Window Making Wickes Timber Suitable To Practice With?

[pollys13]

Would Wickes whitewood be OK to practice making up Coleys window from his forum tutorial? Also going to practice making up my own replacement window design. I may need to surface plane/thickness then laminate some together to make up a cill section.Then machine the cill 9 degrees on the thicknesser using an angled sled or try doing it on the bandsaw. Wicks whitewood has a few knots, not dead ones, will a few knots be ok to run through the spindle practicing rebates and moulds?
Cheers.

 

[thetyreman]

Would Wickes whitewood be OK to practice making up Coleys window from his forum tutorial? Also going to practice making up my own replacement window design. I may need to surface plane/thickness then laminate some together to make up a cill section.Then machine the cill 9 degrees on the thicknesser using an angled sled or try doing it on the bandsaw. Wicks whitewood has a few knots, not dead ones, will a few knots be ok to run through the spindle practicing rebates and moulds?
Cheers.

I'm no expert but I've had problems with spruce before, it can get very difficult to work near the knots, it blunts blades fast, I tried ploughing a groove into knotty spruce and the knots were like hitting concrete.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Stick to redwood. Spruce is a pain in the rrrs.

 

[pollys13]

I can get Redwood from my local Travis Perkins at a quite reasonable price. I lloked into Redwood a week or so ago for something else
https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/Redwood ... m/p/141000
They have available two grades, would the lower standard grade be ok to practice with?
Cheers.

 

[pollys13]

Just checked Wicks site, they do a Redwood too.

 

[skipdiver]

Go to a proper timber merchant and buy redwood. The timber in Wickes is expensive and not fit for much other than burning, and it isn't any good for that really.

 

[pollys13]

Go to a proper timber merchant and buy redwood. The timber in Wickes is expensive and not fit for much other than burning, and it isn't any good for that really.

OK, which grade would be acceptable to practice with?
Cheers.

 

[skipdiver]

That would depend on what the yard in question sells. Usually 4ths, 5ths and unsorted. I just pop along and pick out the best stuff from the racks. Anything they sell will be far better than the big sheds, unless it is a particularly bad timber yard.

 

[deema]

In reality any wood will do for practice. You don’t make a full size window, you make it the minimum size that is safe for your machines to work with say 14” square sash should in most cases be fine. With these dimensions white wood is fine, redwood is fine. I wouldn’t get too hung up about it as it’s the joinery, getting the fit which will help you the most.

 

[pollys13]

In reality any wood will do for practice. You don’t make a full size window, you make it the minimum size that is safe for your machines to work with say 14” square sash should in most cases be fine. With these dimensions white wood is fine, redwood is fine. I wouldn’t get too hung up about it as it’s the joinery, getting the fit which will help you the most.

" You don’t make a full size window " Ah right, thanks for putting me straight on that. It was in my head to practice running rebates on quite long lengths on the spindle with the power feed, just to get the hang of it, so was also thinking full size. That said will still run some long rebates and some moulding just to start to get the hang of things.
Though as you say, is doing the jointing and practicing that, which is crucial.
Cheers.

 

[pollys13]

That would depend on what the yard in question sells. Usually 4ths, 5ths and unsorted. I just pop along and pick out the best stuff from the racks. Anything they sell will be far better than the big sheds, unless it is a particularly bad timber yard.

OK cheers.

 

[pollys13]

I'm familiar, a little, with the timber grading terms, like 5ths, unsorted. Wickes says their Redwood, " Grade: S/F Exc VI
Type: Planed Square Edged Redwood, Suitable for: Furniture Building. I contacted them about their grading classification but not come back to me.
I Googled, S/F Exc VI but couldn't find any clear definition, so what does S/F Exc VI mean?
Thanks.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Don't fret too much about - it'll just make your job a little harder if you're using crepe. Look at it - if it's relatively clear of pith, knots and shakes, you're good to go.

 

[pollys13]

Don't fret too much about - it'll just make your job a little harder if you're using crepe. Look at it - if it's relatively clear of pith, knots and shakes, you're good to go.

OK cheers I'll try to get the best I can.

 

[skipdiver]

The trouble with whitewood is that it is very dry and splits easily, is usually bowed and twisted from the way it is stored and the heat in most of the big sheds. It also has bullet hard knots that will possibly be hurled at you at a great rate if you put it through a spindle moulder. To be fair, i don't ever buy timber from Wickes, so they may well have some decent redwood for all i know, but i'm willing to bet it will be better and probably cheaper from a timber yard.

 

[pollys13]

The trouble with whitewood is that it is very dry and splits easily, is usually bowed and twisted from the way it is stored and the heat in most of the big sheds. It also has bullet hard knots that will possibly be hurled at you at a great rate if you put it through a spindle moulder. To be fair, i don't ever buy timber from Wickes, so they may well have some decent redwood for all i know, but i'm willing to bet it will be better and probably cheaper from a timber yard.

OK I'll here a good ferret around and see if any timber yards in my area who carry decent Redwood. Cheers

 

[Phil Pascoe]

When I've wanted short lengths of anything, I usually go to my usual yard and pick out stuff that has a huge knot or kink in the middle or even a split or broken bit then bargain for it - it won't fetch full price anyway and if they send it out for delivery it'll only be returned. Even if they only charge for 3.1m instead of a 4.8m it's free firewood. I wanted a sheet of 18mm ply cut to size, and the only place around here that cuts was B&Q so I found the one sheet that had a corner smashed off and asked how much - I got it half price, I only needed three quarters of the sheet anyway.
Eat your heart out, Shylock!