Accoya wood

[Beau]

Pretty ugly grain. Folks had an external door made in it and has moved around a bit which was disappointing.

 

[richarnold]

Hi, we have been using Accoya for over 7 years now for all our external joinery. So far we have had zero movement on anything. We make all manner of windows including sliding sash, All forms of doors including bead and butt. we have made garage doors with 6"bead and butt boards that were o0ver 8ft wide. they have never moved. This timber has given us complete peace of mind for our external joinery, with no complaints from any of our customers.
We are about to make a hi end painted kitchen, and all the front frames, doors and drawer fronts will be made in Accoya. This will ensure zero movement in the fairly hostile environment that kitchens can be.

 

[Droogs]

is it suitable for use as decking/ornamental fencing?

 

[richarnold]

is it suitable for use as decking/ornamental fencing?

Apart from the initial cost it would be the top choice. It has an unconditional guarantee for 50 years, and that's with no finish on it at all

 

[Dan j]

Its pricey. However the cost is offset by not needing to re finish very often. I like it, although its not a pretty grain.
Its stable, easy to work and should last a long time.

One thing to note about the warranty is the 50 year is for above ground only. No soil contact. 25 years at or below ground level. You also need to go through someone who has done their accreditation scheme.

 

[LBCarpentry]

I have a question (and I love to dig up and old thread to do it)

How does it machine up? I'm thinking more dust wise. Sapele kicks out an incredible amount of fine red dust. Its an absolute killer if you have a batch of 5+ windows.

 

[ColeyS1]

I've never noticed it being overly dusty tbh. I'm making a batch of 23 sapele windows and 5 doors at the moment. Boredom is the main issue :lol:
The windows are taller than usual. I've noticed the timber moving,bowing and twisting a little more, possibly down to the extra length of the pieces.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Doug71]

I find Accoya seems to give off some fine dust when machining it, not that you notice it in the air but it's the type of dust that clogs up filters on extractors quicker. I have a couple of the bag over bag type extractors and the suction seems to drop quicker when using Accoya, I need to clean out the top filter bag more often. I think it's because the Accoya is so dry.

It's nothing like the dust from sapele though which gives everything in the workshop a pink tinge, guess I should get some better extraction in.

Doug

 

[scholar]

A day of machining Accoya gives the whole workshop a soft salt and vinegar crisps aroma - not at all unpleasant!

I think the timber is pretty dry so I guess that is why it can seem dusty - it is also apparently a bit brittle (no doubt for the same reason) but I have not had problems with this.

Cheers

 

[LBCarpentry]

I've never noticed it being overly dusty tbh. I'm making a batch of 23 sapele windows and 5 doors at the moment. Boredom is the main issue :lol:
The windows are taller than usual. I've noticed the timber moving,bowing and twisting a little more, possibly down to the extra length of the pieces.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

I too have just finished a similar sized batch. That red sapele dust gets absolutely everywhere and I have pretty good extraction system.

I find douglas fir has no where near the same amount of fine dust. But I can't use DF anymore it has become unbearable to work with over the last couple of years imo.

I know what you mean about the movement of sapele. Some timbers are so twisted to start with you don't stand a chance of planing it up. And some twist after being planed. You just need to keep your eye out for it and swap them if necessary.

Lathams are sending me an accoya sample. I only asked for a little bit but they are sending 63 x 150 x 6m FOC! almost enough to make a window!

Look forward to having a play with it.

 

[Doug71]

Result on the free sample, that is about £130 worth of Accoya you are getting for nothing!

 

[LBCarpentry]

Impressed with what I have seen so far.

Best thing about it is that it already comes faced and edged with a square edge! Already saving time. Think I’m a convert on that basis alone!

 

[Kev]

More of an additional add on question than an answer but have also come across Thermo Treated Ash and Tulipwood which is apparently very stable. Have used a fair bit of Accoya and Tricoya but wondered if anyone had any experience of using the thermo treated woods.

 

[Blocks119]

Does anyone know if any companies are happy to apply the accoya wood treatment to other forms of wood? for example to treat some birch tree trunks with the bark still on or some bamboo ?and how well it would work?

Personally i especially love bamboo, its a versetile and beautiful material however there are 2 problems, it is susceptible to rot easily and doesnt hold its shape over long periods of drying and soaking , the accoya treatment seems perfect to fix theise 2 flaws and with it im thinking it could make this fantastic and sustainable material even better.

I know you can treat it other ways but they all seem to involve toxic chemicals, insane amounts of energy for heating and pressurising or external coatings that arent eco friendly and dont last that long as well as ruining the look

any reply would be appreciated

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Personally i especially love bamboo, its a versetile and beautiful material however there are 2 problems, it is susceptible to rot easily and doesnt hold its shape over long periods of drying and soaking , the accoya treatment seems perfect to fix theise 2 flaws and with it im thinking it could make this fantastic and sustainable material even better.

I daresay the Chinese have looked into it before now.