Large Scale Central

Christmas Wood. . .

Other Hobbies
#21

David Maynard said:

Daktah John said:

David Maynard said:

Devon, I like working in wood too, but not to the level of those of you. I did make a bench, and have made cabinets and other things, but I don’t have a good woodworking shop. Most of my woodworking is in scale, and I enjoy working with wood so much more then working with (gulp) plastic. Wood is organic, natural, while plastic is artificial and just doesn’t have the feel of wood.

Wood dust smells great and unless you breathe in a bunch, it won’t really bother you. Plastic dust on the other hand has no smell and the dust can be deadly. I work with both on my job - I much prefer wood, but because our products live outdoors, plastics are becoming much more common.

Yes. I was surprised at how fast treated ceder just went away. I thought that those (scale) boards would have lasted longer then they did. And the some other (scale) ceder boards out there in my yard have lasted a long time with no deterioration at all. So yea, plastic is the material of choice on the ground, or close to the ground and for sub-roofs. But wood is still my choice for most of the rest of the building. My sawmill was built in 04, and rebuilt this year, and I didn’t have ceder in my stash in 04, I used pine.

Merry Christmas David. When I said “because our products live outdoors,” I was referring to the products I make at work, but yes it does relate to the products we use in our hobby too.

#22

I like wood too. I had a two story tall liquidambar tree too close to my house so I had it cut down and milled to 5/4. It’s been a LOT of years that it has been drying in my garage. Some curled, some split, but a lot of it is good for something. I just don’t know what. This wood is a semi-hardwood called “sweet gum” in the eastern US.

#23

Dick,

Much of the pile of walnut is limb wood that is for sure bending, bowing, cracking and or otherwise warping. But there is always a use. I make big stuff right down to Christmas ornaments. Always a use. You should see my scarp pile. . .most people would call it kindling for starting a fire. Getting into turning and inlay work I realize the uses for very small pieces of wood. I have seen guys throw in their burn pile scraps of wood that would make great knife scales or pen blanks. They just don’t think smaller than a 4/4 X 4’ X 8’ piece of wood. I made some cabriole legs for a jewelry box out of soft maple a guy was burning for firewood, beautiful tiger stripe. The leg blanks were about 4-5" long and about 1/2-3/4" square. He thought I was nuts for grabbing a few pieces of his fire wood until he saw the finished product. Moral of the story, every piece of wood has potential for something.

#24

Devon, and that is especially true when we get to making stuff in scale.

#25

Yes it is. That pilot I built was all built from a scrap of oak about 5" square. I cut the pilot beam out then re sawed the piece to cut out a 2 .5 mm slab for the base and then sawed the spokes and the pilot buffer. And about half of it is left. So a piece someone would have tossed made a nifty pilot with a lot left over.

So I agree David, Garden railroading and wood scraps are a happy marriage.

#26

I was taking pine shelf boards and small broken wood furniture out of peoples’ trash, to cut up on my Proxxon saw. One discarded shelf board yields a lot of scale lumber. Since the board didn’t cost me anything, I didn’t care that half of it ended up as sawdust in the dust collector. A few years back, a friend of mine gave me cut offs from ceder fencing. The scraps are short, but even they can yield plenty of scale lumber for projects. My barn is now over stocked with this free lumber. Most of it is too short for most people to even bother with, but with a good blade and my push sticks, I can make as much scale lumber as I need. And it was all free to me, I like free.

#27

I can’t disagree with Devon’s statement that every piece has a use, but I do burn a lot of the small cut-offs from work. I get heat and enjoyment from the fire, so it’s better than sending it to the landfill.

We work with lots of Cedar and Redwood in 4x4 and 5x5 sizes. I have plenty of opportunities to bring home small cuts of 2 feet or less that we can’t use at work. But as David says, they are a great source for scale lumber like these painted Cedar 5x5 chunks that were milled up into bridge ties and guard timbers last summer…

I made a bunch of sawdust in the process, but that’s no problem with free wood. Next time I’ll put a tarp under the saw and collect the sawdust for future use in detailing the indoor layout.

#28

Free wood and some time, yielded that supply of scale lumber. John, could you just imagine how much it would cost to (gulp) buy that much scale lumber? Especially ceder.

#29

John one viable use is burning it that’s for sure. Nothing wrong with it at all. And where you have a life time supply of a certain type well no harm no foul. Just like the guy with the maple. He was impressed with what I made and kept right on burning it. Its how he heated his house how could I fault him.

#30

Heat is a good thing.

#31

The Contractors were making plans to sell it when I told my sister I wanted the pecky cedar plank roof she had taken off the old house. It took a friend’s 20’ trailer piled high, but I got it! The planks are 2 1/2" thick and match tree tapers 11-14" wide 11 to 15’ long. The pecks take a third, but there is a whole bunch of good wood left to slice and dice!

The next year I gave back a third, building a tree house for all her grand kids. Oh the stories I told about ‘saving’ an old tree and since I added the stairs last I kept the secret as long as I could. It was a great use for that wood, it will remain a kid magnet until their kids out grow it.

At the used toy (tools) store I bought a contractors grade 14" band saw for $275 and an 8" table saw for $150 and a few years later got a cheapo 10" table saw. I also use a reciprocating saw or my chain saw to whack off manageable chunks to cut up. I’ve made up the tool cost by the savings on scale wood… and that little divot in my thumb has healed nicely thank you.

John

#32

David Maynard said:

Free wood and some time, yielded that supply of scale lumber. John, could you just imagine how much it would cost to (gulp) buy that much scale lumber? Especially ceder.

Yes, I can. If I could do it more efficiently I’d consider selling it, but my tools are adequate for hobby use at best. I don’t mind spending 3 hours on a Saturday morning at the saw for myself, but not as a livelihood.

#33

John, I agree with you there. I make scale lumber for my needs, and have occasionally made some for friends, but my tools are not up to full scale production runs, and neither am I.

#34

David I want 10,000 scale board feet of 2X10 cedar please. . .lol.

#35

Devon, what scale? (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

I use a set of drill bits as spacers, to set the fence on my table saw. So I make my scale lumber in 1/32nd increments. In other words, I make 1:32 scale lumber, to build 1:24th scale buildings and rolling stock.

#36

Hey now that’s a dang good tip. Never thought about doing it that way. I had thought of making 1:20 gauges out of good straight grain Oak but I like the drill bit idea. 1/16ths is close enough to 1:20.

#37

Devon,

When you bring me that switch stand, you can choose a cedar plank from my pile. 2 1/2" thick, 11-14" wide, 14’ long, lightly peckied. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Be your own mill! (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

John

#38

Devon, it is a good idea. I forget who I stole that idea from. I have a set of drill bits beside the table saw that I do not use to drill with. They are only for setting the space between the fence and the saw blade.

#39

John I live in north idaho. Cedar is not a problem. It more or less a weed. Now some mesquite would be a different story

#40

Though I would have to say a 2 1/2 inch thick cedar board glued I to about a 30 inch wide slab would make for a cool hand scraped table top.