Old Beams to flooring question

[shinnlinger]

Hi,

I need to put some flooring in my new house.  I need to tear down my old house which is late 18oo's timberframe.  Hacked together by a farmer so no great thing, but sentimental and it would be neat to reuse a bit of it.

Anywhoo question is If I where relatively surgical with the excavator and chainsaw and I could extract whole hunks of beams, would it be worth my while to throw them on the mill and make flooring out of it?  Blade of choice for such operation?  I know this has been done.

Thanks for the input.

[Chico]

You want to remember there's going to be a lot of metal in them Use a metal detector and check them closely  You may find it easier to use them somewhere as exposed beams I would guess thin kerf mills would be OK but also you will have to have them cut for T& G  Just food for thought
Chico

[shinnlinger]

I see that Sprucehenry mills alot of beams for flooring and was hoping to here from him and other like him as to blades. 

My thought at the moment is to 1x the beams and after letting them acclimate to the new house glue and face nail them setting the heads.  Then rent a drum sander and smooth it all out.  Dusty but new construction and it may shrink and gap some but Isnt that the charm? I can cram hemp rope in the gaps if I need to.   My new house is also a timberframe so it could work out style wise.

[StorminN]

Shinnlinger, any idea what kind of wood the beams are?

-Norm.

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

SLr Itll work Mate  ;) ;D 8) what sort of timber  ??? like Chico said getem cleaned up and milled  ;) the main thing thats overlooked with this type of timber is the moister content Ive done heaps of flooring/linning out of old beams 6x8 through to 20x12s over the years  ;) as the outside is dryer than the center due to the size of em usually 6to 12% on the out side and 15 to 22% in the center   ;)
so you will have to equalise them then let them dry which basicly means you stick and stack them up wack a black tarp over it and seal it in so you dont get any air movement for 2 to 4 weeks to let the dry ones take up some moisture out of the wet boards then take the cover of and let them dry out this will give you an even Mc across all the timber  ;) ;D 8) then you can dress them into your flooring or linning Mate  ;) ;D ;D ;D 8)

Reguards Chris

[MartyParsons]

Most band mills customers we see sawing antique beams, Hickory, White Oak, Chestnut etc. are using a 9 degree 1 1/4 blade some have used the 4 degree also. Some do not use any lube on the blade untill they saw heartpine. The soap WM has available works well for this. Water may swell real dry beams. I have not seen this personaly but I have head talk about it.
Hope this helps!
Marty

[shinnlinger]

HI,

I will sand some and maybe post a photo or two to help with ID on the beams...BUt if I were a betting man I would say pine.  Maybe I only stick it up on the second floor if it is too soft.

[shinnlinger]

Marty,

Thanks for the word on blades.  My pneumatic tired mill doesn't use lube as of present (but some one recently told me I would benifit from adding a Luber) 

I will obvously look for the obvouse, but I am sure I will find some steel in the wood.  Is it worth it to track down steel cutting blades for this project???  Or would I be better  just using blades that have been sharpened a few times already???  I mean I will sand the floors after installing (if not have them milled).

Meadows, 

I am intrigued by the tarpaper wrap to allow the center and edges to equalize.

Stromin,

Will go scrape some chicken poo off and see what I am dealing with....

[Chico]

That  sounds like it'd look  pretty sharp You may want to look at putting a wick on your mill a lot less lube used and effective I wouldn't use anything while sawing the beams unless I had too I'd just use my older saws that way if you hit something it may not be as big a loss Put us some pics up so we can see it
Chico

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

SLr I was meaning hvy Black Plastic like the water proof membrain that goes under a concrete slab that you can just buy at a hardwhare because you can just cut it over length and do a hospital end on the packs and tape it up with duct tape thats about all ive ever used that and old billboard tarps over the years Cheap and works a treat  Mate ;) ;D 8) If it is pine it shouldnt take too long to equalise and dry it down to a decent Mc  ;) ;D ;D ;)

Reguards Chris

[sgschwend]

Have been using a Lenox bi-metal saw on logs with metal.  It cuts a little slower but does not care about hitting metal.  It is sure nice to not have to change blades after a few nail hits.

I saw a great demo at the farm show; I asked the dealer if he had tried the bi-metal blade since he had found nails in the walnut he was demonstrating.  He needed to drop his feed speed in half after the first time he hit a nail.  He told me the saws were so inexpensive it wasn't worth the extra effort.  He ended up changing blades twice in the ten minutes I watched him, I sorta though he might want to rethink his position after that log.

[bandmiller2]

Shinnlinger,Cracks be DanGed,cut your old timbers to floor boards with due reguards to hardware.Get an electric hand plain and break all four top edges at  45 degrees screw and peg with darker pegs.It makes an interesting ,attractive floor and a gap here and their means squat.Frank C.

[shinnlinger]

sgs,

I will check into those bands....any good sources?

Bandmiller,

ANy pics of that?  Or maybe try to describe it differently, I cant get my head around it but it sounds intriguing.

[sgschwend]

R&B manufacturing
253.232.2693

Just tell Rob what you have and what you are doing he can setup some blades for you to try.  I have the Contestor model of blade stock.

[shinnlinger]

Sg,

Thanks....will give a call when I get going...HOw many bands do you recomend for 3000 bdft of flooring????

Bandmiller,

I think I know now what you reccomend and I think that would be great.  My question is have you done it on 3000 sq feet of flooring?  I would think that method would be pretty time consuming with the quantity I need.

That said, I could see setting up a router table with a 45 degree bit and pooping the boards out as I go.  What I can't see is an efficient way to drill and plug for the screws.  How often should I sink a screw? 2 screws every every 2 ft with plugs in 6 inch lumber will be an endevour. 

Probably worth it in the end though, just seeing if anyone knew any shortcuts.

Thanks!!!!

[spencerhenry]

i mill alot of old timbers into various other products. metal in the timbers is always an issue, but with a metal detector and some un-fun labor the metal can be removed. i have cut more species than i know, but the only one i know that doesnt like blade lube is white oak. for some reason the white oak stains almost instantly from the lube and ?.  it doesnt really matter though if you are going to make it into t&g as the moulder will "clean" it up. despite the fact that timbers may be very old, and from the inside of a building, there is no guarantee that they are dry. sticker stacking just like any new lumber would be my plan before it was made into actual flooring. if you are going to make it t&g yourself it doesnt matter, but no one around here will run reclaimed material through a multihead moulder, for fear of hitting metal or other unknowns

[woodhick]

I have resawn a lot of old oak and chestnut beams.  I used the Lennox woodmaster B (bi-metal) for a long time and they do work great.   I recently (last year) cut up a 100 year old barn and used woodmizers 4 degree band and they seemed to do just as well.   Most of the metal I have hit were large nails and they trashed a bi metal blade so I did not see the benefit of the bi metals.   with either blade you will have to slow feed rate some and wear a dust mask.

[bandmiller2]

Shinnlinger,I did our bedroom 14'X15' random width screwed pegged,oak .The bevel on the top edges of the boards goes fast with a power hand plain,mine is a Metabo with carbide knives,it has a "V" groove in the base just put that on the edge quick swipe done.Yes its alot of labor and you would be a happy camper when its done.The affect is striking ,problem is everyone that sees it will want you to do their floor.Take a few plained boards bevel the top edges lay them on the floor and see if you [and mommy] like it.Frank C.

[Chico]

you could prob build some kind of jig for the drilling using a straight edge and a stop maybe that can be a Honey job  ;D
Chico

[shinnlinger]

Chico,

If they are all the same width a jig would be a god idea

Woodhick and Spencer,

Those are great pointers. 

Everyone,

THanks!!!!

[dail_h]

   Shinn,
   I've cut a gagillion ft of reclaimed stuff. First get a good metal detector,and some 1in chisels,and some good end nipper type pliers. That'll get ya started. By the time you finish,you will have tried every tool you own ta git nails/metal out. I gave up on special hard,or nail cutting blades,they are too slow. Now just use whatever my regular blade of choice is at the moment. NOTE-------Yor're gonna hit nails,never,no way you gonna get'em all out. Having said that,you're gonna wreck some blades:it's part of the deal,just roll with it. I've cut with blades with a bunch of teeth busted off,10 -15 ,just sharpen and set,and use'em till they'er wasted.
   We put down a lot of floors random width,random length. Used a black putty to fill the nail holes,and face nailed . We used a "Tremont brand" nail that was kinda soft. After sanding,there would be a little bump where the nails were,kinda antique effect. We did a lot of floors this way

[shinnlinger]

Daihl,

Thanks!!!  I will be putting this down over subfloor, What do you think of cutting a notch and running a spline?  Worth the trouble?  Do you lay the planks over tar/pinkpaper?   GLue??? 

[bandmiller2]

Shinn,never use tarpaper under floor boards.If you or anyone else ever wants to put in radiant floor heat it will stink like a tar pot.Usally that redish rosin sized paper is used unless theirs something newer I don't know about.Frank C.

[ljmathias]

Not to highjack this thread, but any specific advise on laying wood on a slab with hydronic heating built in?  Local contractors seem to just glue it down, but that's using commercial veneer.  Talked to the big box 'expert' and he recommended underlayment that was a water barrier and float for the wood; his flooring is the newer snap in place that keeps crack spread to a minimum in a floating floor.

I'm looking at using either red or white oak that's been airdrying for a year or so (4/4 that I'll plane done on one or both sides) or blue-stain pine that's good and dry now: planed some of that stuff, and it looks fantastic, although it probably won't wear like the oak.  And if I glue it down, that could be a concern- don't want to have to refinish too often or pull it up.  Oh, well, just idle considerations for now as I gather more facts and hunt for cash to finish the house: building this one with no debt, which sure slows down the process and helps build patience.  Trying to teach my offspring how NOT to go into debt- this economic downturn has been an eyeopener for sure: we need to change our life style back to what it was in America years ago- work hard, teach your kids right, and don't go into debt for anything or any reason.  Sorry, didn't mean to stray...

Lj