Thread: remilling ironbark 4x2's

I have remilled some ironbark. I really like the timber

I used a 'homemade' table saw. Trick was to go slow and use a quality saw blade, thin kerf and lots of small teeth. I used irwin blade, the one with heaps and heaps of very small teeth.

Becuase this timber is warped over time, when you straighten it out you loose a lot, also the time taken to prepare your timber is high. But if that is the way you want to go, then there is nothing wrong with it.

Pine is very cheap I must say, and easy to work.

If I was going to use ironbark, I am not exactly sure of the need to straighten it out. If it is slightly warped after 80 years in a house, will it be any stronger if you mill it nice and smooth. In other words, it might be ok, to use the timber without straightening it and not bothering to making is square etc. Structurally it ought be sound. (please feel free to ask for a second opinion in this) Visually it does not look good, (non straight timber) but if it is behind plasterboard then does it matter.

Before timber mills were invented, people used round logs for posts etc. In other words to build a house strong structurally, it is not essential to use timber that is perfectly straight and perfectly rectangular.

From an economic terms though, you would have to be hard up on money to justify the money required to straighten up this timber, make it all flash and new again so that it becomes major structural parts of the house. Lots of hours for saving a modest amount of money to buying radiata pine

Using is for small areas could be a real goer though, window sills, kitchen bench tops, skirting boards, trims on furtniture. Its main plus is that it looks fantastic, especially if you use a clear stainer. It is strong and durable. (heavy and hard to work)

When I milled mine (at the time I was money poor but with spare time) I did not even bother with denailing, I just milled straight through it. Then again I was using a 40 dollar saw blade. I would not risk it on a bandsaw, what might happen if you hit a nail could be bad.

When using an electric plane to smooth ironbark that has nails in it, you are at risk of damaging the blades on your power plane. How I personally know this I would not care to elaborate on too much. So from my first hand experience, milling it on a table saw will work, smoothing it out with a power planer is a risk because of all the nails.

Thanks Peter...the house structural framing part of it shouldn't be too bad-i figure to dimension just one side of each stud ...maybe bring the rough 100x50 down to 90x50 so as i have one straight edge (for the internal linings) .I pricked my ears when i read you saying you sawed straight through all those nails...maybe this is a feasable idea ...how far did the teeth/blades go before it became necessary to put in a new blade ?, and yes you are right-the real benefit is in the finish ,although i tend to over engineer every thing i make as well, i like a solid feeling house.

the blade is still going strong.

I only milled say a dozen pieces. The trouble is the time vs money equation

Also with a table saw, they often make cuts parallel to the side of the timber, so if your timber is warped, then the follow on cuts may be warped too.

With a table saw, one good thing, especially if you are just cleaning it up a little, is that it then shows the nails clearly. Then they can be punched out.

So denailing most with a claw hammer, milling using a table saw and puching through any nails that you miss is an option. The trouble is that what you have may still not be straight, to get it straight you need to use a jointer (more money!) I think a jointer might be an option after you rip through one edge.

It depends what you want to do. If it is going to be structural timbers that go in the roof and go between bricks and plaster board, then a little bit or warping probably does not matter as the timber is so strong.

But the hours you spend, vs money saved might not be really work out

For smaller jobs where you use limited amounts of timber in places where is will be visible it might go well. My guess is that you need to denail most first, put in through a table saw second, punch out any nails that you have missed, then use a jointer, then table saw into correct widths, then use a thicknesser for getting the final thickness (optional), and then sand. With capital costs of a table saw, jointer, thicknesser you are starting to talk a fair bit of money. maybe 2500 - 3000 just there.

For inside the house, where the timber would not be seen, I would only cut the timbers to lenght, nothing else at all. You may run into problems in that as the timber is not perfectly straight, when you go to put the plasterboard on, it needs a flat surface to go on properly

Houses these days tend to use fewer timbers than they used to. If you want to do it with more timbers that is up to you (to be stronger). To be a little direct, if you cannot afford the pine to build a house, can you really afford to build it? Pine comes in stanadard lenghts, is easy to work. The truck comes, drops off 100 or so 4x2s all stacked toghter.

Building it yourself to save money.. yeah I cand go with that
Making your own trusses to save money... yeah I can go with that
Milling your own timber instead of pine to be used in areas where it will not be seen...hmmm

You would be suprised at how little 200 or 300 pine lenghts of 4 x 2 cost. Builders use this stuff all the time. You just pull up your trailer, they put on a bundled stack of 4 x 2, you pay and off you go, easy. This is why I have made the distiction between surfaces that are to be visible like kitchen benches, and where it will be hidden, say in roof trusses, and between plasterboard and bricks.

when you go to the timber yard, asking how much 300 4 x 2s is will be easy. How many hours would you need to mill that from ironbark, for what saving.

For kitchen tops etc, I think you are on something nice, for structural pieces that wont get seen, remilling them seems a bit problematic.

Thanks again Peter...i reckon i will save $5-7k at least over the whole project if i use the old scantling instead of pine...that money is allocated to buy a bit of equipment to lessen the pain of the long drawn out effort of recycling. I do have the time though and the money we save can go into better fittings. Pine in the walls would be ok but i think in the long term i would appreciate that the extra effort was worth it. I will need to 'process' 500 or so sticks so there is a need for me to be a bit factory like; i have most of the normal small power tools and have dressed ironbark 4x2's and the like in small quantities on my Triton set up, but this job needs another level of skills and gear for it to be enjoyable; for my budget it may need to be second hand but much heavier machines, maybe 3 phase stuff ...the big question is whether to go from the jointer to a table saw or take it to a resaw bandsaw; either way a power feeder might be good.?.

G'Day I have been milling & making Furniture from Red Ironbark for 30 years you need less teeth & slow feed . 8 to 10 on a 300mm blade . I would be happy to talk to you about red ironbark my ph is 0429333828
Regards Charles

Thanks Charles