hardwood source

[kityuser]

I got the thicknesser planer up and running.......... now time to make something........

I know that everyone has seen this sort of questions, but I`m in need of some hardwood (not sure what species).

Its for a kitchen, normal sort of stuf (door, draw fronts), I was thinking along the lines of ash or chestnut.

2 questions

1) anyone know of anywhere in the southeast (or a bit further afield) that I can buy weiny edge boards in various species KILN DRIED

2) what sort of figures should I be looking for interms of board "dryness"?? around 9% ???

thanks again, i know these sorts of questions are a pain...............

 

[Adam]

South London Hardwoods? Croydon I think? Anyway, you'd need to collect as their delivery is extortionate, or "wood by post"? or ask Waterhead, he's closer to your neck of the woods. Type the above into google for more info.

Adam

 

[Chris Knight]

Kity,

I'm sure I have posted this list below before :?:

Depending where in Kent you are, some will be more convenient than others. Morgans may suit you. they are in Rochester. A vast enterprise with anything you could want and a surprisingly good touch with a small buyer - judging by my experiences there.

It doesn't sound as though you are terribly choosy at present but if/when you become so, be prepared to travel. Stocks also change rapidly and one good or bad experience does not guarantee a repeat. Phone ahead to check if the yard you want to visit books appointments with the graders in the yard - some do, some don't.

Take stout gloves, a tape measure, a plane set for a rank cut and, if you plan to bring timber home yourself, a saw to cut it to size, just in case the yard's saw is busy. I don't know why but timber yards only have one handsaw - it has no teeth and someone else is usually using it.

Ask the grader every question you can think of, they love to impart their knowledge and if you strike a chord with them, they will see you get better than you deserve - or vice versa! Boards with a bit of a cup or a bow can be bought depending on your eagerness but never buy a board in wind, it will always be more trouble than it's worth.

Ash would be a fine choice for a kitchen if left unstained. Staining ash can be very difficult depending on the look you want. If you don't mind wild tiger stripes then by all means stain it with abandon. It's not too expensive at present.

Not sure why you want waney edged? I usually buy this when I have no choice. It guarantees you will get sapwood and plenty of waste - if unused to buying timber this way you will waste more than you expect.

[url=http://www.wlwest.co.uk/home/index.asp]http://www.wlwest.co.uk/home/index.asp
http://www.blumsom.co.uk/
http://www.artezan.co.uk/
http://www.associatedtimber.co.uk/contact.asp
http://www.bendywood.com/
http://www.robbins.co.uk/
http://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/
http://www.certainlywood.com/
http://www.edens.co.uk/StockGuide(Jan-Apr-2000)/page9.htm
http://www.englishoakdirect.co.uk/
http://www.fitchetts.co.uk/pricelist.htm
http://www.goodtimber.com/
http://www.sykestimber.co.uk/hardwood.htm
http://www.lathamtimber.co.uk/
http://www.woodworkersdirectory.com/lis ... cat=timber
http://www.morgantimber.co.uk/
http://www.geocities.com/northheighamsawmills/
http://www.pdusa.com/products/thinbirch.htm
http://www.cobodex.qc.ca/species/soft_maple.htm
http://www.thorogood.co.uk/php/framemak ... t=Products
http://www.timberconnection.co.uk/offers.php3
http://www.trevaron.com/timber_merchants.htm
http://www.timbmet.co.uk/
http://www.interestingtimbers.co.uk/
http://www.edens.co.uk/
http://www.woodnet.org.uk/
http://www.woodbypost.fsnet.co.uk/woods ... 0Oak%20log
http://www.atkinsandcripps.co.uk/
http://www.timber-routes.co.uk/
[/url]

 

[Anonymous]

Chris

did you have to enter every one of those links by copy/paste + add tags or is there another way to list a lot of links?

Cheers

Tony

 

[Chris Knight]

Tony,

Thankfully there is an easier way - at least for me. I use a bookmark program called Linkman (http://outertech.com/) and my links are arranged in a tree structure. I simply copy a relevant branch - in this case I have designated such a branch as "timber merchants" and I can cut and paste into a message here. Highlight the lot and click the url
box in the forum reply box header and it's done

 

[Mdotflorida]

Just expanding the thread slightly. I am just about to try to source some hardwood (Iroko) for a garden bench project and have been looking at various web sites.

I will have (in the next couple of weeks) a decent planer and thicknesser so intend buying sawn boards. My dilemma, having never done it with expensive hardwood before, is how to estimate the amount and sizes of timber to order based on the known finished sizes of the timber I want. :?

For instance, looking at S.L.Hardwoods website, they sell Iroko boards in 100mm depth * 150mm width * 2.4 metres. Can anybody take a stab at telling me what finish size I could expect from this board and should I be asking about moisture content.

 

[johnelliott]

If you want to be sure that it is properly kiln dried then buy american timber, which is KD at source. American ash is ideal for kitchens, supplied square edged and the price is good. American oak also. When I did hardwood kitchens I used to get mine fom Moss and Co in Hammersmith. They store it upright so its easy to pick out a few mice boards.
John

 

[Chris Knight]

Mdot,

Iroko is normally a very consistent wood with few irregularities such as knots and shakes that cause much wastage. I have had a couple of bad baulks in three inch thickness that turned out to have some ring shakes but this was unusual - no other problems in my last 15 or 20 cubes.

If buying sawn timber you can expect to end up with three quarter inch planed and flat thickness from one inch nominal (or the usual boring pseudo metric equivalents the yards use these days). You will lose about four or five inches from each end for splits there if buying sawn timber.

I only buy sawn timber and by the cubic foot or metre - I have no experience buying planed timber or by linear measure (this is because I choose to avoid those processing costs that the yard will pass on to me and since I plane my own wood, I have no need for that service). I usually discuss the general state of the wood before going to a yard and end up buying 10 cubic feet (usually a significant break point in pricing) of random widths/lengths within the previously discussed envelope of sizes. I generally get the wood delivered so size is not a problem. Lengths are usually around 10 feet or 14 feet and widths - depending on species from 6 inches to 14 inches in squared timber or 10 to 30 inches in waney edged.

Moisture content will be what it is - yards cannot and will not guarantee moisture contents that depend on so many variables. The chief variables for kiln dried wood are time since kilning and local weather and stacking conditions. I would not worry overmuch about it. I do use a moisture meter but in general - say 95% of the time- just let the wood acclimatise in the shop or the house for a few weeks ( I usually reckon on 6 to 8 weeks) before using it and it will be fine. If pushed a month will do but less than this I do not go. Moisture content will drop from the yard's ambient, usually 12 to 14% to the house or shop ambient losing two or three percent in the process

When milling the timber, do it in stages. Rough cut to approximate dimensions first (one quarter inch on width and one eighth inch on thickness), leave for a week then mill to final dimensions

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the link Chris. Downloaded and on trial

Cheers

Tony

 

[Jake]

WL West offered me excellent prices for Iroko, albeit that the quotes I was asking for were for cladding, so had a custom moulded edge as well as being S4S (didn't have a spindle moulder or planer at the time). At least a third less than the other quotes, but I don't know how that would translate to rough boards or plain old s4s. Worth a call, though.

Jake

 

[Mdotflorida]

Chris / Jake

Many thanks for the info.

Jeff

 

[Martin]

For instance, looking at S.L.Hardwoods website, they sell Iroko boards in 100mm depth * 150mm width * 2.4 metres. Can anybody take a stab at telling me what finish size I could expect from this board and should I be asking about moisture content.

Jeff,

One thing to bear in mind is that SL will probably send you more than you specify when ordering - that is, they will compile your order using available stock that is closest to the requirements of your order. This means that the actual widths & lengths supplied may well be greater than those ordered, and they will charge extra to account for the actual quantity of wood they end up sending you.

This is all explained on their loose boards page at : http://www.slhardwoods.co.uk/looseboards.asp, but I must admit I didn't quite cotton on to how this works until I ordered from them. SL aim for 40% wastage on any given order.

As an example, I've just ordered a load of American White Oak from them - cost at order (incl. delivery) was around £90. Has just been dispatched and final cost (for the actual lengths/widths delivered) is £127.

I don't mind the extra (gives a safety margin) plus I can use any remnants for other projects, but if you can it's probably best to visit a yard and select what you want directly. I can't easily transport wood in my car, so have to plump for the delivery charges etc.

Of course you don't have this problem with prepared timber, but that would drive the cost up enormously (and why bother if you have the facilities to do it yourself).

Hope that's of some help.

regards,
Martin.

 

[Gary H]

Thanks for that Martin. I was wondering what the 40% wastage meant when I browsed their site. Having never ordered (or used ) hardwoods before, but wanting to in future, it is nice to know what to expect when I do.
BTW what are you making, and how much (quantity) did you order?

Ta muchly

Gary

 

[Martin]

Gary,

I'm making a coffee table - details here: http://www.plansnow.com/coffee.html. I can very much recommend the plan (it's actually more of a step-by-step article, first published in WoodSmith magazine I think). Very detailed, and more or less takes you through it step-by-step.

The only drawback is that the dimensions are in inches so I've had to convert to real money...

In terms of wood, I've probably ordered more than I need, but I'd rather have too much than not enough, and I plan to build some sofa tables to go with the coffee table anyway. Original order was:

Oak American white - 50mm x 100mm x 2.4M - £25.49
Oak American white - 25mm x 100mm x 4.8M - £14.89
Oak American white - 25mm x 125mm x 7.2M - £26.81

Delivery was quite steep though - £23 for that lot. As per my last post, SL are sending more than that, but I don't know how much yet (doesn't arrive till Monday).

This is also my first venture into hardwood, and in particular buying sawn stock . My only worry is that I'll have not allowed enough on the thickness of some of the stock - but I'll soon find out.

I arrived at the cutting list using a great peice of software called CutListPlus (see http://cutlistplus.com/). The plan has a cutting list included, but it's all in inches. Using CutListPlus I could enter all the dimensions of the parts in inches and it converts automatically to mm, and generates a cutting list for you based on metric sized stock. That little feature alone is worth the price of the software IMO (which is about £35).

The only drawbacks with the S/W are:

(1) It can't define cutting lists for sawn boards - only for prepared (planed) lumber - but you can get round this by entering the sawn boards as if they were prepared lumber and making extra allowances (which is also configurable in the software).

(2) It only works in 2 dimensions - that is, when working out the cutting list it doesn't allow for any re-sawing that you might do with thicker stock. But again, you can get round that by just entering individual re-sawn peices as "stock".

As a result I've probably got much more wood than I need, but I don't mind that. Given the delivery charges, I think it pays to get more than you need anyway...

Incidentally (for anyone thinking of building this) - I'm getting the glass from a local glass company in Guildford. They've quoted about £60+VAT, but that's custom made to my dimensions, bevelled and made from re-inforced glass for safety.

regards,
Martin

 

[woodshavings]

I have used SL Hardwoods for American White Oak a couple of times - I have found the quality of the timber to be good ( about 75% usable) but their delivery is very expensive.

Apparantly British Hardwoods http://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/kiln.html
offer better prices and have lower delivery prices. I am going to try them for my next project.

John

 

[Adam]

Incidentally (for anyone thinking of building this) - I'm getting the glass from a local glass company in Guildford. They've quoted about £60+VAT, but that's custom made to my dimensions, bevelled and made from re-inforced glass for safety.
regards,Martin

I had some safety glass cut and they insisted on kite-marking it to prove it, using acid etch. At the time it bothered me, but once finished, cos the inside of the display cabinet is darker, you really don't see it, but it did annoy me at the time, as I didn't reckon it needed marking as safety glass as it didn't even need to be safety glass according to the regs.

adam

 

[Martin]

Adam - British Hardwoods certainly look cheaper on delivery, but they didn't list the dimensions I needed so I gave them a miss and went with SL instead. Glad to hear the quality is OK - that's one aspect that has me slightly worried given that I'm ordering "blind".

Cheers,
Martin.

 

[Alf]

SL Hardwoods quality is really very good, and they do have a much better range than British Hardwoods (who I like a lot), but that killer delivery charge keeps stopping me using them every time... Not especially wild about that 40% wastage wotsit willy nilly either. Makes budgetting for timber that much more complicated. Oh deary me. Why is buying the raw materials such a major pain in the proverbial?

Cheers, Alf

 

[Mdotflorida]

Thanks for the tips.

Just used SL hardwoods website to price the Iroko garden bench project. Comes out at about £270 before their 40% wastage bit that they may add on. And the delivery cost is an extra £60. :?

Pretty hefty charges by anyones standard. Bit of extra shopping around is required me thinks.

 

[Adam]

British Hardwoods machine to any dimension you ask for. Just send them your final desired dimensions, and they machine to size. Use the website only as a guide!

Adam