Sweet {Castanea Sativa]? Or Horse [Aeschelus Hippocastanum ]?
Help with selecting Iroko for garden gate
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Sweet - apparently Horse chestnut is not much use for joinery.
RobinBHM
Established Member
Iroko is not that abrasive -its quite an easy timber to machine really in terms of planing and sawing
however:
1) Iroko sometimes contains calcium deposits -these will write off HHS planer knives (they are a light thin streak usually)
2) Iroko once kiln dried can contain massive tension -so much that boards can crack when cross cut
3) Iroko is kiln dried and is far too dry for making gates straight from the supplier -cut to rough section and put outside for a couple of weeks before making the gates
To be honest Im not sure I would want to make joinery from Iroko prepared by somebody else -its a difficult timber to select out for joinery, its highly variable in quality and can vary from lovely mild straight grain to awful gnarly stuff with loads of tension and hard as nails.
Doug fir or Siberian larch would be a good alternative.
Sadly softwood these days is not suitable -its plantation grown, mostly from forests at lower altitude for fast growth and doesnt have the tight growth rings, high levels of resin of the old Victorian stuff from the Baltic which was pretty durable
Laminating kiln dried wood is totally acceptable. A radius edge top is needed to allow water run off.
BTW I have larch board fencing between concrete posts and the ends are now rotting. At least I got 30 years out of them. !
BTW I have larch board fencing between concrete posts and the ends are now rotting. At least I got 30 years out of them. !
Got an email back from Wentwood re the sweet chestnut. They don't have any stock thicker than 2" sawn, but they have some 200mm x 200mm beams that they are prepared to saw to 60mm planks which would suit my 52mm finished requirement.
They also suggested white cedar - apparently it's harder than red cedar, very durable and goes a lovely silver. The downside is I'd have to season it myself.
Having read more about sweet chestnut, it seems a very nice wood for my purposes. The only downside is that the tannins tend to accelerate corrosion of any metalwork attached, and this can result in blue/black streaks in the wood. I'd also have to do all the preparation myself, since they only supply sawn.
Given all the difficulties raised about iroko, and my non-industrial machines, I must admit I'm tending more towards chestnut. Gavin at Wentwood has been very helpful in the past, and I'd be able to select the stock myself. We'll see how much the quote comes to...
They also suggested white cedar - apparently it's harder than red cedar, very durable and goes a lovely silver. The downside is I'd have to season it myself.
Having read more about sweet chestnut, it seems a very nice wood for my purposes. The only downside is that the tannins tend to accelerate corrosion of any metalwork attached, and this can result in blue/black streaks in the wood. I'd also have to do all the preparation myself, since they only supply sawn.
Given all the difficulties raised about iroko, and my non-industrial machines, I must admit I'm tending more towards chestnut. Gavin at Wentwood has been very helpful in the past, and I'd be able to select the stock myself. We'll see how much the quote comes to...
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RobinBHM
Established Member
sweet chestnut is rather like oak -its pretty tough and hard
tannins are a major benefit in preventing rot, just use stainless bolts and screws
any durable timber like iroko, western red cedar, oak, chestnut will contains tannins
Presumably this would be a sensible step for air-dried chestnut too?
RobinBHM
Established Member
it certainly wouldnt harm
even air dried timber would benefit from climatisation, especially if you are cutting down from the original board sizes
Id suggest cutting roughly to dimension including length (unless further processing needs multiples), then store outside under cover (avoid sun and dont store under black sheeting or in a shed that could get boiling hot -your wood might suffer surface checking
+1
Cellar door/frame I made for my parents house in redwood, Multiple layers of paint over the last 23 years it still looks good.
Allowing something to grey out if that is your fancy is fine, but keeping up with painting it will look nice nicer for longer, and you can vary colour for the trends.
Jameshow
Established Member
Does it tend to move. I've been using 18mm larch cladding recently and it's moving like a dodgy MP! But that could be due to the crazy weather!
You could also paint the ironmongery with galvanising paint too, might help??
Yep, or an epoxy clear-coat. I'm not going to let that put me off
ScottyT
Established Member
If you search ‘a garden gate’ under ScottyT you’ll see on page 2 of the thread (I think) a little bit about T&G, and it’s in iroko. I explain a little on expansion, and I am sure there is a picture of my rod showing the T&G board dimensions exactly as they are to be machined with the expansion shown gaps shown.
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/a-garden-gate.142183/This’ll give you a rough idea
Got it - wow, that is some impressive workmanship!
Those two short videos at the end are great too. Thanks!
Was about to post to say if wentwood is local they often have cedar which would work well - but see they’ve already suggested and it’s been discounted.
I wouldn’t worry about tannin in chestnut- painting the hinges before install will be tidier and protect them.
Can the existing hinges not be reused? Finding replacements may take longer than putting a wire brush in an angle grinder, stripping them then base coat and topcoat.
I wouldn’t worry about tannin in chestnut- painting the hinges before install will be tidier and protect them.
Can the existing hinges not be reused? Finding replacements may take longer than putting a wire brush in an angle grinder, stripping them then base coat and topcoat.
I may still go with the white cedar suggestion. I've emailed Wentwood to query whether sawing the chestnut beams into planks is likely to result in splits as the tension is released (or if the beams already contain splits). Don't really want to start with split stock.
If I got the cedar, I'd have to season it myself, and my current reticence is more due to my lack of experience in seasoning green wood (and lack of space). Otherwise I quite like the idea. I'm told cedar doesn't take long to season.
I'm torn about this - I originally intended to reuse them. There's quite a bit of corrosion on the hinges at the front side of the gate, and also significant wear at the pivot points, but nothing that couldn't be fixed by a bead of weld and a file.
I'm also considering some new single-strap hinges, which I'm sure will be adequate for the task. A local supplier stocks some that would match my existing 5/8" pivots (gudgeons?). If I go down this route, I'd have the option of adjustable hinges too. Single-strap would also give me some leeway with the stock thickness. It's always been a source of bewilderment to me that 50mm/2" (or 25mm/1" ) is considered an unusual finished thickness, though I do get the supplier's point of view.
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What are you using it for? I’ve not used it (yet) but I believe from my local supplier that larch cladding is generally unseasoned. The normal batten-on-board cladding method allows for plenty of movement but for joinery you’d need seasoned.
Well, I went for rough-sawn sweet chestnut in the end. I'd love to try working with iroko sometime, but I think this will suit my tools/abilities better, and I've heard excellent things about SC's durability for exterior joinery. I just need to not mess it up.
Keith 66
Established Member
Good choice & a nice pile of timber. To be honest Iroko isnt that durable if left unprotected, people think its as durable as Teak, but it isnt anywhere near it & will rot if unprotected & water gets in. I have pulled plenty of rotten iroko out of old boats!
