Sawdust Diaries: Wood Selection
Hey there and welcome to another Sawdust Diaries! Second installment coming at you in all her grandeur… Last time we discussed the steps yours truly likes to take during the design phase. While they are not all required, aspects such as thicknesses, material square footage, lengths and fastening have at least been considered. That goes a long way toward solving how much we’ll need but does not actually tell us what we should be buying. Sounds like semantics but it is not… allow me to share my insights.
CHOOSE CAREFULLY
When it comes to picking out barnwood, the choices are often as unique as the character of each piece. That is a good thing and one of the benefits we’ve discussed before. That can also be a stumbling block especially if it is your first project involving reclaimed lumber. In thinking about this topic I believe the best place to start is what to avoid, so let’s launch this selection process and see if we can’t avoid some major slivers!
GNARL IS NOT ALWAYS NICE
First on the list-to-avoid is “gnarly Harleys” as I like to call them! Just kidding I just made that up but it has potential! If it looks like the wood your selecting could be used for a set of chopper-style motorcycle handle bars, you probably should slowly walk away! You’re welcome… I just saved you a migraine later. Warped and twisted, bowed and bent, it all fights you every step of the way when trying to construct with it. So unless it is a bunch of short pieces you are after, don’t assume you can “make it work”. Been there, tried that!
INSECTS… ARE YOU HOME?
Second on the docket is pests, or the evidence they leave behind. As we’ve discussed before, this can add interest to the final piece but only if the pesky bugger sare no longer taking up residence! Downright demoralizingly deflating is all that can describe how it feels to see a project near completion and little piles of sawdust start showing up!When it happens, you know it’s not the Lumber Leprechaun playing a practical joke on you! If you do see these piles it is most like from a little rascal called the Powderpost Beetle and the little excavations they leave behind are called “frass”. So, while there are ways to kill them by holding the wood at elevated temperature for an hour or so OR treating with chemicals (neither of which I’ve personally tried) my advice it to just stay away.
GOT ROT? SHOULD NOT BE BOUGHT…
The last avoid-at-all-cost feature we’ll cover today is dry rot. Pretty simple, if there are spongy, flakey, or otherwise unsound areas within your lumber, user beware! Not only will it not take fasteners well, sand or seal properly, you’ll end up with a weaker end product… structurally, aesthetically, or both. So again, unless you know your lengths and can cut the rot out (another win for a stout cut list!), looking elsewhere is the best choice here.
VOIDS TO AVOID
This one is easy. In my experience, large voids become pits of despair as you chase them with filler as it cracks while drying. Or you end up filling them repeatedly with epoxy like a bottomless cavern! Even if you do successfully navigate them they can sometimes end up looking like black holes in an otherwise “celestial” project outcome! The one void that I’ve found can be addressed is a knot hole that has popped and you are missing the knot entirely. One can steal a knot of similar size and color if a scrap chunk of the same wood happens to be available. Cut it out, sand it to size, glue it in and no one will be the wiser!
IN SUMMATION
So there you have it! Wood selection, and specifically, what to avoid. Gnarl, insects, voids and rot will all trip you up in the building process so being selective early will greatly help your projects’ chances of success later. This will undoubtedly widdle down your candidate wood pile but patience pays will be all I can say. So, what do you think? Did we miss any obvious pitfalls that you’ve experienced? Please leave your thoughts below and until next time, happy sorting and selecting!
March 20, 2022This entry was posted in General, Sawdust Diaries. Bookmark the permalink.
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