Go, John. My, that was satisfying to read!

====================
Mary Tegel
hands on impresario
architectural intern
Tegel Design + Planning
====================

On Oct 28, 2011, at 7:06 AM, John Leeke  
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Ilene wonders, "If someone could now tell me why I used  
> conventional, off-the-shelf white pine six years ago to my replace  
> rotted column bases that were originally old-growth Michigan white  
> pine, I'd like to know. Bad decision...I knew better, but I went  
> with what seemed logical and convenient at the time.<<
>
> I have been trying to figure this out too, and simply specifying or  
> selecting mahogany is not the answer. In this past year I have seen  
> two cases where mahogany column plinths have rotted out, one they  
> were installed in the 1970s, and the other in the late 1990s. So,  
> like with most other exterior wood, long service life depends on the  
> knowledge of the woodworker to select the good piece of wood, and  
> not on the simple specification of a species.
>
> Unfortunately, as we now know, you used an "off-the-shelf" product  
> that was not actually a piece of wood. It was labeled wood, it  
> looked like wood, a judge and jury would think it was wood, but it  
> was not actually wood. It WAS a wood-like product, designed for just  
> one purpose: to sell and get your money. The corporation that made  
> and sold that product does not give one whit about your columns or  
> your fine old house. During the last ten or twenty years the  
> corporations have changed the definition of the word wood, so that  
> the definition does not included anything about the durability or  
> suitability of their wood-like products for any specific purpose, or  
> in fact, any purpose at all. How do they get us to buy their wood- 
> like product? You state the answer to this in your story: it is by  
> making it "convenient."
>
> This past few months I have been trying to figure out the  
> "convenience" thing. Convenience seems to be a big part of the wool  
> that the corporations pull over our eyes to hoodwink us into buying  
> their disposable products, whether it is a kleenex, a replacement  
> window or a wood-like product.
>
> So, how do you get a piece of real wood? For starters don't try to  
> buy it "off-the-shelf" and don't expect to do it conveniently. You  
> will have to go out of the way, and around the barn three times to  
> get it. I get my real wood by visiting the people I know at the  
> sawmill, and at the specialty hardwood dealer. Occasionally I can  
> find a piece of real wood at my local lumber yard, but I may have to  
> go there three times and go through two stacks of lumber to get it-- 
> not convenient, but highly effective. How do I know real wood when I  
> see it? It has 15 to 20 or more growth rings per inch, it has more  
> heartwood than sapwood, it has vertical-grain, or at least rift- 
> grain along the edges of the plank, it has more heft (weighs more)  
> that the other boards in the pile. Even then, the board or plank is  
> not perfect. As I layout my parts and cut them out of the board I  
> eliminate imperfections that would reduce the performance of my  
> parts, such as knots, flat-grain, pitch pockets, splits and sapwood.  
> In this way I improve the quality the wood every time I handle and  
> cut it.
>
> Here is a link to my article, Mr. Baseman, on fabricating column  
> bases in the 9/1996 issue of Old-House Journal:
> http://tinyurl.com/3qwxk68
>
> Check out pages 2-8 of my publication Exterior Woodwork Details for  
> more on wood selection. Also, my Wooden Columns and Wood-Epoxy  
> Repairs publications could be useful.
> http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw/reports/reports.htm
>
> John
> by hammer and hand
>
> --
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> Service**
>
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--
**Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service**

To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
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