Recycling wood for windows

[Zebra]

Hi.

I have read the many posts on here about wood for windows, including the unsuitability of african hardwoods, the importance of breathable paints, the superiority of oak, much about double glazing and glazing bars etc etc..

There's one question I can't find an answer to - I could ask a joiner but would just like to try to get an answer from here first.

Suppose I got a joiner to make frames out of a european redwood, to be treated with Holkams linseed oil paints or similar (I read a post from BiffVernon on another forum, and this is what he recommended if one is not going to run to oak, and I gather he is the Grand Chief Finestre....), but suppose I asked him to make the cills out of an english hardwood, how feasible is it to use recycled / reclaimed wood?

There's a great big lump of what I think might be beech in my Mum's shed, and you can buy reclaimed oak from reclaim yards. All would be very well seasoned. Would this make them unworkable? Too hard?

 

[Penners]

Technically, I can't see any major problem in using a piece of recycled beech. But if I were in Biff's shoes I'd want to be very sure about a complete absence of any residual bits of metal in it, before I used by precious cutters on it.

However, it depends what machinery Biff has. If he makes his own sills, well and good. But if he buys his sills ready-moulded from the timber supplier, he may not have anything hefty enough to mould your beech.

However, I've no doubt that the fenstermeister will be along in due course, to answer your question himself.

 

[Flyfisher]

Biff has machinery?

That background noise is my shattering illusions. :wink:

 

[middi]

I would suggest not to use beech for window making, it is not stable and rots pretty quickly in exterior situations.

Treated and painted softwood ( redwood, pine) with a hardwood cill is very acceptable and long lasting if kept well protected with paint.

Far eastern hardwood are extremely good for window making, if you are not interested in saving the planet

Window makers don't like using reclamed timbers , especially oak, due to hidden dangers of concealed broken nails, although these can be detected with magnet and removed but time consuming to remove. Seasoned european( preferably english ) oak is quicker and safer for the window maker.

Middi

 

[Feltwell]

Mind you, new timber is much less likely but isn't guaranteed to be free of metal. I spent a while some years ago with big timber importer and processor in Scotland, they had metal detectors on the in-feeds to various bits of kit as it was fairly common to find bullets in timber, from hunters in the Scandanavian forests.

 

[Zebra]

I meant if I ask my joiner to make them, not if I ask Biff to make them. Sorry Biff! Thanks all for your replies. So no beech, no reclaimed oak, OK, jolly good. I reckon what I'll do then is ask him (joiner, not Biff, sorry Biff) to get a good quality european softwood, with european oak cills. Thanks all.

 

[biffvernon]

if he buys his sills ready-moulded from the timber supplier

D'you know, that's. never crossed my mind! I get oak trees sawn through and through from a saw mill. The rest I do with my bare hands (except the last few days when I've taken to fingerless woollen gloves, what with there being no heating, or even a closed door, in my workshop).

Yes, middi's right about the beech - it's not very durable so keep it for indoor jobs. Good for furniture. It can actually be stronger than oak. I made my workbench out of 4 inch thick pieces of beech.

No harm using some previously enjoyed oak for your window sills if you make them yourself with hand tools but if go to a sawmill, new oak is really not so very expensive. (Cheaper than a broken tooth on a power saw.)

 

[JohnB]

I've got some really rough and nasty looking oak decking in my garden. I assume it's not the highest quality oak, as used by window and furniture makers, but it's so hard that it blunted the blades on a friend's planer/thicknesser. I daren't ask him to do any more! It does plane up quite nicely though, for better uses than decking.

 

[Penners]

Mind you, new timber is much less likely but isn't guaranteed to be free of metal. I spent a while some years ago with big timber importer and processor in Scotland, they had metal detectors on the in-feeds to various bits of kit as it was fairly common to find bullets in timber, from hunters in the Scandanavian forests.

I've certainly experienced that with Polish beech, in the past - a cutter hits an old WWII bullet. Fortunately I found that good quality TCT-tipped cutters can usually survive a brief encounter with a piece of soft lead.