scaffold board rubbish

[AnnieLavinia1895]

Think you did the right thing there, as there's some really nice construction timber coming out of Latvia at the moment.

When I built mothers extension, I got some Euro redwood for the roof joists and I thought it was far to good for roofing. Cheap as chips too.

I agree 100% that the redwood available now from Europe looks good if time is taken with the finishing. I think for me the half dozen or so of my sons friends just starting out with their own homes, gained the confidence to ditch the safe flatpack option. Just explaining to them the difference between redwood and whitewood, the different grades of plyboard, and what C16 and C24 meant, made going into a timber yard rather than a DIY store less intimidating for them.

 

[Jacob]

I've used tons of mostly Swedish "unsorted" redwood (i.e. top 4 grades unseparated) and also "5ths" and more often than not lovely stuff. Mostly for restoration/replica period joinery - sash windows etc. but also furniture items. Redwood is the timber name for Scots Pine.
There's an uninformed prejudice amongst amateur woodworkers against softwood and they tend to dismiss it all as equally rubbish and are unable to distinguish it from scaffold boards.
Local yards tend not to keep 'unsorted' but Russian 4th, Swedish 5ths are good.
So it meant going to bigger merchants with minimum orders (£500 last time) but with the huge advantage of having a really knowledgeable rep dropping in regularly OR being able to order over the phone and be sure of what you were were getting.
https://www.swedishwood.com/wood-facts/about-wood/wood-grades/

 

[Adam W.]

It's like that spruce I'm using for carving at the moment, it's never looked at by carvers even though it's a traditional Italian carving wood.

They only seem to know about Quebec yellow pine Pinus strobus, but I think that's the fault of who they are being taught by.

 

[AnnieLavinia1895]

I've used tons of mostly Swedish "unsorted" redwood (i.e. top 4 grades unseparated) and also "5ths" and more often than not lovely stuff. Mostly for restoration/replica period joinery - sash windows etc. but also furniture items. Redwood is the timber name for Scots Pine.
There's an uninformed prejudice amongst amateur woodworkers against softwood and they tend to dismiss it all as equally rubbish and are unable to distinguish it from scaffold boards.
https://www.swedishwood.com/wood-facts/about-wood/wood-grades/

My actual career was in retail, starting in 80s and 90s but that included our stores in older buildings with quite a few in historic and listed buildings places like Chester, Bath York. Those stores often had timber racking in the stockrooms because of uneven floors, and non uniform rooms. So i gained an appreciation of "timber" in use in lots of settings both hardwoid and softwood so i am fortunate that i judge timber by function and not as status symbol.

 

[AnnieLavinia1895]

It's like that spruce I'm using for carving at the moment, it's never looked at by carvers even though it's a traditional Italian carving wood.

They only seem to know about Quebec yellow pine Pinus strobus, but I think that's the fault of who they are being taught by.

I think choice of wood has become like fine wine and fine art - which is a shame because historically each country, each region used what grew locally. When i tell people my bed is made from sycamore (not by me) they have only ever known it as the tree equivalent of a weed so are pleasantly surprised with its colour, grain and patina.

My view is that if a tree variety works for the task in hand, and produces the finish you were aiming for thats all that matters. I think maybe some peope stick to what the tutor used because thats what they are familiar with, rather than old school tuition where practising with what was to hand was the norm.

 

[Jacob]

They'd probably be even more surprised if you tell them that the majority of string instruments including Stradivarius are made of sycamore and spruce!
PS and poplar for cellos! (I just checked). Surprised me - it's not very attractive in itself.

 

[johnnyb]

as ever choice of wood can dramatically affect outcome. no wood is better or worse just has different properties in use.ie spruce is stronger than pine weight for weight. I also think it absorbs preservative better. when working with handtools the differences are exagerrated

 

[TheTiddles]

I think the “industrial” look is lovely, however I too will agree that nearly everything with that tag is also in my opinion, junk.

Here’s what I’d call an “industrial” coffee table, a 940mm diameter cast iron gear, grit basted and lacquered in satin finish epoxy to stop it rusting, turned brass feet supporting a 10mm thick toughened glass top and an elm base

the pictures aren’t too great and I’d not call it affordable by any stretch of the imagination, whereas oak furniture land down the road can give you a lovely solid item that will last decades for peanuts

 

[Jacob]

Traditionally crafts often beautifully designed and made out of whatever is available. Guess what these bowls are made from?

 

[johnnyb]

I didn't know pinus strobeus was a carving timber. americans use it for windsor chair seats. I use it for stability reasons normally. I've only got access to the poorer grades(knots as big as your hand)

 

[Just4Fun]

99% of the time I use what my local sawmill can supply. That means pine & similar softwoods, or birch.
The only time I use anything else is when I can re-purpose wood from something being scrapped.
This is due to cost and availability rather than what is most suitable. I would love to use other woods but it is not likely to happen.

 

[AnnieLavinia1895]

I think the “industrial” look is lovely, however I too will agree that nearly everything with that tag is also in my opinion, junk.

Here’s what I’d call an “industrial” coffee table, a 940mm diameter cast iron gear, grit basted and lacquered in satin finish epoxy to stop it rusting, turned brass feet supporting a 10mm thick toughened glass top and an elm base
View attachment 111546View attachment 111547
the pictures aren’t too great and I’d not call it affordable by any stretch of the imagination, whereas oak furniture land down the road can give you a lovely solid item that will last decades for peanuts

Being from retail i was very skeptical about the offerings from the store you mention because they can describe something as solid wood if a certain % is in fact solid wood and describing it as Oak needs an even smaller % of oak content.
Such as an oak veneer, over mainly mdf with just a few bits of solid timber.

Oak is slow growing so just doesnt work for massed produced furniture. After their launch with loss leaders they quickly moved into painted items described only as solid wood with say the top of the drawers in oak. I asked if it was sustainably sourced oak the answer was No.

After multiple breaches of ASA rules they now only advertise hardwood furnitire but the bussiness name and early marketing is what the buying public remember.

My son recently asked me how much a proper dining room table would cost so i said it depends, he sent me a link and it was made here in UK and i think the guy behind it is Polish. Its called a Bristol Gaming Board i went through their site and video and told him it was worth double the crowdfund pledge.

I didnt like where retail was going post millenium so changed career path.

 

[TheTiddles]

Exactly what is “solid” has been discussed before, but I suspect “mostly made from oak so that it looks nice and yet is still eminently affordable and also durable”… didn’t fit on a banner so well. I think their stuff is fantastic value, I don’t own any of it, can’t see me doing so either as my Ikea unit is doing just fine

 

[AnnieLavinia1895]

99% of the time I use what my local sawmill can supply. That means pine & similar softwoods, or birch.
The only time I use anything else is when I can re-purpose wood from something being scrapped.
This is due to cost and availability rather than what is most suitable. I would love to use other woods but it is not likely to happen.

Where i live which is about 6 miles out of Manchester, I ve noticed more and more properties when they have trees taken down the tree surgeons put signs up in advance inviting passers by to take whatever they want before they put it through the chipper which is a great way to get some free and useful timber.

 

[thetyreman]

I've used tons of mostly Swedish "unsorted" redwood (i.e. top 4 grades unseparated) and also "5ths" and more often than not lovely stuff. Mostly for restoration/replica period joinery - sash windows etc. but also furniture items. Redwood is the timber name for Scots Pine.
There's an uninformed prejudice amongst amateur woodworkers against softwood and they tend to dismiss it all as equally rubbish and are unable to distinguish it from scaffold boards.
Local yards tend not to keep 'unsorted' but Russian 4th, Swedish 5ths are good.
So it meant going to bigger merchants with minimum orders (£500 last time) but with the huge advantage of having a really knowledgeable rep dropping in regularly OR being able to order over the phone and be sure of what you were were getting.
https://www.swedishwood.com/wood-facts/about-wood/wood-grades/

I use redwood pine all the time, definitely better quality than scaffold board, but I've noticed a drop in quality in the last 1-2 years since covid and brexit, whilst the price keeps going up and up.

 

[Just4Fun]

Where i live which is about 6 miles out of Manchester, I ve noticed more and more properties when they have trees taken down the tree surgeons put signs up in advance inviting passers by to take whatever they want

That sounds good but unfortunately it doesn't happen here. If it did it would be a way to get free timber but would not improve the selection available to me. There is a good reason why the local sawmill has a limited range of timber: that is all that grows here!

 

[AnnieLavinia1895]

Exactly what is “solid” has been discussed before, but I suspect “mostly made from oak so that it looks nice and yet is still eminently affordable and also durable”… didn’t fit on a banner so well. I think their stuff is fantastic value, I don’t own any of it, can’t see me doing so either as my Ikea unit is doing just fine

Ikea flat pack is really durable especially their early classics, they did eventually bow to british sensibilities for bed sizes, single, double and king size, you cant go wrong with their stuff. I have just sanded ( yep its a decent thick veneer) and repainted a Billy Bookcase from 1992 for my other son who has returned from uni. The only difference is the backboard was hardboard, now they are card.

The UK advertising rules dictate certain phrases have a narrow definition, and the buying departments are expected to evidence "due dilligence" when describing what their suppliers make. Which is why the phrase "solid wood" is popular because it applies to chipboard, with a wood veneer.

Biggest danger from international inports is availability of upholstery materials that dont meet our fire regs. I check their certificates and number of fake ones is a worry for anyone restoring making new or repurposing furniture.

 

[skeetstar]

The raw timber racking that you can get from IKEA is well made and relatively cheap. Solid timber of a decent thickness. I think it's designed for the garage or store rooms rather than the lounge, but I felt it was good qualty/value when I bought it. That said I've seen ikea furniture that used cardboard as part of the leg structure, fit for the fire and nothing else.

 

[Matress]

Just a quick note to all those that use second hand scaffold boards in their work.

Having worked in the roofing industry for over 40 years I would seriously question using them for anything else other than the use for which they were they intended. Apart from the extremely high levels of moisture they contain they are often subject to high levels of contamination from various chemicals, some of which are hazardous to health. Sometimes they are contaminated with animal waste such as pigeon excrement and on the odd occasion even worse.

 

[johnnyb]

it's not just furniture buyers. I went to see a big double bay. the top deck was badly rotted(obviously due to a lack of maintenance) it looked like it had been remade in the 90s or 00s. done in redwood. of course they start bleating about how they don't want to spend blah blah. it's an impossible situation for me tbh. as always they seem to want an a4 breakdown of "every option" when they will simply go with lowest price. its £800 to get scaffold atm! of course you chat through with other joiners and they laugh and say accoya or nowt.