iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Milling Heart Pine Siding into Flooring

Started by MikeB, February 04, 2006, 03:49:24 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

MikeB

A friend of mine has located two barns here in Alabama. The owner has offered them to us. We are thinking about salvaging the lumber and having milled into flooring for a cabin he is building. I am a woodworker and have built furniture from salvaged barn lumber before - white oak. From my experience, the wood has all kinds or warpage. I used a joiner to flatten one side and them ran through a planer.

Question is - can you just plane and get it to "lay down" using tongue and groove and or face nailing. This material is 10-12" wide. Because of the quantity, we'd probably get someone to mill for us.

Thanks
Mike

Don K

Welcome to the Forum first of all. You should get a lot of information here.

What is the thickness of the lumber. If it is very old growth wood that had a high resin content and as we say in Alabama has turned into litard, it will not typically warp but will split very easily with the grain and is very hard on tools.  If you can throw out a little more information on the material, you will probably hit a goldmine of info :) 
Lucky to own a WM LT40HDD35, blessed to have a wife that encouraged me to buy it.     Now that\'s true love!
Massey Ferguson 1547 FWD with FEL  06 GMC Sierra 2500HD 4X4 Dozer Retriever Husky 359 20\" Bar  Man, life is getting good!

DanG

Just go for it, Mike.  That ol' heart pine is gonna stay right where you put it.  Just don't sell it too cheap.  Heart pine flooring from old barns is bringing about eight bucks a board foot around here. ;D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

MikeB

Thanks for the replies. It's varying thicknesses 3/4 to 1 1/4. I assume anything below 1 inch or so doesn't have enough material to cleanup and get 3/4 finished product. Have considered planing the thinner material into 1/2 or 5/8 and using as wall or ceiling covering?

Thanks Mike

Tom

Mike, even 1/2 or 3/8 inch material is often used for flooring now.  You need a good sub-floor but the thin flooring will still give a good wear surface, especially with today's hard finishes.

If you don't have much experience with this old pine, you will save a lot of grief by letting someone with experience do the milling.  Not that you can't learn, but the learning curve is rather long.  Old pine lumber lis generally difficult to handle due to the resins and the gumming of the tools.   A lot of it has impbedded dirt that makes it difficult on tool blades as well.   If you do hire it done, try to visit the operation and learn how they process the lumber.  It will come in handy to you one day.

Thank You Sponsors!