WoodNoob Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 Hi all, I've just inherited what are essentially offcuts of oregon beams - about 12-16 pieces of average 700mm x 200mm x 65mm (2-3 feet long and 8" wide, 2.5" thick). It's been sitting on the floor of an old shed for thirty years but is surprisingly flat and unmarked. I'm not really that familiar with the wood (in Australia), but I understand it's fairly resinous so gluing with PVA might be an issue? But also, I'm just looking for ideas of what it would be good for? I'm still a newbie, and it's free, so I'm happy to use it for practice, but I thought it looks nice, so maybe there's a good use for it? Boxes was the first thought. PS I don't have a bandsaw, so resawing is going to be a pain. But they are short, so I could potentially do it by hand (sigh). I do have secondary access to a thicknesser. I've got a table saw with a small blade. Power planer, router. Pretty much everything else is hand tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 without a bandsaw it will be a pain look in yellow pages i bet you can find cabinet shotp who let you cut down your beams for a small price. might want to find out what kind of wood they are i got some realy great quarter sawn barn suports that were made from cedar got a shelf full of 8 by 2ft quarter sawn cedar that i think ill make into small boxes like humidors. at worse you can use table saw to cut some slots and then use hand saw to cut the rest of the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBear Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 +1 to getting someone to resaw them for you. Sounds like the wood is well worth the investment.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodNoob Posted February 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 I've certainly done that before I.E. cut as deep as I can with the table saw all the way around the piece and then use the hand saw to cut the rest through. It shouldn't be too hard with the short lengths. I'm not that familiar with the wood, it's fairly soft is it? Is it good for boxes? What about shelves? Maybe a bit resinous for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Allen Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 I've never heard of wood actually named "Oregon"; however-being an Oregon resident, it sounds like you may be describing Douglas Fir, which is the predominant wood species grown around here. If it is, then, yes it is fairly soft, and can be quite pitchy....but it is quite strong and can be very beautiful. I actually just used some salvaged Doug Fir 1x material to make a nice built-in. So FWIW, I say-use it for whatever you want! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodNoob Posted February 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Thanks Gordon, yes it is Douglas Fir, that's probably one of the regional name changing things that makes everything so confusing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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