Identifying old wood (iv): a case study on old drawers

Sometimes it is possible to narrow down a wood based on a time period. For instance if a house was built in the late 1940’s, and speculation is that the trim is chestnut, this is unlikely to be the case, as chestnut blight all but wiped out chestnut trees by the 1940s. If the house is from before 1930, this might be more plausible. In Toronto in the 1920s many of the ads for houses contained phrases like: “kitchen finished in Georgia pine”, “downstairs is trimmed in chestnut”, and “oak floors of best quality throughout”. Georgia pine is actually Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), but I guess it sounded cooler in an advert then “longleaf”.

Is this Longleaf pine?

In our semi-detached house there was a built-in hallway closet that had three large drawers at the bottom, and a large two-door cabinet at the top. Not really practical from a storage point of view, so years ago I pulled it apart, and made it a recessed closet. I like retaining the feel of the old house, but some things need to move on. I kept the wood from the drawers, and the doors (which will be upcycled sometime in the future). The trick is identifying the wood. I would imagine as it was used for both the drawers, and the shelves inside the cabinet, that it was something like a pine, or maybe a Douglas fir? The lack of pores implies a softwood. The wood itself has fairly tight growth rings, signifying older growth lumber, with very few knots.

Might it be Georgia pine? There are numerous publications from the period, like “The Canadian Builder-Carpenter”, that discuss the use of Georgia pine for cupboards, trim, and doors. Before European settlement it dominated eastern North America, covering 360,000 km². By the early 1930’s most of the “limitless” virgin Georgia pine forests were gone. In 1928 botanist Roland Harper described the Longleaf Pine as a tree with “probably more uses than any other tree in North America if not in the whole world…”.

Artistic perfection and a tree

If you are interested in the search for artistic perfection, and the interplay between tree and instrument, then this documentary, The Quest for Tonewood, is for you. This is the story of Gaspar Borchardt, a violin maker from Cremona, Italy. In his mid 50’s, he resolves to create a wondrous instrument, a violin that Stradivari would be proud of. In order to achieve this he needs to find a specific tonewood, the Bosnian flamed maple, a European mountain maple and one of the finest woods for instrument making.

Why I love old-growth lumber

I really love old growth lumber, especially the sort found in cheap old doors from 100 years ago. I have a bunch of it in the shed… mostly from old interior doors. In the door I made for the mini shed the left and right edges are banded with pieces from old interior door stiles (glued together with ca. 22 dowels a piece, which some may consider a slight overkill, but hey in for a penny, in for a pound). The interior doors were made of Douglas Fir, with each piece comprised of four separate pieces, with intricate sliding dovetails (see pic). The central piece below has 38 growth rings over a 2-inch span. The wide radius of the growth rings which is straight in places, suggests an old tree, with the thinner rings towards the bottom right suggesting a number of years of drought or something. Who knows how old the tree was that produced this piece of wood – 200, 500, or perhaps 1000 years old?

It’s just a piece of beauty, especially for a simple door inside a simple workers house from 1926. It always amazes me how much more care people took with building things 100 years ago, even if it was only a simple door. It is also sad that so many of these ancient trees were felled in the past 150 years, and they still continue to cut down these behemoths. In British Columbia the Ancient Forest Alliance, is helping to save the ancient forests.

Why reusing building materials is good for the planet

When I was growing up we use to do all the outdoor projects, like building fences, and I was stuck as labourer, and clean-up detail. We use to buy lumber from a second-hand yard that sold what I guess was recycled lumber from old buildings, a lot of which was likely old-growth hardwoods. It seemed like a good idea at the time, I never really gave much thought to the reuse aspect, I mean you don’t when you’re 12. These places still exist but usually in the guise of architectural antiques or reclaimed lumber. They are often outside urban areas and sometimes carry more value-added than raw “reused” products. It’s kind of tragic, because every week in our neighbourhood I see bins full of old-growth lumber, real 2×4″s gutted to make open-concept floors. I’m sure a small amount gets recycled, but most is likely dumped.

How many used building products could find a new life, either reused, or repurposed? Old lumber could somehow be reformulated into new lumber, to keep them out of the landfill. I recently built my shed a shed… a small 30×40″ lean-to to store the garden gear. I did it mainly because I bought too much siding when I re-sided the shed. So I decided to make as much of it out of lumber from around the house, and other stuff. The only thing I really bought was some 2×4″s for the frame, and some PVC trim for water-proofing the base. The base and roof sheathing I built from 3/4″ forming ply from a neighbour, the 1/2″ sheathing ply left-over in my father-in-law’s shed. The roof, spare aluminum shingles.

The door is the most interesting thing. I spent a lot of time pondering how to build a door from reclaimed stuff I had lying around. Then it dawned on me, I already had a door in the shed that I could reuse, literally. When we replaced our front door, a huge wooden beast, I cut it up and put it in the shed. Then I did the same with one of the neighbours doors… and it was a part of this door that I could easily turn into a shed door. The door is 1-3/4″ thick, made of long strips of glued pine, covered with two layers of (oak) veneer. Full disclosure, the front door was replaced because it was drafty, and not so well looked after. First I built a door frame out of old select pine, with the threshold and upper casing constructed of laminated plywood. The door I cut out of the base of the old door, and on the left and right edges I glued 1-3/8″×1-7/8″ wood pieces cut from the stiles of old interior doors – constructed from old-growth Douglas Fir. Add a continuous hinge, and hey presto a solid door which cost next to nothing.

I don’t really understand why we send good lumber to landfill. Even if it does contain nails, old lumber can be reclaimed, or used to make some form of structural wood. Yes, it would add a cost to renovation projects, but what is the cost to the planet of not reusing this lumber,… especially old-growth lumber.

A historic Norwegian workbench

In our visit to the Voss Folkemuseum, I found an interesting old workbench in one of the buildings on the farm. I would imagine it is 100-150 years old. The bench-top is made of a solid piece of wood, 4-5″ in thickness, and maybe 20″ in depth (I didn’t measure the bench unfortunately). The wood seems to be from an old-growth tree due to the density of the growth rings, and its surface is well worn. The two solid legs (1.5-2″ in thickness) sit on a cross-beam foot, and are stabilized by cross-pieces of equal size which seem to be attached to the legs with wooden pins. It is an unusual bench base, but simple to make.

The workbench at Voss Folkemuseum.

This bench has two types of vice. The frontal vice seems to be a a modified shoulder-type vice, formed in a “T” shape. It is comprised of two separate pieces. The joining tenon is morticed into both the bench and vice face, and pinned in place. A wooden screw sits either side of the central tenon (although only the right screw exists). This is similar to German workbenches, except that German vices typically have a single screw, and are typically not constructed using mortice/tenons and pins.

The end-vice in the form of a wagon vice, has the crosspiece holding the female thread mortised in to one end of the bench to form part of a tail vice. The mortice is held in the tenon using wooden pins. The wooden screw runs into a rectangular cavity cut into the centre of the bench. This bench was likely used for both farmwork, and to build simple furniture.

Why MDF is just horrible

I never really liked the idea of making anything with chip-board (particle-board), although having said that it does exist in my home in the guise of kitchen cabinet carcasses, and IKEA closets. I also have some vintage mid-century modern furniture where uses it as a base for veneer. I mean from a sustainability point of view it’s not a bad way to made flat sheet material from leftovers of the lumber industry. The wood-based product I dislike the most though is MDF, or Medium-Density Fiberboard.

Of course it is beloved by the likes of interior designers and some furniture makers. Maybe because it is cheap, and straight? But it is more sinister than chipboard, deeming some to term it the “asbestos of the 90’s“. Sure it can be manufactured to just about any thickness, it’s easy to cut into just about any shape, easily moulded, veneered and painted. I mean I even have a piece on the top of by Festool MFT. it is just a compound of wood dust and scrap bonded together by a resin containing formaldehyde. And here in lies the problem – when it is cut it releases a cloud of wood dust coated with formaldehyde. I mean that just isn’t good for you. The worst thing though, is when I see people not using proper respiratory protection when cutting it (construction people, DIY, and novice woodworkers alike). People should be using a respirator with cartridges approved for dust and formaldehyde.

Like asbestos, MDF has been touted as a wonder product, but like asbestos it may be as equally as deadly, at least in the production phases. So much so, that I won’t really think it should be used by DIY enthusiasts. Woodworkers should stick to plywood. I get that it is good for woodworking jigs etc because it is so flat, but we should try and avoid it where possible – Baltic birch may be a better choice. Seemingly it’s not very green either. While chip-board is typically made from recycled lumber or wood waste, MDF can be made from virgin wood, typically from plantations. There are greener alternatives on the market now, like rice-stalk MDF.

P.S. The benefit of buying vintage furniture (1950s-1970s) is that if it does contain chip-board made with formaldehyde, it most likely off-gassed years ago.

The beauty of Douglas fir

Is Douglas fir the most beautiful of all the softwoods? I love it most because of its clear, straight grain. It’s mostly used for building, and not that often for furniture, but it is very recognizable. It is a beautiful pinkish-red colour when new, interspersed with darker stripes, and ages to a reddish-brown. It may be most beautiful when quarter-sawn, so the growth rings are relatively perpendicular to board faces. Douglas fir, or Pseudotsuga menziesii if you want to go all botanical, comes from the Pacific Northwest, and BC, where trees can be 200ft tall and up to 6ft in diameter. The last of the towering behemoths that once blanketed the region.

Tight surface grain, lightly sanded.

Problem is, that it’s not exactly a “fine” wood. The stripes that make it beautiful to look at also are hard on hand-tools – largely because of the difference in hardness between the earlywood and latewood. It also has a tendency to splinter, which isn’t great when trying to build furniture. It does machine well, but also dulls cutters, a bit of a double edged sword.

That being said, it has fewer resins than other softwoods, so doesn’t seem to have a problem with paint or even clear finishes. Staining works too, but the light-to-dark variation in growth rings may lead to some discolouration. To my liking the most beautiful grain is the quarter sawn.

The end grain showing the tightness of the growth rings.

My thoughts on Ipe

Ipe, or rather Ipê, is a tropical hardwood also known as Lapacho, or Brazilian walnut. My first foray into using Ipe was when I decided to replace the cedar deck (it was recycled into fences etc). I bought some around 2005, and I guess, at a time it was not that common. I installed the 1″ by 6″ (nominal) sized boards. I drilled and countersunk the holes, and secured it with stainless steel screws. It was a thing of wonder – hard, strong, and intrinsically beautiful. I installed it on my (covered) porch as well, and included railings and the like there. I thought it would be relatively maintenance free… well, that’s what I thought.

My Ipe deck wall (freshly coated in Penofin)

For a few years it was fine. I think I put some sort of coating on the deck, but to be honest I can’t remember it too clearly, likely Cabot’s Timber Oil (due to the lack of other products at the time). After a while, maintaining the “look” became an issue, and it didn’t really hold up the the winters, so I replaced it with aluminum. Here are my thoughts on Ipe.

• If you live anywhere with a good amount of rain, and/or snow (i.e. anywhere that isn’t the dry south-western climate), Ipe and similarly exotic woods are not maintenance free. Ice strips all finishes off. The deck greyed very quickly, the porch still looks great with maintenance coats every few years. So covered Ipe will maintain its finish nicely.
• Working with Ipe will eat the edges on your tools, due in part to its density. Choose good quality (carbide-tipped) bits for drilling, and blades for cutting. Ipe and its brethren woods are hard on tools – consider that Ipe has a Janka hardness value of 3684, eastern red cedar on the other hand is only 900. It is also because Ipe contains silica.
• If you have to use glue, G-2 Epoxy, polyurethane glues, and PVA Type III work well, but gluing won’t work as well as with softer, less dense woods. Experimentation is key, depending on application.
• Ipe is strong, e.g. it can span great distances at high strength. It is resistant to insects, decay, and even fire. It’s no coincidence it has the same fire rating as concrete.
• Ipe is extremely good for vertical surfaces.
• Ipe when used for horizontal surfaces should be nominal 5/4″ in thickness (in my humble opinion). I use it on the front steps of my house, and it holds up really well.
• Ipe can take a lot of abuse. You can wash it with the sharpest setting on a pressure washer, and it won’t harm it. In fact if the Ipe has an old coating, it often strips it off no problem, and does not chew up the wood.
  

Aged Ipe before (dark region) and after (light region) power washing.

• Ipe can be sanded, but a word of caution here. Not just any sander will work. If you are going to sand a lot of Ipe, invest in a Festool Rotex sander – it has two settings, eccentric motion and rotary motion. The rotary setting will eat off any finish – quickly. It does leave some markings, but hey, it’s not fine furniture.
• The vessels in IPE are filled with a yellow crystalline substance known as lapachol, which when the wood is cut gives the appearance of being dusted over with sulphur. This may cause skin irritations.
• Ipe without a coating will grey over time. It is not hard to recover the colour, but it does take effort.

Sanded (top board), and subsequently coated with Penofin (bottom board)

• Coatings should be used that penetrate the wood. Natural oils help keep it good looking, and stop cracks from developing (most noticeable in 1″ stock, near the board ends).
• For vertical surfaces, using a coating from Penofin. It works on horizontal surfaces too, but vertical surfaces will hold up better due to the lack of traffic. The best of coatings don’t last long on horizontal surfaces.
• With hidden deck fasteners for Ipe, there is no need to actually drill and countersink the boards. Find one that works for you (some 5/4″ boards come pre-grooved to fit fasteners).

One coat of Penofin on a vertical versus horizontal Ipe surface

Ipe is an exceptional wood for building things outside, and it is appearing more and more on city park structures in Toronto, largely because of its longevity. Often for seating structures, they are using 2″×4″ Ipe, which is extremely strong, and I imagine graffiti can be power-washed off more easily than on other surfaces.

The other thing to consider with Ipe is its source. As its a tropical hardwood, sometimes it is difficult to determine whether the wood has been sustainably harvested. There are more sustainable woods to use, and I imagine, given its long-term resistance to decay that eventually there will be a market for used timber… and hopefully we won’t push Ipe the way of the giant redwoods.

Ancient yews

When we think of old trees, we often think of the towering redwoods of the west coast of North America. We don’t often think of small trees as being old. When we went to Scotland a couple of summers ago we visited the Fortingall Yew, which is an ancient European yew in the church yard of the village of Fortingall (Perthshire). It is one of the oldest trees in Europe, and arguably the oldest identified tree in Britain.

It is somewhere between 2000-3000 years old, and although now a series of small trees, it once had a girth of 52 feet. This was recorded by Daines Barrington in 1769.

I measured the circumference of this yew twice, and therefore cannot be mistaken, when I inform you that it amounted to fifty-two feet. Nothing scarcely now remains but the outward bark, which hath been separated by the centre of the tree’s decaying within these twenty years. What still appears, however, is thirty-four feet in circumference.

Daines Barrinton, “A Letter to Dr.William Watson, F.R.S. from the Hon. Daines Barrington, F.R,S. on the Frees which are supposed to be indigenous in Great Britain” Philosophical Transactions, The Royal Society Transactions,, 59 (1769).

Over time the heartwood had been lost (natural decay caused the centre of the tree to rot to ground level by 1770. It was also seen in the same year by Thomas Pennant the traveller on his first tour of Scotland, published in 1771 as A Tour in Scotland. He notes the tree measured 56½ feet in circumference. Hardly a shadow of former self now… but how often do you see a living entity that is thousands of yeas old?

The thing about Baltic Birch

Baltic Birch (BB) has nothing to do with a type of birch tree, but more to do with a type of plywood manufactured in the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea, with the two biggest producers being Russia, and Finland. In Europe it is mostly used for cabinet making. In addition to Baltic Birch, there is also a product called Finnish Birch which is generally quite thin, and used for tasks such as building aircraft, musical instruments etc, with the 3-ply plywood version as thin as 1/64″ (0.4mm) (typically available from aircraft parts suppliers like Aircraft Spruce Canada).

Baltic Birch is composed of multiple layers of 1.5 mm-thick solid birch veneer, cross-banded, and laminated with exterior grade adhesive. Why spend more on BB ply versus cheaper versions? Firstly, BB produces a void-free core which makes it better from a fastener holding ability, and produces cleaner joinery. The face veneers are also thicker than traditional cabinet-grade plys. Finally, the exposed edges of BB are aesthetically pleasing and don’t need to be covered up. 

Baltic Birch ply comes in 1525×1525mm sheets, which approximates to 5’×5’, and is often sold as 3/4” ply in North America (although one can now find 4’×8’ sheets). But here’s the thing – it isn’t. It is only manufactured in metric, so the 3/4″ equivalent is roughly 11/16”, or 18mm, whereas 3/4” = 19.05mm. 1mm may not seem like much but it does make a difference in cabinetry which takes board thickness into account. The trick when measuring out is to remember this, and either work completely in millimetres, or convert to inches.