Wanted: dry oak 4x4s, Hampshire

[tigerturnings]

A friend of mine is after having a table built and is looking to get hold of some solid, seasoned 4"x4" oak for the legs. I've talked to a couple of local timber merchants and they don't want to go up to that dimension in seasoned oak. Does anyone know a supplier that might have some available, ideally within a reasonable drive from Southampton?

TIA

Neil

 

[TheTiddles]

I can tell you exactly where to get that, www.thetimbermill.co.uk just north of Southampton and have loads of large oak

Aidan

 

[John McM]

It's much cheaper to laminate 2" oak to make up the sections required and you don't have all the cracking and assosiated splitting problems.

 

[Chris Knight]

And another good thing about making up the legs from smaller stock is that you can select the kind of figure that will appear on the legs, even to the extent of having quarter sawn figure appear on all four sides of the legs.

 

[Mark Hancock]

I'd be wary of anyone who offers that dimension as seasoned.

 

[motownmartin]

What a shame that you live in Hampshire, I have a slab of 4" 6 feet long 18" wide, to buy wood this thick cost the earth, around £90 a cubic foot, I think you would be best to laminate it.

 

[wizer]

Here you go:

From thisamazing thread by lucky9cat

 

[motownmartin]

There is also a similar way to do as it says in this thread of Tony's describes.

 

[BradNaylor]

British Hardwoods get round the seasoning problem by supplying 4"x4" oak section with a hole drilled up the middle to aid drying.

http://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/rough/oak.html - scroll 3/4 down page

I've used them a few times and they're great. BH ship all over the country.

Cheers
Dan

 

[LarryS.]

Here you go:

From thisamazing thread by lucky9cat

wizer, how do you cut the angles ? on your table saw ?

 

[wizer]

not me Paul, but yes, on the TS

 

[John McM]

I would plane 1 face of the 2" oak boards so they are flat and true. Then glue them together face to face with polyurethane glue and lots of clamps. Works a treat.

 

[hpl]

4x4 oak is available dried, it is just a matter of being careful that it has been dried properly.

You could try EC Forrest 01825 872025. I think they are trade but will probably sell a piece or two if you collect it. They are on the A22 North of Eastbourne. Don't know how far that is from you. I've never actually used any from them but they have offered me 4" Kiln dried squares in the past. Probably wont be cheap though.

I usually glue two 2x4's together, but that's because we are using american white oak at the moment.

If you do glue up the best glue I have found for the oak is Bison Timber Max. Get very few problem with glue lines opening up with that one. If you glue 2x4's sand the faces lightly with a coarse grade paper across the grain, helps the glue soak into the timber, and completely cover both faces with a very thin layer of glue. This gives a very reliable joint.

Johnny B