What kind of sticks would you build with?

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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby noseoil » Wed Nov 05, 2014 8:00 am

Plywood "framing" is still a good choice. Using 3/4" plywood which is cut to act like a frame will work fine. I was worried about some warping on the stuff I bought at the local "Home Delay" store, but then realized that once the 1/8" skin is glued in place, the framing will stay flat if it's glued up on a flat surface. I glued the 1/8" on my deck panel, which was pretty flat, and the walls are now good with the skin on just one side. 3/4" plywood is just too heavy if used as a solid panel, but if the outside edges & hard points are left in place and the rest thrown away, it's pretty good. The 4 x 9 panels with one side of 1/8" Baltic birch glued on weigh in at 25# so far. A finished panel with the insulation & a second skin will be about 35#, not nearly as bad as a 3/4" X 4' X 9' solid panel at 85#.

Image

Ran out of time yesterday to finish the post. The spars are 3/4" X 1 1/2" poplar to finish things up for the roof. As has been stated it is light, strong, takes screws well and is very easy to mill. The only "real" hardwood I'm planning on using will be in the hatch (hinge) area. Most likely some white or red oak will be used at the hinge fastening point on both the hatch & tear, because these screws will need to resist the most stress in the entire build.
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby Lambertdarr » Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:40 pm

mikeschn wrote:Thanks Tom,

Is that the green stuff I see at the big box stores?

I've played with that in the past. It's fun to build with, but it doesn't stain very nice.

Of course that's not applicable when you are talking about framing!

Sounds like a pretty good option to pine!!!

Mike...


That is the green stuff, but don't discount poplar outright, with the right combination of dyes one can make poplar look like cherry to all but the most knowledgeable wood aficionados :D
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby josephhanson » Mon Dec 01, 2014 12:23 pm

For internal lumber, see if you can get any finger joined boards, they don't warp, twist and they don't have any knots in them. The glued finger joints are stronger than the plane board. They are made with 1-2 ft sections of clear wood joined together to make any length needed. I've only seen them in pine though.
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby Gpike » Fri Mar 20, 2015 1:40 pm

Sorry to be late to the party on this one, but take a look at spruce porch flooring for softwood. The majority is straight grained and it comes in various lengths. Lightweight and holds fasteners well.
For hardwood ash is the choice in my area. Not a lot of grain features, but strong and stable.
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby MtnDon » Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:32 pm

josephhanson wrote:For internal lumber, see if you can get any finger joined boards, they don't warp, twist and they don't have any knots in them. The glued finger joints are stronger than the plane board.



My experience with finger jointed boards has not been so great when it comes to bending resistance. (A board being any lumber up to 1" actual thickness.) Finger jointed boards of 1x thickness or less are not graded structural lumber. It is usually meant for indoor use because of the adhesives most often not being water resistant. Trim, mouldings, door frames are the usual tasks it is used for. Finger jointed boards are most often more straight than plain sawn wood. The lack of knots is a blessing at times too. However I have broken joints with no great effort on occasion. I would be careful of where and how it is used.


In dimensional lumber (2 to 4 inch nominal thickness) there are 2 varieties of finger jointed wood; one marked "CERT EXT JNTS" and the other marked "VERTICAL USE ONLY".

That marked "VERTICAL USE ONLY" is appropriate for carrying loads in compression as vertical framing members. These products are grade stamped VERTICAL USE ONLY and is manufactured to meet the performance capabilities of solid sawn, end-loaded bearing members where short-term bending or tension loads from lateral forces such as wind, seismic and impact may be present, but where forces from the conditions of long-term, sustained-bending or tension loading are not present. This used to be marked as "STUD USE ONLY". The adhesive used typically contains polyvinyl compounds,

That marked "CERT EXT JNTS" is intended for all structural applications. CERT EXT JNTS products may be used interchangeably with any solid-sawn lumber product of the same species and grades. The lumber may be used as beams, joists, rafters, studs, plates, or in any other exterior or interior framing application. The adhesives used generally contain phenolic resins and are heat and water resistant.
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby southpier » Sun Apr 19, 2015 11:31 am

Gpike wrote:.... take a look at spruce .... strong and stable.


if it was good enough for biplanes, it's good enough for me.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/wp/spruce.html
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby BigRedHiker » Thu Jun 04, 2015 11:28 am

You could also cut most those pieces and strips from sheets of Baltic Birch Plywood.
Otherwise.. start counting growth rings..straight tight grain is best. Airplane parts are specified that way when made of wood with min growth rings per inch.
You can mix and match species..such as the poplar for the side parts and a hardwood such as oak for the roof cross spars.
I used Oak and stacked baltic Birch cross spars in my build.
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby ctstaas » Mon Jun 15, 2015 5:58 pm

Hi Friends,
I agree with BOB again. When selecting lumber look at the end grain. Wood with the pith or center of the tree we refer to as " Spinners". Select wood as cut from as far away from the center pith as possible. Get samples of each wood considered and perform destructive testing. How apt are screws to pull out of each type? Glue joint breakage? Torsional/ twisting failure? Oh man I like breaking/ making stuff. I have access to great Douglas Fir so that is my preference for some things like spars. Oak and Hickory are also strong and very good for design applications. A redwood galley would be beauty. In Nor Cal we have lots of Black and English Walnut. Rolls Royce stuff.
The wood is the arrow and your joinery is the archer.
Enjoy, Chris
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby OP827 » Sun Jun 21, 2015 9:42 pm

mikeschn wrote:You know, I've always built with pine. It's light, and it's strong. And once it ages, it's really tough.

But lately I've been getting lots of pine that is bent, warped and twisted. .....

Just think, if you were going to build something like this, what kind of wood would you use?

Image

Mike…


Recently while visiting home depot I was surprised to see some clear, practically no knots yellow and sometime yellow-pink pine. The small label by the barcode said Gorman Brothers Lumber Ltd. It also had GORMAN printed in green on the waxed edge.It is really straight and light, good straight and tight grain. I do not know how they do it, but the pine is good, really good and I am building my trailer with it. It was in dimensional lumber section next to poplar and maple and was around 5$ for 1" x 4"x 8ft board. I live in Canada, don't know if it's available in other places. It was sitting in my garage for a while and not changing a bit, as good as straight edge actually, I am very surprised. I am in no way related to the mentioned above brand/business, just to be clear and I had to select a few boards, but the ratio of perfect boards vs. almost good boards was still quite high.
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby OP827 » Sun Jun 21, 2015 9:57 pm

Some nice pine boards I bought, straight.
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby Ned B » Wed Sep 09, 2015 11:57 am

I'm planning on ripping ash down for the stick portions of my foamie.
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby mikeschn » Wed Sep 09, 2015 3:26 pm

I wish I could find nice pine like that. I certainly won't down here in SE Michigan. But if I go north, I think Barn Door Lumber can get nice pine like that. Maybe for the next build! :D

Mike...

OP827 wrote:Some nice pine boards I bought, straight.
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby Jack Olsen » Wed Sep 09, 2015 4:47 pm

I'll go extra contrarian, and suggest aluminum square tubing.
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby mikeschn » Wed Sep 09, 2015 5:16 pm

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Jack Olsen wrote:I'll go extra contrarian, and suggest aluminum square tubing.
The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten, so build your teardrop with the best materials...
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Re: What kind of sticks would you build with?

Postby Tomterrific » Thu Sep 10, 2015 6:16 am

I first used quality pine from Lowes but the cost quickly gave me pause. I selected 8' 1x2 and 1x3 furring strips that were straight. I kept them in the hot car and turned them to dry further. They cost a little over a buck each. I loved working with these and they were mostly covered with ply or paint. Any scrap became a tomato stake.

So if you want light weight and inexpensive go with furring strips. Bring a pocket knife to cut the straps on the bundles so you can cull out the badly bent boards. I'm not a woodworker and a very rough craftsman at best so this inexpensive wood may not be for you.


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