Replies

1. 
   frenchy | Apr 05, 2005 10:24pm | #1

   jdclarey,

     old oak is just dry.. chances are it will be fine to work with..  one thing for certain is it will be stable (as stable as any wood ever gets)  

2. 
   PlaneWood | Apr 05, 2005 11:30pm | #2

   Recently I pulled about 100 bf of white oak off of an old barn on my place.  The barn was built in 1905.  It was rough originally and 1" thick.  After planing, it looked almost like new lumber and most of it planed out to 5/8", some was 1/2".   That 100 bf dulled my planer blades to the point of having to be resharpened.

   Nails were easy to find cause of the dark staining around the nail.  2 or 3 times I just barely got the planer shut down before missed nails went in.  Having taken the boards off the barn myself, I knew where most of the nails were.

   Beautiful stuff.

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
   PlaneWood

1. 
   MarkRD | Apr 06, 2005 12:06am | #3

   Did you pull the wood off of a tobacco barn? Hard as nails ...Tobacco was hung in the barns to dry, and it was heated with open flame burners to speed the process. Naturally the barns were used for years (unless they burned down by accident - which did happen pretty often).The wood gets an amazing texture but it is really hard. Not many of these barns still standing where I grew up (Central Connecticut) so I'm guessing that TB wood is rare. (for that matter, most of the tobacco fields are gone - now the land grows strip malls.Mark

   Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.

1. 
   Mackwood | Apr 06, 2005 07:08am | #4

   "now the land grows strip malls"

   It's like that around my area too!  Someone needs to develop a spray, like "Round-Up" to get rid of them!!

   Regards,

   Mack"WISH IN ONE HAND, #### IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"

2. 
   PlaneWood | Apr 09, 2005 10:02pm | #5

   Nope - just a plain ol' barn in Okla.

   Actually it was first built by an Osage Indian that later converted it into a 4 car garage with 4 sliding doors.  Here-say says that he had 4 cadillacs parked in it at one time.  Back in the 20's, Osage Indians became rich from oil royalties.

   It sets on land originally deeded to Cherokee Indians but was lost pretty quickly to a Mercantile Company for payment on past-due grocery bills.  The Osage guy bought it from the Mercantile Co.  I bought the place from a couple that had bought it from the Osage guy 40 years previously.  I've had it for 18 years.

   I want to tear the barn down completely and put up a tin barn but haven't got that little piece of round wood yet.  You know, the one called a 'round-tuit'?

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood