Seeking inspiration/ideas on what to do with old floor joists and bearers

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

I have a whole lot of old floor bearers and joists that have been removed from the house. These timbers are in great condition for their 80+ years, no rot or termite damage. The bearers may well be spotted gum they are so bloody heavy and hard (possibly ironbark?). The joists are only a little less dense/heavy, but still no blooming light weights.

I am looking at making a dining or coffee table out of the joists (4" X 2") and could make some benches with them too, but it will still leave a whole lot of timber left over. The bearers being 4" X 4" in size present other creative problems.

Other than burning and using them to smoke food, any ideas how I could use these gorgeous timbers? Butcher's block?

Wood turning is not possible for me.

All the timbers are over 2m long, some around 4m long.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Alex.

[Steffen]

Sound like great stock to make a sturdy woodworking bench from. But seeing some of your builds, you’ve probably got that already :)

You could always sell them, I guess.

[sharkbite]

raised platform or observatory in your backyard....

failing that...

raised platform or observatory in my backyard....

:-)

[Shiraz]

Newtonian telescope tube on an equatorial platform? https://www.instructables.com/Wooden-Telescope-Part-2-Tube-and-Mount/

Wood has astonishing low thermal expansion, good insulation and can look great.

cheers

[Sunfish]

4x4 are ideal size hardwood for external post supports. Very expensive hardwood to buy and difficult to obtain in any local durable hardwood.

I have used recycled hardwood to make window and door frames but 4 inches would only be useful in a fine glazed door or window without laminating. You could build a great looking bushfire resistant door with 4x2 spotted gum. Many window and door fabricators use recycled hardwood.

Also external stair treads or tables with spaced 4 inch sections.

[mental4astro]

Hmmm,

We will be needing a new front door that is 1.2m wide. Interesting idea! I'll run it past The Boss.

Backyard obs is difficult. Not impossible. I ran the idea of a rooftop obs on the house and The Boss was not phased, actually was happy with it! :eyepop: Alas the engineering required would be too expensive and the crapfight with the Council not something I would look forward to.

I do need a new workbench. I've always wanted bench dogs too.

Scope and mount? Plywood is better. More dimensionally stable. Nice idea though. I love the look of timber and I've made a few boxes for scopes and gear from very knotty plywood.

Please keep the ideas and suggestions coming :)

[mental4astro]

Ran the idea of a door past The Boss and no go.

So back to square one...

[xelasnave]

What about a small Trebuchet...for outside of course.
It would be an exciting build and a talking point for the garden...maybe display it around the schools and I expect you would probably be the only chap in the area with one.
OR
A huge table for outside.
OR
A sculpture..just random pieces can be effective ..however you have the ability and maybe an idea will come to you.

But please do not burn it.

Alex

[mental4astro]

A trebuchet!

Now that's outside the square.

[AdamJL]

4 x 4 turns into 4 x 2 pretty easily :)

That’s a whole lot of furniture you can make :)

Got any pics of the timber?

[gaseous]

a small pergola?

[leon]

Sounds like some decent timber, however if planing or turning it would have to be nail free, sure you are onto that anyway, just thought I would put my 2cents worth in.

Leon

[mental4astro]

Knife scales!

In this timber mix I have at least four different species of wood. Cutting out scales is easy enough. I won't need to cut scales from all this timber (there would be several hundred if not thousands of sets of scales available from this timber otherwise!).

Knife scales is the name for the blanks used to make handles for knives. A friend of mine give me some red gum scales I used on a knife I made last year. I have a few more knives to make and here is a stock of good Aussie timber scales to boot!

Ok, that's one more use out of the timber :)

Leon, oh yeah, a LOT of nails have been removed already. Before I make any cuts I am always double checking the area for errant nails that remain.

Patrick, sorry, no pics as the timber is now all under tarps. Just in time too as it started raining not long after the timber was tucked away for a nap.
Alex.

[Hans Tucker]

Grow yourself a beard, get yourself a straw hat and plain cloths and invite your mates around for a good old Barn Raising

[Boozlefoot]

With the current shortage of timber following the fires, you will find there will be a quick followup to any classified advert you run for these pieces. Cash converted to more astro equip! :question:

[mental4astro]

Rod,

Yes, it's been easy moving on the timber. I have moved on most of it but I have kept some because it is such good timber and I would like to do something with it rather than just get rid of it all.

A barn raising! Easier to do some hell raising and more fun, but I get your drift :lol: Not enough for a barn, shed/obs frame maybe. Couldn't keep any of the cypress floorboards - all of these 80+ year old boards all splintered and shattered while being pulled up. Real shame as I like cypress - great timber for scales too.

No beard, but how about big sideburns? I'm going all Wolverine with my appearance of late :D

Alex.

[Hans Tucker]

Well there goes the Ark suggestion ... better get these animals back to the Zoo .. two by two.

[xelasnave]

Just plane some and you will get a very big surprise..
Alex

[DarkArts]

Well, if nothing better comes up ... Hire* a wood chipper and make mulch for the garden. Just make sure you take the nails and staples out first. ;)



* It might be cheaper to buy, use and sell the chipper second hand if you need it for several days.

[xelasnave]

Old hardwood???
That could be fun..I have had old hardwood that wont take a nail and when you try to drill a hole the drill breaks...I doubt if it could be done but maybe someone can come forward who has tried it and tell us the chances.
Alex

[LewisM]

Backyard EQ pier?

[xelasnave]

Build a mine shaft under your house and use the timber to support the roof.
Alex

[DarkArts]

We had a tree removed last year - stringy bark eucalypt, which is a hardwood - and the chipper pulverized log-sized sections without any trouble. It was all done on-site with their portable chipper.

[mental4astro]

EQ pier not a good idea here - termites. Garage has had them & neighbour's house is held up with termite saliva. My house has somehow dodged that bullet!

Mine supports, not very in-your-face.

Chipper, no. No better than burning/smoking. I'd rather smoke with it. Smoked almonds are quite something. But that I can leave for offcuts.

A custom vanity unit The Boss is looking at now. I like that idea as one additional possibility.

[xelasnave]

Try seasoned hardwood...there is a big difference ..I can cut green hardwood with a cordless "toy" chain saw but as I mentioned in a previous post mostly you can not hammer a nail into it when seasoned and when you drill it the drill bit breaks...mostly it is hard as rock.
Maybe Alex could test it and try hammering in a nail and get back to us ...in any event chipping it is such a waste..folk are so keen to save the planet and here is a place where you could recycle the timber and put it to some good use ...
Alex

[Sunfish]

A tea house with a sand pit brazier . Four posts, a floor, a roof , open sides to see the sky.

[mura_gadi]

Hello,

Got any steel supports or beams on the patio, around the house etc?

Could use the 4x4 as cladding around the poles for a far more classier/rustic look...


Steve
Ps. Making biscuits for coasters if you could be bothered with the sanding and varnish, they will make a few bucks each.

PPs. If you could get a couple of foot of clean wood, there would be wood turners who would love that sized block.

[Top_oz]

I love the idea of reusing this stuff however the reality is that it's hard work. Unfortunately most of mine ended up as firewood. I have about a lifetime supply for campfires from the small amount I kept.

Because it was used green it's typically all out of whack, heavy, splintery, odd sizes, doesn't nail, hard on cutting tools and there's always a nail that was missed. As a result tradies hate it. You have to be a real DIY enthusiast to get through any decent amount of it.

Pretty sad to burn it but better than taking it to the tip.

Looks great as cladding if you get it machined but I don't think it's cheap.

[pmrid]

I have seen some great outdoor BBQ shelters/Gazebo/bar ideas using recycled timber. The beauty of old timber is that the patina of age is really only skin deep and the timber can be resurfaced/restored to very good effect. But timber that is only part-stripped back is the best of all. You can use a blowtorch on it to give it a patchy burnt look as well adding to the rustic look.
Don’t waste it on some trivial project.

Timber that old should be respected.

[mental4astro]

Did the nail test on different pieces as I know there are different varieties of timber here.

The bearers, these were made use of the densest & hardest timber - nail didn't get in past 5mm.

Joists, some of these are as hard as the bearers, and nail penetration was the same 5mm. Others the 2" nail went in half way & stopped. The stuff that came from the roof the nail went in deeper before dying.

Oh, I am under no illusion how hard working this timber is. I've made several cutting boards and coffee tables from similar timbers that were rough sawn & it is a *******. Killed one belt sander with it. I am also considering the amount of work any project will require. A 2.5m long dinning table is one scary bugger! All the timber needs to be dressed/cleaned down at least two sides before laminating, and that's the easy part. And dinky thicknesses won't like it at all... A dining table will take a long time to produce. Nothing trivial for me.

[JA]

Hi Alexander,

You could make some Berlebach style wooden tripods to keep busy.

Best
JA

[DarkArts]

Coffins?

It's a growth industry people are just dying to get into.

[Sunfish]

May be ironbark or blue gum if dark red and 1200kg/cum. Very hard. A wooly looking brown grain might be spotted gum. CSIRO publish a list of species with weight , colour and durability.

Wider sections are better for a dining table , 100mm is too much gluing. An outdoor table 1.8x 0.9 however can be made like decking from smaller timber sections thinned out by by splitting with a bandsaw (or dressing down ) and framed. Thinner is better or the weight will be a killer. I did not make this one ,I have made the indoor table, but it is a good pattern.

An electric plane and a belt sander should get the pieces uniform, or a men’s shed might have a thicknesser if you are sure there are no nails.

[mental4astro]

Ray,

Thanks for the cautionary note on 4x2's being narrow for a dinning table.

Ok, I have a few ideas:

Coffee table
Coasters
New work bench
Knife scales
Bathroom vanity
Bathroom mirror shelf
Bar stools
Garden bench
Garden table
Hall table
Coat rack
Chopping board/butcher block
Bathroom towel rack
Stools
Bar table
Guillotine
Trebuchet
Fail
Morning star
Kiddies bench
Wall mounted bottle opener

Most, if not all are doable with the timbers I have. Not necessarily meaning actually making them all though... But certainly doable with the 4X2's and 4X4's I have.

Ok, more ideas than I expected! Very good! :D

Alex.