I’ve been having a dickens of a time getting American Beech lumber that does not have hairline checks. All the 4/4 and 8/4 that I’ve been getting locally has been full of surface checks.
The aggravating thing is that you cannot see the checks till the pieces are finished out. I’ve been running like a 60% reject rate.
Is this indicitave of bad kiln runs or what?? Is this typical with Beech?
Any online store that will sell small quantities? (10 BF will last me a year) I’m giving up on the local suppliers here in Houston.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
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I have just recently completed a kitchen in beech, and not once did I encounter any cracks or checks. All of the lumber I bought was clean and clear. I had to search around to find it but I found some great stuff at Fat Andy's in Cumberland, ME (207-829-3386), and also at Atlantic Hardwood in Portland, ME (207-773-9663). Maybe one of these guys would be willing to do a mail order, but I'm not sure. Hope this helps.
Edited 8/12/2005 7:29 pm ET by woodchip
Woodchip, you must be near me, I'm in Portland. Love Atlantic Hardwood, Atlantic Plywood, and Fat Andy's! Hate 90 degree humid days though.
Woodguy99,
I'm in Alna, just inland of "The Prettiest Town in Maine" (Wiscasset that is). I just finished a cherry stepback hutch on saturday and I'm still trying to get the sawdust off of me. My shop was about 100 degrees with 100% humidity last week!!! Needless to say the gaps around my doors and drawers are about a 32nd of an inch.
I picked up 100bd/ft of cherry a couple of weeks ago from Americas' Wood Co., in Washington. They had great stuff at great prices, but usually only cater to large orders.
Keep the woodchips flying!!
I know Alna-- I grew up in Windsor. Just follow the West Branch of the Sheepscot north from Head Tide, and eventually you'll pass my dad's house. I love the Alna meeting house. Used to drive past it all the time on the way to visit my cousins in Bath.
Bet that hutch looks nice. Are you going to post some pics in the gallery?
Mike
We are after the meeting house, just before the Alna Store. It's beautiful country out here.
I posted some pics in the gallery; "This is My First Time". Please tell me what you think.
Edited 8/15/2005 7:50 pm ET by woodchip
Planewood,
check out this company link
http://www.pollmeier.com/web/eng/index.php
I met them last year at an event, had pallets of real nice looking german beech lumber. Nice folks.
They were recently awarded for their work of sustainability of their forests in Germany.
I have also ordered small beech lots from http://www.niagaralumber.com
Hope that helps.
Mike,
I dry a lot of beech. If you push it, you will get surface checking at the rays of flat sawn stock. We slow the initial air drying process slightly to avoid problems. Wind or direct sunlight will add to drying problems in beech.
A guess would be that they dried the beech too quickly, then brought the moisture back up so the checks disappeared. I can vouch for Woodchip's suggestion of using Fat Andy's in Maine, http://fatandys.com/. You can also try http://boulterplywood.com/ in Massachusetts. Both stock exceptional quality lumber.
PlaneWood:
Interestingly enough, I just milled some beech last night for a sharpening station that I am in the middle of building. I have had this stash of beech for about 3 years setting in my basement. After I milled it, there was the typical checking at the ends. But everything else was just fine. IT looked great.
I would agree with the others that it was kiln dried properly.
Good lcuk.
Cheatah
Thank you,
The Great Marko
You could try the following vendor from Troy, NH (near Keene). They supplied our first floor beech taht was installed last year. We didn't note any hairline cracks or cupping (many people warned against using beech for flooring "you won't like it" but we do).
http://www.tommilabrothers.com/
Maybe your previous supplier didn't dry correctly?!
Thanks Dave.
The lumber yards around here don't dry anything, they just order 1000's of bf from probably dozens of different jobbers. They have no idea who, when, or where the lumber is dried. The owner of one large yard here told me that he just places an order with a jobber and it come in by rail.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
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