My buddy has a pile of 100+ year old heart pine 3×12 floor joists he tore out of an old auto service shop. They resaw nicely, beautiful straight grain and no knots. I can have as much as I want rough sawn for a couple of cases of beer, and I need some 6/4 stock for exterior door jambs and some 5/4 for exterior casing trim.
Now, the problem is, the wood has 100 years of motor oil soaked into it. Some pieces worse than other, but its present in all. All this wood is going to be primed and painted, so would anybody anticipate a problem with paint if I use a good exterior alkyd primer?
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i'd go get it.
you will probably need to experiment for a little with milling and paints, but here is my opine...
old heart pine is very resinous already, so the odds of the motor oil having penetrated very far into the wood is pretty small. By time you plane a 2" rough to a 1/3/8" door thickness, I don't think you will see any hint of the oil left.
but you might still want to play with sample paints too. Formulas have changed over the years, so what worked for me in the past might not now.
One trick is to use a base sealer of shellac first, to separate the wood resins from the new paint.
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Ah! Our old friend, shellac. I nearly forgot. Nice thing is, my buddy's just finished priming some fence panels out of the same material, so we'll be able to see any immediate bonding problems with the alkyd primer.And to be perfectly honest, that motor oil HAS penetrated pretty deeply in some pieces. Maybe as much as an inch or so, based on some of the crosscuts I've seen.I don't see how I can't go for it, being that the wood is free and all. I guess my other question is: Is this wood going to be appropriate for exterior door jambs?
For exterior door jambs you want stable wood that is resistant to rot, and strong enough to hold the door in and the burglars and elephants out.Heart pine is excellent for that. It was used for years for timbers in barns, factories, and other large buildings.
Along the Gulf coast, govt construction projects specified heart pine for framing because it was so good at resisting rot and providing strength.
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Thanks for the input. For some reason, I have selective amnesia about wood species and their appropriate uses.
i've handled, milled and installed a few thousand feet of this, and love the stuff
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Can't you think of something "nicer" to do with 100 year old perfectly clear wood than painted trim? Flooring maybe? Or has the oil runied the appearance that badly?
Scott.
My buddy has an endless supply of this. 3x12s, 24' long. $10 each. He's got hundreds. I'll be using lots of it eventually, if it holds paint. Yes, the motor oil has ruined it for clear applications, methinks.
What state is this in if you don't mind me asking?
You just lit Rez up! LOL.
snorK*
hey! Hundreds of 24ft 3x12s from back when lumber was lumber?
be worth driving for