Just an observation:
I’m putting together a small workbench for my daughter’s Montessori class. It’s very small, almost too small to be of much use, but there are space limitations. Anyway, the teacher wanted it to look like other benches at the school: rough and “rustic.” Meaning, 2x4s held together with lag bolts and topped with plywood.
So I go to the local Big Orange Box to pick up a couple of 2x4s and see that fir 2x4s are a little less expensive than pine. They’re straight, clean, and the grain is sort of nice. A bit rosey in color. So I bought the fir 2x.
I’ve never worked with it before. Almost as light as balsa, and nearly as soft. So soft that you could probably screw, bolt, glue, nail, m&t it together and rip it apart with bare hands. I had no idea it was like that.
One odd thing is that when cut it emits an ever-so-slight aroma of pumpkin.
Replies
gj13,
Fir is great for splinters.....seal it up good.
I have done a lot of work (furniture, millwork, cabinets) with Douglas fir and it is nothing like you describe. Is yours another type of "fir"?
It's stamped 'Fir'. As for what kind it might be, I don't know. There's a brand name stamped on it. Can't remember exactly. Something like Chemowitz, or Chemwitz.
gj, Its cowlitz brand studs (they are pre-bent,cupped,twisted,and crooked) good luck, find the ones with as little as knots as possible. They look almost quarter sawn. Btw They are hem-fir.
-Lou
Be aware that Hem-Fir is a unsorted mixture of Hemlock and Fir. If you're lucky, it's about 10% fir - any species.
I was transferred from Western Washington to Alabama about 9 years ago and had a project that required good, strong, clear wood. Went to a millworks shop in Mobile and bought 3 clear Dog Fir 2.4's. Talk about sticker shock!!
Sounds like either White Fir which stinks or maybe Hemlock er Hemfir .
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