Wood Workers

[LaReina]

Does anyone do woodworking?

If so.. how do you stabilize your wood? Or do you??

[Pink Mist]

more info please on stabilising wood

[sceadugenga]

If the timber used has been properly dried the finished product should be coated with a polish or painted to prevent cracking or warping. Is this what you mean by stabalising?

It's inadvisable to use green timber, that is direct from the tree, for carpentry or wood working.

[wolfmanjack]

If the timber used has been properly dried the finished product should be coated with a polish or painted to prevent cracking or warping. Is this what you mean by stabalising?

It's inadvisable to use green timber, that is direct from the tree, for carpentry or wood working.

What kind of wood ?

[sceadugenga]

If the timber used has been properly dried the finished product should be coated with a polish or painted to prevent cracking or warping. Is this what you mean by stabalising?

It's inadvisable to use green timber, that is direct from the tree, for carpentry or wood working.

What kind of wood ?

I would imagine as many kinds as there are trees would be available. Some types are a lot harder than others and there for more difficult to work with but often more durable with a finer finished appearance after polishing.

When I decided on a polished timber floor for the upstairs area for my house I was dismayed to find the timber arriving obviously freshly cut, and un-machined. My wife solved the problem by carpeting the area while I was out of the country but one day I'm gonna rip that carpet up, pull the floor up, relay them and sand and polish.

[wolfmanjack]

If the timber used has been properly dried the finished product should be coated with a polish or painted to prevent cracking or warping. Is this what you mean by stabalising?

It's inadvisable to use green timber, that is direct from the tree, for carpentry or wood working.

What kind of wood ?

I would imagine as many kinds as there are trees would be available. Some types are a lot harder than others and there for more difficult to work with but often more durable with a finer finished appearance after polishing.

When I decided on a polished timber floor for the upstairs area for my house I was dismayed to find the timber arriving obviously freshly cut, and un-machined. My wife solved the problem by carpeting the area while I was out of the country but one day I'm gonna rip that carpet up, pull the floor up, relay them and sand and polish.

All wood has a movement rate. This is the % that the wood will expand or contract due to the absorption or loss of water. In thailand that would mean the wood is expanded during the rainy season and contracted in the dry season. Every time the wood expands and contracts it builds up stress which leads to cracking. Some woods have a high movement rate and others low with many in the middle. Mai Daeng is a very heavy dense wood with a high movement rate. Teak is much lighter than mai daeng but has a lower movement rate. The only way to stop this movement is to prevent the moisture content of the wood changing. In other words the wood has to be sealed. In the case of your floor it would be helpful to know what kind of wood it is.

By polishing do you mean with floor wax? The wax does not create a moisture barrier.

[LaReina]

Stabilizing wood: treating it so that it does not lose or absorb moisture at will causing it to crack.

Sceadugenga: The wood has already been dried. Kiln dried? That I do not know. But definitely not “green wood”. So I made a shape of interest but I am not finished with my project, and now the wood has shrunk and I am way far from the coating stage.

Wolfman jack: The wood in question is a black and pink ebony. But polishing does not really stop the moisture flow does it? AND.. where would one go to dig up info on the movement of moisture with regards to the local woods?

Now in terms of stabilization.. I have tried PEG, but that caused one of my wood species to bleed, and another to become brittle when I attempted to turn it.

My project is small artsy type stuff. No home improvement project.

[wolfmanjack]

Using wax does not create a moisture barrier. The best barrier would be by using a sealer and polyurethane but that would only be for a finished piece. The next would be melamine, then lacquer and last would be wax. None of these would be good for a work in progress. The only thing that i can suggest would be to oil it. The oil would basically fill the pockets where the water used to be. this would prevent the moisture from going back in until the oil evaporated.

If the ebony was kiln dried then it should not shrink afterwards unless it has been exposed to moisture between the kiln drying process and the time you got your hands on it. Now that it is rainy season the wood should be expanding, not shrinking.

there are many websites that explain this. Do a google search for wood species movement

Here is a calculator that you can use http://justwoodworking.com/software/wood_move.php

[LaReina]

Wolfmanjack: Thanks of the link to the calculator. Truly appreciated.

With regards to the oil, forgive my ignorance, but would like Tung Oil Work? Or are we talking some special oils that one would purchase from say Liberon? Any particular recommendations?

With regards to melamine, its scratch resistant properties sound interesting, do you know where one would purchase that here in Thailand? And or do you know a Thai name for it?

As for the ebony shrinking… I said it expanded and my friend said it shrank. I had a circular piece of wood with a hole in the middle and the internal diameter has definitely increased. However the external diameter has decreased.

[sceadugenga]

Sorry, by polishing I mean sealing the wood with a clear finish, years ago it was done with a linseed oil based polish, then the old varnishes were popular but didn't last long. The stuff I have on the exposed timber of my house gets re-coated every year but there are some good "clear finishes" around these days, some of them twin pack and expensive.

Wolfmanjack, I know all about polyurethane, I worked in different aspects of the timber and sawmilling industries for thirty years, I was trying to put the advice into terms that LaReina, who I suspected didn't know a lot about timber would understand.

Black and Pink ebony are quality hardwoods, and extremely hard, I would recommend air drying them rather than kiln drying. I never worked with them personally but my father did, he told me that to turn them he used steel working tools but that was 50 years ago, and he said that often several years air drying in shady conditions was required.

[LaReina]

Sceadugenga: Nice LOFT if I may say so.

The ebony I believe has been dried for 2 yrs and you are 100% correct, I do not know a lot about timber, but I'm learning. Being that you are from the industry in question, may I ask if you know alot about veneers?

[sceadugenga]

If your building cabinets or other furniture and using veneered plywood be careful using power sanding equipment. I've seen expensive veneers ruined in a second when the sand paper cut through the top layer. a light hand sand, then polish, or clear finish the same as any other timber.

If you want to make veneers yourself or put veneer on cheaper timber it's usually work for a professional tradesman but an enthusiast can learn it with the right books and experience. Personally I couldn't be bothered, most good quality timbers can be bought as veneer plywood at hardware stores/timber yards.

Keep learning, there's nothing more rewarding than creating a beautiful piece of furniture yourself.