I got real lucky…and quirky. Decided to go with a local supply of Cedar. Yup. Red, aromatic cedar. I know it oxidizes to a nice dark brown in time. Barely a hint of sap wood on the edges here and there, almost all heart.
Local farmer had a sawyer mill it all up, a few 1000 BF so far and it was going fast..well I guess so at 75 cents a BF!. Winter felled, so the wood is pretty dry already, just knotty enough to have a some real character, and 7 to 12″ wide, all 9′ long and 1″ thick ( in the rough).
I just got 256 BF so far, I had to load a pile of slabs too ( kindling, and rustic siding, etc) but a mile up the road is enough to do my whole house..but we’re getting the Sycamore for the next room, that is a buck a BF..I need 250 of that as well.
He was sawing 16″ wide stuff! You know how long it takes a cedar to get that big? Remember this Eastern Cedar. Awesome stuff.
Before ya all go saying cedar is too soft, it isn’t. The heartwood is pretty damm hard. And with 4 dogs, an in a Log house, we want it to be dinged and beat up. I figgure I may never have a flea problem either..LOL
Stickering it this week, milling it in a few weeks, and a quick scrub plane light sanding..seal all edges and faces with Seal coat and install..copper rose head nails, exposed. Then a full shellakkin..Can’t wait, this floor has been drivin us nuts for 5 yrs.
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sounds fun... good things come to those that wait
congrats on your score
:)
p
Sweeet!
One thing (having never done it) a "quick scrub plane"?
Won't that take a while?
D
Very nice!
How 'bout some pics.
huck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
Ran outta oomph when we got home, its all under a 1/2 cord of slabs. Soon, I promise. Hell, I gotta post pics for serious braggin rights. LOLSpheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
I'm pretty fast at planing, had a LOT of practice, and my planes are set up real well. A #4 with slight crown in the iron, and I can do 8 sq ft ( a 1x12x8') in about 3 minutes. Just adding texture, not thinning to set dimension.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
Just make sure no one in your house is sensitive to the cedar.
My DW will have something like an asthma attack when exposed to cedar wood and dust.
I know you're gonna seal it, and finish it. That should minimize exposure to the oils. But you and yours might want to live with the unfinished wood for a bit before it's installed.
I know you're smart about woods. But sometimes we can forget.
Shouldn't be to bad, we diced up a load of slabs a few weeks ago, my whole yard smells like hampster cage. And , she peeled the posts we got for the verandah. So far, just the usual slight reaction.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
Pictures! You dirtbag!
Soon..it's buried at the moment.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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They kill Prophets, for Profits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_oEx4-Mc4
The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
congrats - glad to hear it coming together for you - so - you going to T&G it?about 10 more days of harvest and then I'm doing a bit of sawyering myself - "there's enough for everyone"
Nah, no T&G, it just don't seem needed for what we have in mind. Slight ease on the edges, and let the tar paper peek thru.
I had been doing some re-routing of CoAX and speaker wires, pulled back the old nasty wall to wall that the previous owners had,and lo and behold, I could see thru the sub floor joints (1/2" wide at places) into the crawl space between the LOg part and the addition's foundation wall..gee no wonder we were freezing, carpet is NOT high in Rvalue..LOL.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
Glad to hear it was something positive. First read of the post and I had visions of a saw blade "score" that accidentally cut across the finished product after dipping down a little bit too far cutting something else...
That of course has never happened to me, personally....
Well Done!
what color shellac? clear or amber?
Amber, I mix the gallon cans 50/50 with alcohol. Flood it on like you do, and repeat as needed.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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They kill Prophets, for Profits.
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The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
I'm really impressed that you hand plane everything.. I know how hard fir heartwood can be. That's an excercise I wouldn't like.. (couldn't do anymore)
Have you given any thought to ship lapping the flooring? That way as it shrinks you won't see the tar paper. Be pretty simple with even just a skill saw and really fast with a table saw..
If I would do anything ( and I may) , I'd just run the edges through the table saw or use a router and three winged slot cutter, and spline the joints.
I made factory furniture years ago, New England ( Shaker Style, repro stuff) type. EVerything was handplaned and all edges eased with a spoke shave, so it's still a common thing for me to plane evrything. I hate sanding and I hate planer mill marks even more. All the backs of Hutches and such were 3/4" pine with splines. The secret is stain the splines before assembly to match the final finish. Quick and easy to do
We built all that stuff outta #2 common pine and Poplar 8/4 FAS for things like the table legs...the co was call Stephen Von Hohen , and now is called Bucks County Woodcrafters I believe. Shaker was the rage back then, it has faded somewhat since.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
I did something similar in an attempt to save the loss of 1/2 inch of width. That is I splined my black walnut rather than use my shaper to do tongue and grove.
Deep regrets! It added massively to the assembly time!
Putting down 1000 sq.ft. of flooring took me over a month.. Granted part time and I am limited to how much work I can do at a single shot.. But If I'd have tongue and grooved it I would have happened in less than a week even at my reduced pace..
We lived near Sturbridge for a while, many years ago, and sharker style was very popular. All in pine. We bought several pieces from furniture stores in the area, usually buying floor samples of slightly dented stuff. I didn't see anyhting marked "DK"."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
If Von Hohen was selling there, it just may have been some I made, we had a good sized shop with about 10 guys /bench space all making stuff. It was horrid pay rate, and Pc. rate on top of a slight draw. I wasn't there real long.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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They kill Prophets, for Profits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_oEx4-Mc4
The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
Shakers used a wide variety of woods, both hardwood and softwood, usually local. I've been to just about all the Shaker villages, and have seen all kinds of Shaker furniture, even some fairly ornate pieces made in the southern villages in the later years. One of the most beautiful pieces I saw was a table made of butternut.
BTW, I'm sure you know Sturbridge isn't a Shaker village <G>
Shep, have you seen Christian Becksvoort's new book on shaker furniture? I caught a glimpse recently but haven't studied it yet.
I don't think I have that one. I'll have to look for it.
So...no more dirt floor, huh? What's next? Indoor plumbing?
;-)
What a novel idea!
Actually, I replumbed the whole place before we physically moved in, rewired most of it as well. The previous owner was far from well versed on most of his attempts ( and he died while building the addition...so it was half done) and the CPVC had all froze and burst, and I just didn't trust the wireing from what I saw..so out it all went.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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They kill Prophets, for Profits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_oEx4-Mc4
The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
Ok, here's the promised pics, I went and got another 150 SQFT this am, I think I forgot to include wastage and the hallway.
So, I have 230 sqft on the Ford and 150sqft in the van.
View Image
under the slabs is the main load
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There ya have it, let it dry for a spell and plane/joint rip away.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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Beautiful looking stuff, I can smell it from here!
You do know that it's technically a Juniper, not a cedar, right?
I've heard at least 7 ID's of the "Technical" classes and Genus and specie. I call it Hampster wood. LOL.
I just got it all stacked and stickered, brought a hunk in for weighing..I weigh it now, and weigh it later and see what the loss is, tells me how dry I am getting.
Being as we don't have modern HVAC, seasonal movement is not an issue to us, I'll just get it close to what it wants to be and lay it tight.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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Hamster wood, I like it.
Wow! Talk about scoring. Getting that laid should get you laid. :-)
Ya never know, she'll be down there pounding nails along side me.
It smells so strong you can fart and no-one would know!Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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It smells so strong you can fart and no-one would know!
In that case, where can I score some for my next bedroom. ;-)
Wouldn't do me much good anyway. Farting during sex always make me laugh. Then I have to start all over...wearing the mask and cape, coming through the window, sword in hand. Neyahaha!
"For I am FARTMAN..."
LOL.
Ahh, this'll be sweet looking when I get it done..I never saw a Cedar floor, probably for a reason.
I need to get a pic of the whole stack, it's impressive.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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it's impressive.
Without doubt, it's unique and wide too. Similar to some of the pine floors that are common in the North East, from one hundred plus years ago.
Floors with that much character change the entire atmosphere of a room.
I'll be looking forward to detailed progress reports, with photos.
D,
Great looking Cedar. Great score.
Will you spline it or t&g it?
Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
I've only got wedge T&G in 1/2" shank Router bits, ain't sure I wanna go thru it..and limit the "Flip it" over factor on install..spline may be centered ( Yeah, right) or at least handled better pc. by pc. VS. run a batch of wedge...
I think spline...or nothing. My edges are sap anyway, no real physical strength to be had..the sap is soft.
This'll be fun.
Atchooooo. Sniff. Already.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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You're never gonna have a moth in your house again
Or a FLEA! ( We hope). 4 dogs get 2 hours a day inside..we had fleas.
My main customer asked me for enough to make a cedar closet..it's like good pot..turn someone on and they won't leave ya alone..now I gotta get it out from someone elses pile*G)Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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Wow, that is beautiful material.
I have some friends who had an "austrailian cypress" floor put in. Smelled great also and is holding up tough.
Just beautiful, what a find.
I love all the knots and grain character...and to think they charge extra for clear wood! "Premium" my ####.
I'd lay that floor in my own house in a heartbeat.
I'm gonna cull the spike knots, and make a cellar door and some other doo dads outta that. There isn't much that will go to waste.
I'm even eyeing up the rest of the bark slabs, some are good enough for log type siding, and trim. The pile thus far is 5' tall, 8' deep and 80' long..all outer edges and waney slabs..some with bark, some reject 1" w/live edge..that stuff is all free for hauling, kindling if nothing else.
I need a shed..bad.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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