Hi.
I want to make larch (I’m not shure this is the real name of the tree. Maybe some people call it tamarak. It is ”mélèze” in french anyway) flooring, 4/4 or 5/5 thick. I can buy rough green stock for a fair price (about 10% of the price of finished flooring).
Many people told me many different things about air drying this wood. I know a guy who has been air drying 8/4 stock with no problems, but I’ve been told by someone else that this wood is much more prone to twisting and cracking than any other, and it needs to be dried following a specific drying-moisturizing schedule…?
My question: is it possible to do it, and is there any special precautions I should take?
Thank you,
Fred
Replies
I can't help you on the drying issue. We used it for framing a few times many years ago. My boss at the time was always looking to save a penny. In my area we called it Hackmatack, also know as Tamarack or eastern larch. Western larch may have different properties. This is one of the only conifers I know that looses all it's needles in winter. They stand out due to the yellow gold color in the fall. The lumber was somewhat similar to hemlock but darker. We used it green. Talk about a species that would twist, check and warp. Even green, it was a workout to nail and heavy, lots of splintery edges. When you drove the nail home, it would spit water. When it dried out, it could twist enough to pull the nails out of the sheetrock.
If I were to try to dry this species, I think I would put it in a bound stack with stickers every six inches perfectly aligned. Of course you would want to seal the ends thoroughly. I would expect a fair amount of waste due to the checking.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Fred,
You may want to search the archives under "larch". I'm not sure if air dying was mentioned but there was a discussion about a year ago regarding the various properties of larch. Jon Arno contributed to the discussion which makes any thread worth reading. I was interested in larch as a possible replacement for pressure treated material since it has fairly good decay resistance. However, most folks who have actually used larch echo Hammer's perspective that larch can be a nasty and contrary species.
Chip
I live in eastern Ontario, and we have tamarack (Eastern larch) readily available. It isn't really a commercial product, but there seem to be dozens of small mills in this area that usually have odd non-commercial woods hanging around such as larch, hickory, and locust. Around here, it seems that the most popular use for larch is in boatbuilding. It bends easily, making it very useful for canoe ribs when building canvas canoes. It also dries to a very hard wood (always pre-drill) and is decay resistent, making it useful for stems. I understand that the original citizens of this area used to dig up the roots of the larch and use it when building the frames of their birchbark canoes. I have a couple of boards of this in my collection, which I plan to use for oar locks when I rebuild my 16' skiff this summer.
Regards,
Ron
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