are any technically in "east Texas" but there are several
to east of the centerline of the state. Of course they can fix you up as
well for a price. Googling "East Texas Hardwoods" came up with
http://www.hardwoodbarn.com/ in Mt. Enterprise as the first hit--they seem
to have a good range of domestic and exotic species and their pricing isn't
horrible so they'd be one place to try if they aren't too far away from you.
RonB wrote:
> We live in extreme southeast Kansas. Local mills in SE Kansas and SW
> Missouri sell Oak in the $1.65 - $2.50 range. I just bought 150 bf of
> oak last week that was planed to 15/16" with one straight edge - $2.00/
> bf. Widths ranged from 5" to 12" with very few flaws. The wood was
> dried to an average moisture content of about 5-6%. So avoid the box
> stores if possible. The Woodfinder.com suggestion is good and it does
> identify some of the suppliers we use. However, the SW Missouri area
> mills are plentiful and some are very small, but provide good
> product.
Yeah, that's a great price. LOTS of oak in the Ozarks, but you don't
say whether it's red (or black) oak versus white oak. I presume the
mill where you bought it draws this distinction and sells accordingly?
--
"Our beer goes through thousands of quality Czechs every day."
(From a Shiner Bock billboard I saw in Austin some years ago)
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/
[email protected] wrote:
> I want to make an entry table, but think I wont want to wait for Home
> Depot wood to dry. Can someone point me to a source of reasonably dry
> hardwood ? I'm in east Texas.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> David
Telephone book
Yellow pages
"Lumber"
--
dadiOH
____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
"Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Fred the Red Shirt" wrote:
>
> Doug Fir construction lumber is sometimes sold green, other
> construction
> lumber is usually partially kiln dried, not dried to stability
> though. Some
> say this is so that after it is nailed together the wood will
> shrink
> around
> the nails and hold them tight. Given the amount of energy
> needed to
> kiln dry wood I suspect that economics has more to do with it
> and
> any benefit is incidental.
>
>
> Was told Doug Fir is sold "wet" here in SoCal since it drys
> straight while Spruce must be kiln dried or it will twist if air
> dried, thus there is a shipping cost savings shipping Spruce via
> rail to the MidWest.
Dunno if it's of interest, but until the days of kiln dried or air
dried lumberyard lumber, many of the farn homes in my part of the
country were cut and framed from lumber that came from either the
farm or a neighbor's farm. Much of it was green Oak. According
to what I was told by any number of folk whose grandparents, great
grandparents etc. had "built the old home place," the wood was
generally cut, sawed and the framing, sheathing, subfloor, siding
and lathwork done as if the home was framed from dry materials.
It was essentially dried in, as they say, with the exception of
windows and doors. It was then left to dry over a summer, with
plaster, windows, doors and cabinets built after the home had
"settled in." Using oak as an example, the reason it was lathed
was because the oak would be too blasted hard to use normal nails
on after it dried.
BTW, framing back then was "balloon," with no thought given to
firestops in the open and uninsulated walls.
--
Nonny
What does it mean when drool runs
out of both sides of a drunken
Congressmans mouth?
The floor is level.
If you're near Houston, try this site:
http://www.wwch.org/Resources/localRes.htm
Regards,
Roy
On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:24:27 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:
>I want to make an entry table, but think I wont want to wait for Home
>Depot wood to dry. Can someone point me to a source of reasonably dry
>hardwood ? I'm in east Texas.
>
>Thanks for your help.
>
>David
[email protected] said:
>I want to make an entry table, but think I wont want to wait for Home
>Depot wood to dry. Can someone point me to a source of reasonably dry
>hardwood ? I'm in east Texas.
Here is one way to find local sources. There are others...
http://www.woodfinder.com/
Greg G.