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I have to replace a cross at a church. Existing cross made of 8 by 8 oak twisted pretty bad, 12′ high 8′ horiz. Can’t find any 8 by 8 cedar and thinking of a sandwiched microllam wrapped in 5/4 cedar. it has to receive a 4′ steel pipe for vertical support. Just wondering if the microllam will hold up. thanks
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b WBA At Your Service
No, it won't. Microlams use exterior glue but aren't designed for exposure. You would be better off using pressure treated lumber as the core. Most importantly, can you cap the horizontal surfaces with aluminum or copper ?
*Check into Ipe or purpleheart or similiar tropical hardwood. They stay fairly stable seasonally and are highly rot and insect resistant...
*Doug,Purplewood or tropical wood? I must have missed the part where it said that this was a $350,000.00 project. Holy Moly!! Just a little chunk of that purplewood cost's like 35 bucks at the Woodworkers shop.Maybe he should just hammer the cross out of gold pated titanium.....;-)Now you realize, Doug, this is all your fault.Pete
*Dave - Why can't you find 8 x 8 cedar? Check around your local lumber yards (let me guess you're in southern Utah?) It's a special order item here (central NJ) but certainly available - were going to be using some on a project. If you are anywhere nearby, let me know and I'll put you onto a supplier. BTW an 8' is about $450, so the capping suggestion is a good one - or just keep oiling the hell (oops, heck) out of it. You might consider chamfering edges too. Jeff
*Tim, PT will work that was one of my first ideas, after I had no luck finding 8 by 8's in any thing but oak. the church want's a rustic look i.e. no caps etc. I tried looking for some chestnut timbers no luck. The 4' 2" dia steel post supporting is not helping as we don't have a horizontal boring machine. Jeff, I'm in southwestern CT the lumber yards around here are way behind the times considering the affluence off this area, just ask Andy thanks
*b WBA At Your ServiceDave, Wierd. You're not shopping at the big chain lumberyards, are you ? One of our local yards just got me 2 picture perfect 8 x 8 x 10's in PT. And that was in the middle of winter when PT is scarce. You could always build the cross out of 2X PT and bolt the 2X material to the pipe. Then skin the exterior with cedar 1X material. Then cap the horizontal surfaces as mentioned. The edge of the cap where it bends over the face only has to be 1/4" and who the heck is going to notice it on something this big, anyway. Use lead coated copper, that has a really rustic look, day one.
*Perhaps I'm not thinking clearly, nut why does this have to be solid? Especially if you have to insert a pipe? I envision some form of boxes built to form a cross, with maybe a plywood piece in the lower section with holes to fit over the pipe. Made out of whatever material you want, 8" wide. Just use whatever materials can withstand the elements. I'll try to post a quickie design later.
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I have to replace a cross at a church. Existing cross made of 8 by 8 oak twisted pretty bad, 12' high 8' horiz. Can't find any 8 by 8 cedar and thinking of a sandwiched microllam wrapped in 5/4 cedar. it has to receive a 4' steel pipe for vertical support. Just wondering if the microllam will hold up. thanks