Replies

1. 
   UncleDunc | Feb 21, 2004 02:33am | #1

   Well, if you spell it beech, :o) you can do a search in the archives here and probably find some information. Use the Advanced Search button near the top of the list of threads on the left.

1. 
   Curtis | Feb 21, 2004 04:45am | #2

   WOOOPS! Thanks UNC.

   I will try that.

   But I would still like to hear from any one who knows anything first hand.

2. 
   jvs | Feb 21, 2004 05:56am | #3

   Burns great--long, hot, very little soot, and easy to split.   :)

   I've only used it for furniture a few times; hard, and works kind of like maple but moves even more. Design around that, and it is nice stuff. Some of mine had amazing quartersawn figure, but even the plainsawn stuff was pretty, if a little on the tame side. I left the color natural under shellac on one piece and Waterlox on another. Last time I saw them, neither had darkened much in the three years since built. Grain is fine and even--should stain fairly well with gels.

   /jvs

   
   

   ---

   Edited 2/20/2004 10:40:45 PM ET by jvs

1. 
   TGF | Feb 22, 2004 05:42am | #4

   I bought beech 5/4 from the sawmill to make a work bench. It warped while drying. A lot. Once dry I like it and my son made some furnature using beach. I wouldn't hesitate a minute to buy beach at a good price.

   BJ

3. 
   robkress | Feb 22, 2004 06:25am | #5

   CAG,

   Yea, that's a really good price.  Beech is one of my favorite woods cause I like the grain so well.  It does move a lot no matter what you do.  I had a piece of 5/4 x 6 that I took from outside the shop (cold storage) and cut it up immediately.  Of course the pieces I cut off warped just about right away.  Not all of them but some bad enough to have to remake.  Of course this was my fault for not conditioning my wood before use.  I was just being lazy.

   I am planning to finish my entire house in beech.  I've got a cabinet shop making beech cabinets and the floors will also be beech.  The rest of the wood trim will be done by me and my best price on beech from a far away mill (2 hours) is $1.13 per bd ft but that's only when I get more than 4000 bd ft (which in fact I will be getting).

   I'd say go for it but then again I like beech.  It is very hard but also very smooth like maple.  The grain is very understated but has a very nice little black fleck in it a little like the red oak fleck.  Don't expect to get an even color pallet though.  Generally, beech stock will come with a mix of heart and sap wood in a lot so the color is a little variant but still nice.  Color runs from milky white to light suade brown.

   Good luck

   Rob Kress

4. 
   jonsherryl | Feb 22, 2004 08:49pm | #6

   Curtis, I can't add much to what has already been posted. The two major negatives of beech are it's extremely poor in-use stability and its lack of decay resistance. While it is related to the oaks, it has very low tannin content and bluestains very easily.

   On the plus side, though, it is a moderately dense wood. It has the same average specific gravity as hard maple and northern red oak, so it's strong enough for most furniture applications and it has very good wear resistance. Also, because it is diffuse-porous and rather uniform in texture, it shapes and turns very well. One of its most important traditional uses has been in making chairs.

   As for the price, if it's top quality kiln dried stock you're getting for a buck a board foot, it's a real steal.  

1. 
   joinerswork | Feb 23, 2004 03:15am | #11

   Jon,

   In light of beech's instability, can you (or someone else) explain why it was used universally for plane stocks?  It would seem counterproductive to have plane soles moving around all the time...

   Thanks,

   Ray

1. 
   jonsherryl | Feb 23, 2004 05:14am | #12

   Ray, I wrote an article on Beech for FWW four or five years ago and presented the same question. It's always puzzled me, too. Beech has great wear resistance and it's relatively dense and uniformly textured...which are all positive features for this application, but there are so many other woods which can deliver these same benefits that also happen to be much more stable.

   The only rationale I can think of is that beech was plentiful and inexpensive in Europe and the derivation of the hand plane is that it was originally simply a brace for holding a chisel...in other words, sort of a disposable jig consisting of a hollowed block of wood and wedge to trap the chisel at the desired angle. It's only in modern times that the tool hounds have come to worship them. :O)

   ---

   And of course, there is one other benefit offered by beech that I mentioned earlier: Unlike its close cousins, the oaks, beech wood is virtually void of tannin and therefore not corrosive in contact with iron...but then, so is maple...so, this alone doesn't totally explain how beech captured this particular tranditional role ahead of woods that are better suited for the purpose...like box, maple, olive and many of the denser fruitwoods.

   Edited 2/22/2004 9:28:30 PM ET by Jon Arno

1. 
   joinerswork | Feb 23, 2004 05:04pm | #13

   Jon,

   All my old planes are from perfectly "flatsawn" stock, that is, they present face grain on the sole, and qtrsawn grain on the sides.  I presume that this was done deliberately, and it seems counterintuitive to me.  Why wouldn't a planemaker want the edge grain on the sole?  It would seem to be more wear resistant, less seasonal movement to shrink and trap a tightly fitting iron.  Perhaps the thinking was to put the most movement sideways to the sole will keep it flatter?

   "Tool hound", hadn't heard that one before.  Ow, ow, OOWWW!

   Cheers,

   Ray

1. 
   jonsherryl | Feb 23, 2004 07:30pm | #14

   Ray, I suppose the logic is that the radial surface would tend to corrugate with wear and would have to be dressed more often. Also, the amount of blade exposed is a key "set" in adjusting this tool...changes in humidity would alter this set about twice as much, if the radial surface was on the bottom, as opposed to the side...because woods tend to shrink about twice as much tangentially as they do radially.

5. 
   PlaneWood | Feb 22, 2004 09:27pm | #7

   Stanley used Beech for the handles and bases on their wooden base transitional planes.  It's fairly tough and wear resistant.  You see very few of those plane handles that have broken.

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
   PlaneWood

1. 
   Curtis | Feb 22, 2004 09:49pm | #8

   Thank you everyone.

   one more question, on staining?is the wood best suted for light or dark stains?

   Perhaps I should state it this way? How will it match up with mapple or other light colored woods?

   The wood I saw is light tan to yellow.

   One hunny-do project, I was asked to make is a headboard for a king sized bed. the rooms wood work is mapple and ash.

   the rest of the wood would be used for turning on two other side jobs. But the beds head board is the one REALY MATTERS. (I dont want to loose a good nights sleep on this one! ;-) . )

   I have until monday to decide on if I am going to buy it or not.C.A.G.

1. 
   PlaneWood | Feb 22, 2004 10:43pm | #9

   Never stained any.  Don't know.

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood

2. 
   BG | Feb 23, 2004 01:38am | #10

   Curtis,

    I think I once read that students desks used to be made from Beech...which means it would make a great headboard...it holds bubble gum well.

   Anyhow, I've never stained Beech but have stained Birch dark.  I put a couple of sealer coats of blond shellac and then put the trans tint stain into the blond shellac for the subsequent coats until I achieved the color I wanted.  It was a bit scary at first...but doing it that way I could always rub out a coat and re-apply...just a thought..