Thread: Bent Wood

Losos

Welcome to the forum. It certainly is a global community.

As to your problem to salvage some of the timber you would need a jointer to pass the timber over. If they are too bent you may have to cut them into shorter lengths to reduce the waste.

After flattening them on the jointer they can be cut parrallel on the table saw then finished up with a hand plane or thicknesser.

That is assuming you have access to that sort of machinery.

Welcome Losos,

I would guess it is pretty cold and wet there at the moment :confused:

Try stacking the timber on a flat surface with pre cut spacers about 3/4" thick between each layer. As the weather warms up the natural moisture absorbed by the wood should start to decrease and that will help to straighten everything up.

A little extra weight spread evenly over the stack with the same spacer technique will also help. If you can spare the time you will reduce the waste and you should be able to dress everything without the need for jointers/thicknessers.

Otherwise Barry's advice is spot on from my experience.

Originally Posted by Losos

Gday down there

I've just registered 'cos this looks like a beaut site - I live in the Czech Republic but was in Oz for five years in the 70's (You can see I've not forgotten all the lingo )

Anyway, We are rennovating an old farm and in 'my' barn (Soon to be my 'dream' w/shop ) I found tons of oak 2x2 amd 3x2 all about 10 foot long. The bad news is they are all bent, twisted, split ends (Bit like me)

What's the simplest way to straighten them, any ideas welcome. Yes, I did think about the bonfire

Well hello Czech Republic and welcome.

I have a few questions for you.

What sorts of tools are available where you live?
Where do you obtain them?
What do they cost?
What sorts of timber do you use?
Where do you source it?

In Australia there has been a bit of a boom in the do it yourself thing. Many more people than ever are having a go at making and building things than ever before. This has in turn has lead to a surge in the availability of tools and a general drop in prices. For example not all that many years ago if you wanted to purchase a thicknesser you needed nearly $1000. Now you can purchase one for less than $400. There are shows on the TV aimed at the do it yourself market.
Has this sort of thing been happening where you live?

The other thing I wonder about is the teaching of wood work. In Australia all high school students have the chance to learn some basic wood working skills at school. For many of them this is their first exposure to it. Is wood work a subject in Czech schools?

There is a web site you might like to look at. One of the biggest suppliers of tools for wood in Australia is a company called Carbatec. They have an online catalog where you will be able to see the sorts of prices we pay for tools in Australia.
http://svc010.bne011i.server-web.com...lic/home.ehtml
Hope to hear from you again.

Barnsey / Bazza
Thanks, I don't have the machinery right now so I'll try stacking it for six months, by that time I hope my new workshop will be ready to receive a jointer which is one of the machines I intend to get. Yes, we can experience minus 20 C in CZ 'tho it is usually zero to minus 10 where we are. It's also damp, this morning I watched the mist rise up the valley and roll across a pine tree plantation on the hillside making it invisible as I watched! It then carried on up to my workshop where you can imagine the condensation it caused. Anyway in a few months it'll warm up and it can get pretty hot in the summer here.
Chook - If I can I'll PM you with a more detailed answer but here's a summary
Most tools are available, Czech Republic has a fairly long history of manufacturing woodwork machinery using cast iron tables etc. Some good names are Rojek, KDR, and OPP
If not obtainable in CZ I buy my hand tools from Germany or UK (When visiting)
In CZ there's millions of softwood trees so Pine, Spruce, are used a lot. Oak is also available, veneers of all sorts. Not much exotics 'tho.
If I need some timber not available locally I go to Germany (Only 50 miles from where I live)