Old Lumber

Chris asks:

>I have some joists that are about 3" X 12" . They came out of an old
>building and are thought to be about 100yrs old. Any ideas about what kind
>of wood they would have used for this then? Maybe pine or fir? And if so
>would it be worth using for furniture projects? Because floor boards were
>nailed on one edge it would seem you would cut off about 2-3" of waste to
>get rid of possible nails before ruining jointer blades etc.

Also use a metal detector, just to make sure.

Where are you? In the U.S., you could be dealing with pine, fir, chestnut, oak,
maple, almost anything. Many years ago, I went out with a woman whose brothers
framed some houses in CT with maple. I'm almighty glad I didn't have to do the
fasteners there!

Charlie Self
"Ain't no man can avoid being born average, but there ain't no man got to be
common." Satchel Paige

"Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have some joists that are about 3" X 12" . They came out of an old
> building and are thought to be about 100yrs old. Any ideas about what kind
> of wood they would have used for this then? Maybe pine or fir? And if so
> would it be worth using for furniture projects? Because floor boards were
> nailed on one edge it would seem you would cut off about 2-3" of waste to
> get rid of possible nails before ruining jointer blades etc. Never done
> anything like this before , any advice welcome.

Don't know the answers to your questions but since you brought it up...

After my maternal grandmother died we worked on her house to get
it to a state my mother could stand to sell it. After pulling down the
umpteen layers of paper (many "newspaper") covering the upstairs
walls & ceiling guess what I found; the walls & ceiling were made of
1x8 or bigger black walnut. Mom said some one had to told her dad
that was "the best wood" so that's what the cut when building. All the
many coats of white paint base boards & window trim too.
Sold the house for next to nothing to the first person who needed a
house and didn't have "any money".

Then there's my dad's sister's barn.
The barn has grown out of and over a log cabin/home. One of the walls
of the original cabin can be seen inside pretty well at old windows &
"out side" door. Squared logs at least 16 inches on a side of American
Chestnut.

"Charlie Self" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Where are you? In the U.S., you could be dealing with pine, fir, chestnut,
oak,
> maple, almost anything. Many years ago, I went out with a woman whose
brothers
> framed some houses in CT with maple. I'm almighty glad I didn't have to do
the
> fasteners there!

Oh yea, fasteners. While working on my grandmother's house (the one with
walnut walls) we had to attach some 2x4s to the wall. Regular nails would
just turn to pretzels rather than drive into that stuff. I got some hardened
nails and a good number of them simply *broke*, damned dangerous when
the did too.

Could also be something like eastern hemlock, making it about worthless for
anything but what it was used for.

Answer is to clean a section with a sharp edge tool, and identify. Density
means less than appearance in any application you might find for the wood,
so why bother.

"Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks, a lot of good ideas here. FYI the wood came from a warehouse in
New
> York City, it was built in the late 1800's. It's sound , no rot. I'll
clean
> some up see what it looks like. The density thing sounds interesting.
>

On 27-Oct-2003, "Chris" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Any ideas about what kind
> of wood they would have used for this then?

If you've got a piece that's easy to handle, weigh it.
If you don't have a scale accurate for it's weight, use
a bathroom scale - weigh yourself, then weigh youself
carrying it.

Measure carefully and calculate the density. If it's
really dense, it's a hardwood etc. You can compare it
to listed wood densities to narrow down the selection.

Mike

Interesting thread - there was an add in our local paper for "Chestnut"
lumber. It said there were 2x4, 2x6 & 3x4 in various lengths.

I called the guy today - he's a local farmer. He said they'd dismantled an
old house on his property, and were selling the lumber. He said it was
mainly rafters, wall studs, and floor joists. Yes, my ears did perk up
some! He wouldn't give me a price - said to come and look and make him an
offer.

Not sure what to offer him if it's in good wood. The local "antique" lumber
places charge anywhere from $6/bf and up. I've been a little hesitant to
buy used lumber, from the standpoint of hidden nails and metal and because
I'm still a little new and learning to identify various wood and what
condition it's in.

I don't know much about chestnut other than it's a hardwood. Is it good to
build furniture with? Also, my next project is a workbench - would it be
good for the top or legs? If anyone has any experience, especially buying
used or recycled wood, I'd appreciate hearing your opinion.

Thanks -

Nick B

"Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have some joists that are about 3" X 12" . They came out of an old
> building and are thought to be about 100yrs old. Any ideas about what kind
> of wood they would have used for this then? Maybe pine or fir? And if so
> would it be worth using for furniture projects? Because floor boards were
> nailed on one edge it would seem you would cut off about 2-3" of waste to
> get rid of possible nails before ruining jointer blades etc. Never done
> anything like this before , any advice welcome.
>
> Thanks,
> Chris
>
>

Chris wrote:

> I have some joists that are about 3" X 12" . They came out of an old
> building and are thought to be about 100yrs old. Any ideas about what kind
> of wood they would have used for this then? Maybe pine or fir? And if so

Could be anything. FWIW, there was an old feed mill here (southwestern
Virginia) about that age. Someone took it apart block by block, board by
board to get the timbers. Filled up lots of flatbed trucks hauling it all
off. It was all white oak.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

They're junk. Hey, I'll do you a favor and dispose of them for you.

Bob

Thanks, a lot of good ideas here. FYI the wood came from a warehouse in New
York City, it was built in the late 1800's. It's sound , no rot. I'll clean
some up see what it looks like. The density thing sounds interesting.

Chris

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have some joists that are about 3" X 12" . They came out of an old
> building and are thought to be about 100yrs old. Any ideas about what kind
> of wood they would have used for this then? Maybe pine or fir? And if so
> would it be worth using for furniture projects? Because floor boards were
> nailed on one edge it would seem you would cut off about 2-3" of waste to
> get rid of possible nails before ruining jointer blades etc. Never done
> anything like this before , any advice welcome.
>
> Thanks,
> Chris
>
>

I'd say there's a good chance they are yellow poplar. Poplar used to be
used very often for beams and joists because the trees grew very tall and
very straight.

Doug


"Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have some joists that are about 3" X 12" . They came out of an old
> building and are thought to be about 100yrs old. Any ideas about what kind
> of wood they would have used for this then? Maybe pine or fir? And if so
> would it be worth using for furniture projects? Because floor boards were
> nailed on one edge it would seem you would cut off about 2-3" of waste to
> get rid of possible nails before ruining jointer blades etc. Never done
> anything like this before , any advice welcome.
>
> Thanks,
> Chris
>
>

"Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have some joists that are about 3" X 12" . They came out of an old
> building and are thought to be about 100yrs old. Any ideas about what kind
> of wood they would have used for this then? Maybe pine or fir? And if so
> would it be worth using for furniture projects? Because floor boards were
> nailed on one edge it would seem you would cut off about 2-3" of waste to
> get rid of possible nails before ruining jointer blades etc. Never done
> anything like this before , any advice welcome.
>

Could be anything, really. Back in those days, they used whatever was
available. You may get lucky and find chestnut! Clean up some of it and
post a pic on news:alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking and maybe someone can
tell.

Or, you could avoid the hassle and let me have them.

Frank

[email protected] (Charlie Self) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Chris asks:
>
>>I have some joists that are about 3" X 12" . They came out of an old
>>building and are thought to be about 100yrs old. Any ideas about what
>>kind of wood they would have used for this then? Maybe pine or fir?
>>And if so would it be worth using for furniture projects? Because
>>floor boards were nailed on one edge it would seem you would cut off
>>about 2-3" of waste to get rid of possible nails before ruining
>>jointer blades etc.
>
> Also use a metal detector, just to make sure.
>
> Where are you? In the U.S., you could be dealing with pine, fir,
> chestnut, oak, maple, almost anything. Many years ago, I went out with
> a woman whose brothers framed some houses in CT with maple. I'm
> almighty glad I didn't have to do the fasteners there!

I had a house in Waterbury, CT. Joists, studs, rafters all oak.

"Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Thanks, a lot of good ideas here. FYI the wood came from a warehouse
> in New York City, it was built in the late 1800's. It's sound , no
> rot. I'll clean some up see what it looks like. The density thing
> sounds interesting.

In NYC, by the late 1800's, they weren't cutting lumber locally
(it was all long gone), so odds are it's not going to be one of
those "cut whatever's close" deals. In that era there was a lot
of large-scale lumbering being done in the south, and on the
west coast (I believe Michigan had been largely cut over by then).
Odds are they'll turn out to be southern yellow pine, that was
very popular for beams, trusses, etc at the time.

John

What Charlie Says is true its hard to tell what you have especially from the
size, '
I grew up in Boston and when i got to do work in some old buildings you
never knew what you were cutting into.
Wash DC was the same some of those old row house's had 3x12 oak joists 12"
on center.

Same as a lot of old Barns, when a farmer needed to build a Barn he cleared
out a stand of trees, cut the wood
for his barn and had more clear ground to plant his crops.

He never give a damn what wood it was, wood was wood.

Clean some of it up you may suprised at what you find.
Could be like opening a birthday gift<G>

Good Luck,
George



"Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have some joists that are about 3" X 12" . They came out of an old
> building and are thought to be about 100yrs old. Any ideas about what kind
> of wood they would have used for this then? Maybe pine or fir? And if so
> would it be worth using for furniture projects? Because floor boards were
> nailed on one edge it would seem you would cut off about 2-3" of waste to
> get rid of possible nails before ruining jointer blades etc. Never done
> anything like this before , any advice welcome.
>
> Thanks,
> Chris
>
>

On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 02:58:11 GMT, "Nick Bozovich"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Interesting thread - there was an add in our local paper for "Chestnut"
>lumber. It said there were 2x4, 2x6 & 3x4 in various lengths.
>
>I called the guy today - he's a local farmer. He said they'd dismantled an
>old house on his property, and were selling the lumber. He said it was
>mainly rafters, wall studs, and floor joists. Yes, my ears did perk up
>some! He wouldn't give me a price - said to come and look and make him an
>offer.
>
>Not sure what to offer him if it's in good wood. The local "antique" lumber
>places charge anywhere from $6/bf and up. I've been a little hesitant to
>buy used lumber, from the standpoint of hidden nails and metal and because
>I'm still a little new and learning to identify various wood and what
>condition it's in.
>
>I don't know much about chestnut other than it's a hardwood. Is it good to
>build furniture with? Also, my next project is a workbench - would it be
>good for the top or legs? If anyone has any experience, especially buying
>used or recycled wood, I'd appreciate hearing your opinion.
>
>Thanks -
>
>Nick B
>

I wouldn't hesitate. Make an offer. Take it home. Build what you
like, except for that workbench top, I'd use a closed grain wood.

In article <[email protected]>, "Chris" <[email protected]> wrote:
>I have some joists that are about 3" X 12" . They came out of an old
>building and are thought to be about 100yrs old. Any ideas about what kind
>of wood they would have used for this then? Maybe pine or fir?

Could be darn near anything. Our previous house was built in 1928. Most of the
framing is rough-sawn beech. Most of what isn't beech is sugar maple. There's
a little bit of white oak thrown in just for variety, and one joist in the
basement appears to be yellow pine.

> And if so would it be worth using for furniture projects?

Depends a lot on the species, and what type of furniture you want to make.

>Because floor boards were
>nailed on one edge it would seem you would cut off about 2-3" of waste to
>get rid of possible nails before ruining jointer blades etc. Never done
>anything like this before , any advice welcome.

Metal detector.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

"John McCoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
> > Thanks, a lot of good ideas here. FYI the wood came from a warehouse
> > in New York City, it was built in the late 1800's. It's sound , no
> > rot. I'll clean some up see what it looks like. The density thing
> > sounds interesting.
>
> In NYC, by the late 1800's, they weren't cutting lumber locally
> (it was all long gone), so odds are it's not going to be one of
> those "cut whatever's close" deals. In that era there was a lot
> of large-scale lumbering being done in the south, and on the
> west coast (I believe Michigan had been largely cut over by then).
> Odds are they'll turn out to be southern yellow pine, that was
> very popular for beams, trusses, etc at the time.
>
> John

I did a total remodel on an old homestead place in southern Ohio, and after
stripping the lath and plaster, I started to drill the studs to send in the
first electrical service the house had ever seen. I said "no, you're
kidding", as I first saw the shavings. I picked up a handful and smelled
them. Cedar studs, every one of them. All exactly 16" centers. Balloon
framed. Poplar 2 x 8 floor joists.

It was built slightly pre 1800, as I recall. All milled off the land it was
built on.
--
Jim in NC