I'm looking for sheets of kiln dried pine that are as thin as possible, but
not plywood. I've seen the 2'x4' boards, but they are 3/4" thick. Do they
make such a thing maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick, and if so where could I find
them?
Thanks. Oh, this is for use with pet chinchillas, which cannot munch on
plywood because the glue is toxic. The 2'x4' boards are OK to use as
shelving as there is minimal glue. I'd like to construct some additional
boxes and tunnels for them but want to make them very light weight.
Any suggestions are appreciated,
dwhite
"Dan White" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm looking for sheets of kiln dried pine that are as thin as possible,
but
> not plywood. I've seen the 2'x4' boards, but they are 3/4" thick. Do
they
> make such a thing maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick, and if so where could I
find
> them?
>
> Thanks. Oh, this is for use with pet chinchillas, which cannot munch on
> plywood because the glue is toxic. The 2'x4' boards are OK to use as
> shelving as there is minimal glue. I'd like to construct some additional
> boxes and tunnels for them but want to make them very light weight.
>
> Any suggestions are appreciated,
>
> dwhite
>
>
Use masonite. If chewing is a problem, glue a thin piece of sheet metal to
the masonite.
--
Roger Shoaf
About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.
"Dan White" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> That's a thought. However, I need to see what kinds of wood go into
> masonite, plus the binder (wax?) could be a problem. Chins have sensitive
> digestive systems, and you really have to watch what they get their paws
on.
The sheet metal is to keep the little rodents from eating the masonite.
They should be OK with casual contact on the sheet metal as galvanized steel
is common material for rodent cages.
Tunnels? Get some galvinized down spout. If you are concerned about the
sharp edges you can have a sheet metal shop put a nice rolled edge on them
If your idea is to give them something to chew on, supply some sort of chewy
thing for them like a dog toy or something.
--
Roger Shoaf
About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.
Another option might be to go to a model or hobby store. I haven't been in
one for a while but they used to have sheets of balsa etc.
"Michael Faurot" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dan White <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I'm looking for sheets of kiln dried pine that are as thin as
>> possible, but not plywood. I've seen the 2'x4' boards, but they are
>> 3/4" thick. Do they make such a thing maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick, and
>> if so where could I find them?
>
> If you're not married to pine, one option that occurs to me is to
> look in the big box stores where they keep the oak and poplar. I
> believe both Home Depot and Lowes have a section where they've got
> poplar boards that are thinner than 3/4".
>
> Another thought that occurs to me, is to go to the craft stores
> like Michaels. They've got some thin stock there for model purposes.
> I know some of it is plywood, but I think of some it might also be
> balsa or boxwood.
>
> I believe you also mention that these things are disposable. So
> if you're going to have to do this frequently, you may just want
> to invest in a planer and then you can dimension your stock however
> thin you need to. The planer will likely pay for itself on what
> you'll save by dimensioning your own stuff. Add a bandsaw to the mix
> and then you can resaw your stock first, and then run it through
> the planer.
>
> --
>
> If you want to reply via email, change the obvious words to numbers and
> remove ".invalid".
"Nova" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:p2zUh.7866$IG1.2107@trndny07...
> Dan White wrote:
>> I'm looking for sheets of kiln dried pine that are as thin as possible,
>> but
>> not plywood. I've seen the 2'x4' boards, but they are 3/4" thick. Do
>> they
>> make such a thing maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick, and if so where could I
>> find
>> them?
>>
>> Thanks. Oh, this is for use with pet chinchillas, which cannot munch on
>> plywood because the glue is toxic. The 2'x4' boards are OK to use as
>> shelving as there is minimal glue. I'd like to construct some additional
>> boxes and tunnels for them but want to make them very light weight.
>>
>> Any suggestions are appreciated,
>>
>> dwhite
>>
>>
>
> See:
>
> http://www.saw-online.com/Resources/thinw.htm
>
> --
> Jack Novak
> Buffalo, NY - USA
> [email protected]
That's worth bookmarking!!
Thanks
Max
Dan White <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm looking for sheets of kiln dried pine that are as thin as
> possible, but not plywood. I've seen the 2'x4' boards, but they are
> 3/4" thick. Do they make such a thing maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick, and
> if so where could I find them?
If you're not married to pine, one option that occurs to me is to
look in the big box stores where they keep the oak and poplar. I
believe both Home Depot and Lowes have a section where they've got
poplar boards that are thinner than 3/4".
Another thought that occurs to me, is to go to the craft stores
like Michaels. They've got some thin stock there for model purposes.
I know some of it is plywood, but I think of some it might also be
balsa or boxwood.
I believe you also mention that these things are disposable. So
if you're going to have to do this frequently, you may just want
to invest in a planer and then you can dimension your stock however
thin you need to. The planer will likely pay for itself on what
you'll save by dimensioning your own stuff. Add a bandsaw to the mix
and then you can resaw your stock first, and then run it through
the planer.
--
If you want to reply via email, change the obvious words to numbers and
remove ".invalid".
"Toller" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Dan White" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I'm looking for sheets of kiln dried pine that are as thin as possible,
> > but
> > not plywood. I've seen the 2'x4' boards, but they are 3/4" thick. Do
> > they
> > make such a thing maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick, and if so where could I
> > find
> > them?
> >
> > Thanks. Oh, this is for use with pet chinchillas, which cannot munch on
> > plywood because the glue is toxic. The 2'x4' boards are OK to use as
> > shelving as there is minimal glue. I'd like to construct some
additional
> > boxes and tunnels for them but want to make them very light weight.
> >
> I doubt you could find anything like that. They would be very unstable
and
> pretty much useless to anyone without pet chinchillas.
>
> Chinchillas are small animals; why do you need such big panels? You could
> probably have 10" wide pieces cut, though they wouldn't be cheap.
>
>
Well, I wouldn't necessarily need 2'x4' sheets, although that would be a
good size to cut down. I considered using thin plywood with solid pine
moulding, but they chew so much that the moulding wouldn't last that long,
and now you've got the plywood showing through. It's just not worth
it...much better if I can get thin solid pine.
We have huge cages for them. Actually their enclosure is 8' square and over
6' high, so they're a bit spoiled. We make playthings to keep their minds
occupied. I have access to a lot of cardboard boxes, so that's what we use
mostly. You can do a lot things with cardboard. Anyway, they are about the
size of a small rabbit, but they like to jump onto things, and they jump
pretty high. If I had 10" boards cut down that might work - I could butt
them together I suppose. But, like you say, it doesn't sound easy to do.
thanks,
dwhite
"Doug Brown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Another option might be to go to a model or hobby store. I haven't been
in
> one for a while but they used to have sheets of balsa etc.
Well I hadn't thought of that. I guess it is worth a call, although balsa
wouldn't work in this application.
Thanks,
dwhite
"Roger Shoaf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Dan White" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > That's a thought. However, I need to see what kinds of wood go into
> > masonite, plus the binder (wax?) could be a problem. Chins have
sensitive
> > digestive systems, and you really have to watch what they get their paws
> on.
>
> The sheet metal is to keep the little rodents from eating the masonite.
>
> They should be OK with casual contact on the sheet metal as galvanized
steel
> is common material for rodent cages.
Common, yes, but not good for their teeth. They tend to knaw on the bars in
those little prisons constantly. You have to remember, these are not our
pet rodents. I call them our "chinchildren." lol Here's the kind of nutty
people you're talking to:
http://tinyurl.com/242y2y
This is OT, but the best tunnels for a chin are found in the carpet
department at Home Depot. You can just take the cardboard tubes, which are
OK to chew. The two biggest problems with chin health are digestion and
teeth. If those are kept in good condition, the chin can live 15 years or
so.
thanks,
dwhite
"Roger Shoaf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Use masonite. If chewing is a problem, glue a thin piece of sheet metal
to
> the masonite.
>
That's a thought. However, I need to see what kinds of wood go into
masonite, plus the binder (wax?) could be a problem. Chins have sensitive
digestive systems, and you really have to watch what they get their paws on.
Apple branches are fine, peach branches are toxic, for example. Oak is bad,
poplar, aspen, kiln dried pine are fine. Sheet metal is also kind of a
no-no.
If they made a pine masonite with little or no binder, then we're talking!
dwhite
>> "Dan White" wrote
>> > I'm looking for sheets of kiln dried pine that are as thin as possible,
>> > but
>> > not plywood. I've seen the 2'x4' boards, but they are 3/4" thick. Do
>> > they
>> > make such a thing maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick, and if so where could I
>> > find
>> > them?
>> >
>> > Thanks. Oh, this is for use with pet chinchillas, which cannot munch
>> > on
>> > plywood because the glue is toxic. The 2'x4' boards are OK to use as
>> > shelving as there is minimal glue. I'd like to construct some
> additional
>> > boxes and tunnels for them but want to make them very light weight.
>> >
> thanks,
> dwhite
I routinely re-saw 10" wide X 3/4" thick pieces of Eastern white pine for a
variety of projects.
I use a Delta 14" band saw (w/riser)
I then "double stick" tape them to another piece of wood and run them
through a planer to smooth them.
The final thickness is most often about 5/16".
You should be able to find someone in your vicinity who would be willing to
do the job.
Max
"Toller" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >
> Masonite is a mix of fine wood chips and glue. I would think it was much
> worse than plywood.
>
Actually the info I've found online says there is no glue. The wood fibers
are held together by high pressure and 1% paraffin wax. There is probably
more than one formulation for masonite, or masonite-like products.
thanks,
dwhite
"Michael Faurot" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dan White <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Poplar would work, but I haven't found that at HD before.
>
> Every Home Depot I've ever been to, and that's in multiple different
> states, all have an area where they keep oak and poplar baords. I
> haven't been in as many Lowes, but they typically have it too.
>
Yes, HD has poplar, and lot's of it. I believe I was referring to thin
(1/4" or less) sheets or even boards of poplar. They do have thin aspen,
but the boards are too small for my use. Sorry for not being more clear.
dwhite
"Dan White" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm looking for sheets of kiln dried pine that are as thin as possible,
> but
> not plywood. I've seen the 2'x4' boards, but they are 3/4" thick. Do
> they
> make such a thing maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick, and if so where could I
> find
> them?
>
> Thanks. Oh, this is for use with pet chinchillas, which cannot munch on
> plywood because the glue is toxic. The 2'x4' boards are OK to use as
> shelving as there is minimal glue. I'd like to construct some additional
> boxes and tunnels for them but want to make them very light weight.
>
I doubt you could find anything like that. They would be very unstable and
pretty much useless to anyone without pet chinchillas.
Chinchillas are small animals; why do you need such big panels? You could
probably have 10" wide pieces cut, though they wouldn't be cheap.
Dan White <[email protected]> wrote:
> Poplar would work, but I haven't found that at HD before.
Every Home Depot I've ever been to, and that's in multiple different
states, all have an area where they keep oak and poplar baords. I
haven't been in as many Lowes, but they typically have it too.
--
If you want to reply via email, change the obvious words to numbers and
remove ".invalid".
"Dan White" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Roger Shoaf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> Use masonite. If chewing is a problem, glue a thin piece of sheet metal
> to
>> the masonite.
>>
>
> That's a thought. However, I need to see what kinds of wood go into
> masonite, plus the binder (wax?) could be a problem. Chins have sensitive
> digestive systems, and you really have to watch what they get their paws
> on.
> Apple branches are fine, peach branches are toxic, for example. Oak is
> bad,
> poplar, aspen, kiln dried pine are fine. Sheet metal is also kind of a
> no-no.
>
> If they made a pine masonite with little or no binder, then we're talking!
>
Masonite is a mix of fine wood chips and glue. I would think it was much
worse than plywood.
Dan White wrote:
> I'm looking for sheets of kiln dried pine that are as thin as possible, but
> not plywood. I've seen the 2'x4' boards, but they are 3/4" thick. Do they
> make such a thing maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick, and if so where could I find
> them?
>
> Thanks. Oh, this is for use with pet chinchillas, which cannot munch on
> plywood because the glue is toxic. The 2'x4' boards are OK to use as
> shelving as there is minimal glue. I'd like to construct some additional
> boxes and tunnels for them but want to make them very light weight.
>
> Any suggestions are appreciated,
>
> dwhite
>
>
See:
http://www.saw-online.com/Resources/thinw.htm
--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
[email protected]
"Michael Faurot" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> If you're not married to pine, one option that occurs to me is to
> look in the big box stores where they keep the oak and poplar. I
> believe both Home Depot and Lowes have a section where they've got
> poplar boards that are thinner than 3/4".
It kinda has to be pine, or one of the others. Poplar would work, but I
haven't found that at HD before. They do have aspen, which is plenty thin,
but it isn't wide enough. I really was looking for inexpensive panels. It
doesn't seem like it exists, unless I make my own it seems.
Thanks for the suggestions.
dwhite
Thanks Max and Nova. I guess I should have added the other important
variable - it has to be relatively cheap as these are pretty much disposable
items (6 months lifetime maybe). Of course finding exactly what you want
for the price you want isn't often possible.
Thanks again for the ideas,
dwhite
"Nova" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:p2zUh.7866$IG1.2107@trndny07...
> Dan White wrote:
> > I'm looking for sheets of kiln dried pine that are as thin as possible,
but
> > not plywood. I've seen the 2'x4' boards, but they are 3/4" thick. Do
they
> > make such a thing maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick, and if so where could I
find
> > them?
> >
> > Thanks. Oh, this is for use with pet chinchillas, which cannot munch on
> > plywood because the glue is toxic. The 2'x4' boards are OK to use as
> > shelving as there is minimal glue. I'd like to construct some
additional
> > boxes and tunnels for them but want to make them very light weight.
> >
> > Any suggestions are appreciated,
> >
> > dwhite
> >
> >
>
> See:
>
> http://www.saw-online.com/Resources/thinw.htm
>
> --
> Jack Novak
> Buffalo, NY - USA
> [email protected]