Softwood choices - what would you do

[tim]

I need to make 6 internal doors for the house - the rest have been replaced over time.

They will be painted, ledged and braced T&G either V or buttbead softwood.
I am being quoted c £.40 less per m for Best/ unsorted sawn redwood at 25x150mm than for Best / unsorted TG&V 19x150.

SInce there is knack all in it would you risk buying the processed stuff and save the work time or do the machining yourself? There's quite a saving for sorted/ Vths - would I notice much of a difference?

I intend to brace using 32x150s - is that big enough? I am undecided whether just to board them in which case I'd use 4 or ledge and brace in which case I'd use 3 plus braces.

I dont tend to buy much softwood unless its for framing/ plinth bases etc so any advice gratefully received.

Cheers

Tim

[mrgrimsdale]

It all depends, you get what you pay for etc but basically if you buy the best (unsorted) and machine it yourself, you end up with a better product. For a start you won't have to reduce stuff to 19mm - if you select lengths carefully and save straightest for longest, and you will have less waste - smaller knots or even no knots at all in 6" boards.
I'd use the same 1" stuff for the ledges and braces - 32mm too much. Clenched nails only - no screws or glue. Takes about 10 minutes to make the door once you have everything cut and laid out.

cheers
Jacob
PS I'd design it if poss to fit the size of the existing rebates or you might have to pack hinges out or cut them in. Also if the linings/frames have architraves you could take them off to fit the T hinge plates, then put them back to cover them.

[jfc]

I would use the best stuff . I am making a few doors and windows right now and to get the price down i had to go with stock PAR softwood . I spent the best part of a day picking through a stack of 100mm x 50 mm PAR to get the best and straightist bits . Now i have come to actually mark out the doors four out of the sixteen bits i picked for stiles are still straight Luckly only eight need to open so i can bend them back and fix them but it is a worry what the openers are going to do once they go to site .

[argus]

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It's more a comment on the quality of timber available in small quantities, these days.

Why is timber quality such a gamble in this country?

Rant, bloody Rant.....

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[mrgrimsdale]

argus said:

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It's more a comment on the quality of timber available in small quantities, these days.

Why is timber quality such a gamble in this country?

Rant, bloody Rant.....

.

It's a gamble if you buy it from a source which allows you to select. If you aren't the first to get to the pile it means the best stuff has already been taken, and the over all quality of the pile has gone down. I used to do it and you got used to seeing the same propellor shaped pieces in the racks month after month - until they'd finally disappear and some poor DIYer somewhere would be complaining about timber buying being such a gamble etc.

It's less of a gamble if you buy by grade, from a yard which doesn't allow you to select and instead takes stuff from the top of the pile. You can be sure that you are getting the same deal as everybody else, and that the better stuff hasn't been sidelined. You still have the option of complaining if the stuff is seriously worse than you should expect from the grade.
If you buy by grade you can phone in the order in minutes instead of spending hours at the yard.
The only time I'd ever go to a yard to buy would be for stuff I want now this minute in order to finish a job.
Though I'd also go for a general look around, chat to the staff, see what's what etc etc

cheers
Jacob

[engineerone]

i think the problem with quality is down to the price the sheds and others force the importers and wood yards to work with.

there is no desire to slow down the process any more, rather just turn softwood round in the quickest and most profitable way possible.

in addition, the storage isn't a lot of good these days either.

paul

[tim]

Thanks for the replies.

I realise that I'd get a better result from machining my own stock but I'm keen to save a bit of time if the quality is okay - plus my PT bed isn't huge so flattening a lot of long stock is a PIA!

I'd use the same 1" stuff for the ledges and braces - 32mm too much. Clenched nails only - no screws or glue. Takes about 10 minutes to make the door once you have everything cut and laid out.

Jacob - I always thought that the braces should be of thicker stuff than the T&G to help keep it flat over time. Is this overkill then?

Cheers

Tim

[dexteria]

I've started using Scandinavian sideboards. I find that they are vistually knot free, straight and less cupping. I get them from the top of the pile and don't need to pick and choose.

Most of the timber suppiers around my area store their PAR redwood on the small edge almost verticall ending up with lots of bendy boards.


Mark