Lime Wood

[HOJ]

I have a stock of Lime planks(customer supplied) at their request, they would like me to make a table.

All the research I have done, everything suggests it is not suitable for Furniture, however I cannot find a reason why?

Appreciate any thoughts.

 

[sunnybob]

Lime (or linden) wood is very soft. ideal for carving and most furniture or ornaments, but as a table top it will mark very easily unless you apply many coats of hard poly.

 

[custard]

Lime wouldn't be my first choice because it's so soft and has very little grain pattern or personality. All the things in fact that make it so popular with wood carvers.

But hey, the customer's always right, so just be extra cautious not to bruise it in the workshop or during delivery and it'll be fine. Customers often get wacky ideas about furniture, as long as it doesn't put their family or their home at risk then I'll point out some better alternatives but if they insist I'm generally happy to take their money.

 

[custard]

Lime (or linden) wood is very soft. ideal for carving and most furniture or ornaments, but as a table top it will mark very easily unless you apply many coats of hard poly.

Won't make any difference Bob, a hard coating on a soft substrate is a crazing problem in waiting!

 

[Doris]

Im always after some lime. I can't seem to be able to buy it locally around here.

 

[dzj]

On the Janka scale it's a bit better than the SPF group.
It machines very well, but lacks 'personality', as said above.

 

[Lons]

The other thing you need to be careful about is that it can get ingrained and look dirty while you're working it. Beautiful for carving but not my choice for furniture.

Bob

 

[HOJ]

The planks came from a tree in their garden in Kent, so has a touch of sentiment about it, I have told them about its potential issues with being soft and plain.

I will see how we get on today, they are not very flat so will take some work to prepare it for use, aiming to get 16" wide boards (capacity of thicknesser) but not decided on thickness yet, starting out at 2 1/2" & 3 1/2" sawn.

Doris, might be some off cuts, will keep you posted.

 

[Doris]

The planks came from a tree in their garden in Kent, so has a touch of sentiment about it, I have told them about its potential issues with being soft and plain.

I will see how we get on today, they are not very flat so will take some work to prepare it for use, aiming to get 16" wide boards (capacity of thicknesser) but not decided on thickness yet, starting out at 2 1/2" & 3 1/2" sawn.

Doris, might be some off cuts, will keep you posted.

You could always put a piece of glass over the top to protect it from wear and tear? It wouldn't really protect the sides though. Offcuts I'm always interested in.

 

[custard]

The planks came from a tree in their garden in Kent, so has a touch of sentiment about it

I've been surprised at how frequently this happens, often a tree has to come down to make way for an extension, a garage, or a rebuild, and the client decides to have the log planked and made into furniture. It's led to some interesting discussions about just how much timber is required to build even modest sized pieces of furniture and just how long the drying and kilning process takes!

Good luck

 

[HOJ]

From what I have been told this has been in stick for 12 years, will check MC when I get started.

The design for this is such that it can be put away when not needed, so a glass top may be problematic.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

One other thing that may be relevant - lime has a distinctive (and, I think quite strong) smell - this may or may not be important if people are planning to eat off it. It might be worth checking that your client is OK with this by doing a quick 'smell test'.

When you walk into this room at Petworth House, the smell of lime (300 years old) is quite marked! http://www.countrylifeimages.co.uk/Resi ... 529172.jpg

Cheers, W2S

 

[Tetsuaiga]

I think it should be okay to use, its probably similar in hardness to harder softwood like Douglas fir, pine, larch and there's plenty of tables made of these. It's just not going to be as robust but maybe they aren't too bothered about that.

 

[HOJ]

Square edged a few boards, MC at 12%, then set to on the surfacer, problem with congestion on the extractor, not being able to pull stringy shavings through the 100mm port.

Anyway, faced up a board, soon becomes apparent that it looks like a scaffold board, Accoya or even Poplar cleaned up!

Will report back on progress!