How to stick beech?

[ondablade]

Just to say that the beech for my workbench has arrived from John Boddy. It wasn't cheap, but it looks fabulous - only the tiniest of imperfections on perhaps one side of two planks out of the whole lot.

I need to store it for a while in the loft of my shop until i'm ready to start work. I think i know the answer to the question, but i'll ask it anyway.

Is it OK to store 50 X 250 and 50 X 125 boards of about 8ft long on edge on a flat floor? My strong suspicion is that they would be much better laid flat and separated by timber strips in the usual way for air circulation (there's nothing to prevent them bending or cupping if they are vertical), but it'd suit my space better to do the first.

As you may gather it's my first time handling more than a single plank of hardwood.

Thanks.

 

[johnjin]

In my very unprofessional opinion I would say that they will be fine on their edge as long as they have air all around and in between them. Beech does move a lot and if it wants to move nothing is going to stop it. If you force it to be flat then the stress will build up inside until you use it when it will then start to move while you are working on it.
Just my opinion and I am sure that their will be many others.

John

 

[PAC1]

If you have the space lay them flat and "stick" them. I use 20mm x 12mm softwood sticks all the same size not just any old scraps. I have used the same sticks for 12 years now. Over 8' I would use 4 per plank making sure the sticks are vertically alligned.

 

[OPJ]

I'd also leave them 'in stick'. 18mm MDF makes good sticks. It provides a good thickness and, unlike knotty, resinous pine, it won't stain most timbers.

Is this beech English or European? I'd try and leave it for as long as you can before you start cutting - at least a month, to begin with. Otherwise, it could crack and check like crazy... Any idea of the moisture content?

 

[OldWood]

...Any idea of the moisture content?

And that of your workshop ? It could well be that the wood is drier than your workshop !

The problem I see with stacking vertically (apart from horizontal being the norm as it is so much easier for a large timber situation) is that you will have to arrange some sort of constraint to keep the wood vertical and any movement in the planks is going to challenge that.

Rob

 

[ondablade]

Thank you guys.

The shop is dry - it's a triple garage in brick with DPC and insulated brick cavity walls. The roof is pitched at around 45 deg, and the area above the joists is T&G floored. (it's set up to take a small apartment there if needed) It's got two radiators which kept it at about 50 degF during the recent frost.

The beech is German according to Boddy, their 'prime' grade. URLBoddy beech They reckon it's at about 11% moisture. At least it was delivered in a covered truck. It's heavy stuff when you have to move it about!

Sounds like while it might well be OK vertically/on edge that i'd be best to stick it properly - it's too good to risk.

I've a moisture meter (Lignomat pin type) and will take and post some readings later.

ian

 

[Sgian Dubh]

18mm MDF makes good sticks. It provides a good thickness and, unlike knotty, resinous pine, it won't stain most timbers.

Actually Olly, that's not the case. MDF used as stickers does leave stains on wood especially paler woods like cherry and maple. The stains are less obvious in dark woods.

However, it's true to say that if MDF stickers are used for only a few days there shouldn't be a problem. Long term storage using MDF stickers I have found leads to a brown cross-grain staining which I'm fairly sure is due to the off-gassing of formaldehyde. Slainte.

 

[wizer]

I use MDF as stickers on timber that I have brought into the house to dry or store. But outside I have used B&Poo's finest 18mm pine batons. About all their wood is good for.

 

[OPJ]

Thanks, Richard, I had no idea.

Can I ask what you would recommend instead? I've heard of people (possibly yourself?) purchasing knot-free softwood just for this purpose?

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Can I ask what you would recommend instead?

Well, as I said, MDF is okay for short term stickering in my experience, up to a week or so.

Safe material for stickering all types of wood is dry, resin free pine cut into 1" or 3/4" square sections. It's virtually impossible to buy completely knot free pine, although furniture grade pine is a lot better than construction grade pine. I just cut up what's required, knots and all, and where the knots are exposed only reject the stickers if the knots, or other parts of the sticks exude too much resin.

You can use plenty of other species too if you're just stickering wood in your workshop or home to acclimatise it to those conditions, eg, poplar, birch, maple, etc. Oak stickers are good for oak boards and chestnut is good for chestnut, etc. Slainte.

 

[ondablade]

I've about half of the beech stickered (where the sun don't shine as it happens :wink: ), and am off to B&Q in the morning for some strip wood as i've run out and my saw isn't set up.

Thanks for the MDF info, i'd just have gone ahead and used it.

The moisture readings are interesting, the boards range from around 10 - 15% moisture content, with species and temperature corrections applied - it seems like they maybe didn't all come from the same batch, or were stored differently.

There's 250mm and 125mm wide stuff, and while each board seems fairly consistent you can't say that the size is any indicator of moisture content.

The shop is currently at 80% RH and a bit over 50 deg F. This suggests an equilibrium moisture content of 15 - 16%

Testing other lengths timber in a variety of species that have been in the shop for years (that is presumably well equilibriated) comes in around 14% with only a percent or two of variation - so that's not too far off.

I have to confess i've not seriously used a moisture meter until now, except for a quick try out a month or so ago when i bought it - i always relied on the supplier getting it right.

5% seems like quite a wide range in a batch of timber compared to the impression i got reading the books, but maybe that's my mistake. It's off to Bruce Hoadley's book anyway to figure out how long i need to leave it settle - no problem as i have quite a bit of shop set up work to get done before i pitch into the bench.

Could be too that it's an interesting lesson in the need to use a moisture meter.

What do you guys reckon? It sounds like my beech will head for around 14 - 15%, is that a good place to start from? Remembering that the workbench will reside in the same shop. Anything special i need to watch out for?

I'm guessing best cut it a bit oversize when it's getting close and see what happens, and then leave it for another couple of weeks before final machining....

 

[BradNaylor]

It's possible to be a bit anal about all this.

Fact is, 99% of timber - including that at John Boddies - is stored by timber merchants for months at a time in the packs it is delivered to them in - just stacked together without a 'stick' in sight.

I would only go to the bother of putting sticks between the boards if I was aclimatising the timber for use on a fine furniture project destined for a centrally heated house.

Beech for a bench in the workshop I would just stack together, one board on top of another. Just like it's been since it left Germany!

Cheers
Brad

 

[OPJ]

I reckon you should still stick the boards for a couple of weeks, at least until those readings become more of an 'average' across all the boards on both faces. As Brad says, it's not unusual to receive boards with a distinct variation in moisture content.

It might settle on an average of 10%, 12% or 8% - who knows! Again, as Brad says, it is a workbench for your workshop - it's easy to get too 'anal' about it! :wink:

However soon you build it, the moisture content is going to change with the conditions of your 'shop as we go through the seasons each year. I wouldn't get tied down to pin-pointing a precise level of M/C, just let the wood reach an equilibrium, naturally. Then, start cutting.

 

[ondablade]

Ta guys. I guess i'm treating it as a dry run in timber handling, but that sounds like good advice Olly.

Brad's point echoes what's been rattling around in my head. Not only is it usually not sticked at timber merchants, time and again you see it stored planks on end too. Probably for years in some cases....

ian