The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Bed Wood SCORE

A friend stopped by to shoot some sh@t and show a friend of his my project yesterday and as talk turned the question of what I planned to do with the bed came up. My buddy mentioned he had just come across some clear old growth Doug Fir I might be interested in so we piled in the rig and headed out to take a peek.
Raw Bed Wood 1

Bed Wood Supplier

Now for a little better context this photo shows my friend standing by the top half of this log in the background. He's 6'2" or there about and the piece he is standing by is the bottom half of the log after the tide came in and rolled it onto the split.
Standing by 1/2 a log

Turns out this thing fresh out of the river is already 12% moisture content. I think by the time I get around to turning it into my bed planks I should have some decent straight grain boards.

I know its not the yellow pine that came in these trucks but it is made in America and it should meet both durability and beauty requirements.
What do you guys think?
Use it or cut it up for firewood?

both what's left from making the bedwood goes in the fire .... I used salvaged old growth fir flooring for mine and it's been a workhorse for a long time .... just make sure it's well cured after rough cut and before surface planing

Bill

How long would you think it needs after rough cutting it Bill? If its already at 12% I'm not sure how much more I'll get it down short of running it through a Kiln. I am planning on letting it sit a month or better at this point cause I'm gearing up to strip the bed. I figured I'd get it into 1 - 1 1/2 in slabs and store them up against the ceiling in the garage before planing them down come spring.
I bet the scraps would make really good chop sticks.

won't take long with dead fall material - around here the best way to dry mill fresh lumber is out in the open late winter and spring when the winds are blowing, stickered or standing on end

Bill

What was your method of measuring the mc of the wood? Most stuff I've read on drying wood recommends a year per inch of thickness. That's why they invented kilns, it's way faster.

It was the guy who salvaged the log who measured the mc.
The log was a boom or float from a log raft that was deserted years ago. Its not a recently felled tree, its been down for over 30 years. When things around here dry out I'll try and snap a pic showing the grain but dry isn't expected till next week around here.

12% MC on fir is pretty dry - thats about what you would get in a Kiln. If you can get some nice clear, vertical grain planks out of it you have scored big time !

That's all there is. Nice, tight and completely clear. You could easily split shakes with it.
So yeah, for $60 I felt like its a deal and worth taking my time with. I mean even if he's off on his numbers by the time I'm ready to plane it down it will be in that ball park.
I understand the guy has a local furniture maker looking to score as well.
Thanks!

I build flintlock rifles and deal with a lot of differant lumber. Try to use the hart wood, Its the wood in the middle almost to the center. It will have a tight grain. Its what the furniture people will look for. I would treat it like flooring, cut it up and let it aclimate to the area. If your truck stays out side, in an unheated garage would be good. 12% should be good. A good lumber yard will know how to rip it for you. You get it too dry, it will twist and buckle when it gets damp. Its a nice log, good score. Also good lumber for 2x4's and such. Got a shed to build? If I was closer I'd buy some from you. Steve

Good Stuff! The way you are slicing off the planks, they will all be quarter sawn, the best way for dimentional stability.

Hi:
You can cut off a piece weigh it and then dry it for awhile in an oven at a low temp and weigh it again to really see how much moisture is in it. When it stops loosing weight its dry. I do furniture building and my suggestion is that you once you plane it it get it locked into the steel bed frame. This will help with twisting and warping. You could even leave it thick and just clamp it in place for awhile.
Check out this site. It has lots of info on bed construction:
http://mar-k.com/installation_hints.html

Some of the old wooden silos were doug fir. I have torn down about seven of them, some were pine and a few were fir. Used it for flooring and building the interior of our cottage at the lake. Great stuff and was either free or very inexpensive. Ken