Medium density fiber board or MDF as it is commonly known is an engineered material that consists of wood fibers and glue. It has been available since the 1980’s.
It is one of those products where lumber companies had a waste product (wood fibers, saw dust and wood chips) and wanted to make something out of it that they could sell.
Like the old saying goes waste not, want not. (more…)
Actually, the term “man-made” is a misnomer because in reality, they are still wood products and by-products just re-manufactured in a less costly and more efficient method. The furniture and home building industry is constantly pushing for more cost efficient building materials. Lumber companies are on the look out for ways to turn scrape and waste into new products.
The majority of the mass produced furniture today are made of man made wood or what they call sheet materials. These types of materials are made from real wood although they aren’t as solid as the original wood from which it was made. (more…)
Even for the hobbyist woodworker it is good to have a basic understanding of the common types of wood that are available. For years, I build my projects out of red oak, birch and white pine. Over time I expanded into soft maple, mahogany and poplar.
There are two main categories for lumber hard wood and soft wood.
1. Hardwoods
Hardwood lumber comes from deciduous trees, which have characteristics like broad sets of leaves, capability to bear fruits or nuts, and dormancy during winter. These trees can be seen growing in regions with a temperate climate. (more…)
When gluing up a large panel, will alternating the ring pattern prevent the panel from warping in the future?
Maybe, while it does not hurt the panel but it does not prevent the panel from warping. (more…)
In a previous post I pointed out a technique for cutting a flat surface on a twisted or warped board by using a joiner. Well, what if you don’t have joiner? What if the board is twelve inches wide and you have a six inch wide joiner? A fellow wood worker came up with an interesting solution using his bench top planner. (more…)
You have been fortunate enough to get your hands on a pile of recycled lumber from an old building. It has a rough surface, dirty, has nails and nail holes in it. How do you clean it up into nice straight dimensional boards, with a surface planner right? Yes, but not so fast there are a few other steps involved. (more…)
Used lumber might not seem like a great source of material to build a piece of fine furniture out of; however, looks are deceiving. Rough cut lumber from old barns, factories, and yes old homes are an excellent source of high quality hard to get lumber. This is especially true the older the structure is. (more…)
Mahogany trees grow in several regions around the world. Primarily the trees grow in Central Africa, Caribbean islands, Central and South America, and in the Philippine islands. With so many different species of mahogany, the question becomes ‘what is real mahogany’? To answer this question lets examine some of the more popular mahogany species. (more…)
Can you actually build furniture out of a grass? Yes, you can with bamboo. Bamboo is actually a grass not tree. Because it’s hollowed out stem does not contain any woody material. However, its hollowed out stem is being dried, cut and glued into plywood sheets. These plywood sheets look and behave like any other plywood sheets.
So, how well does bamboo plywood compare to good old red oak plywood?
Bamboo has a similar in density to red oak, about forty pounds per cubit foot. A bamboo plywood sheet will be a little heavier than a red oak plywood sheet because the filler wood in the bamboo sheet is bamboo and in red oak plywood it some other wood. It is a cost savings thing for the manufacture; however, we still pay the full price. (more…)
Lumber that has been treated with Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) will over time leach out arsenic. There are many outdoor play scapes, sand boxes, fences, and picnic tables that have been constructed with pressure treated lumber over the past decades.
How concerned should a parent be? Pressure treated lumber new and older boards (those in use for several years) both leach significant amounts of arsenic to the surface of the wood. Arsenic on the surface of the wood is easily transferred to the skin. Young children, especially under the age of 6 tend to have frequent hand to mount interaction increase the likelihood of swallowing some of the arsenic. Also, children under the age of 6 tend to spend prolonged hours on playground structures and tend to play under the structure for extended periods of time.
What can be done to reduce the effects? For existing structures built from CCA materials, the best way to minimize the arsenic leaching is to seal the wood every two years. Applying the proper sealant will help reduce the wood from cracking and splintering, it can also greatly decrease the amount of arsenic leaching from the wood. Talk with your local home improvement store about available coatings.
Hand washing is effective in reducing the exposure to arsenic, but this is only practical after the child is done playing on the structure. Sealants are the best way of protecting children from the arsenic exposure.
For decades pressure treated lumber was treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) to prevent rot, fungus, and insect attacking the wood. The chemical treatment worked so well in preventing the wood from decay that it was quickly used in a variety of projects such as decks, fences, play structures, picnic tables, docks, and framing garden beds. On February 12, 2002 the EPA announced a voluntary decision by the industry to discontinue the consumer use of CCA treated lumber.
Pressure treated lumber is dipped into a bath of CCA and subjected to high pressure. This would force the chemical solution into the lumber. However, this process does not lock the chemical into the lumber. Over time some of the arsenic leaches out of the wood into the surrounding environment. In a typical application of pressure treated lumber in a deck, the posts that are buried in soil begin to release the arsenic into the soil. Arsenic would be released from the lumber when exposed to rain. The amount of arsenic leaching out of the wood is enough to contaminate the surfaces around and under the structure.
Few people, especially the home wood worker did not fully understand nor take into account the potential hazards of chemical treatment. The most toxic chemical in the treatment formulation is arsenic. Arsenic a known human carcinogen that is toxic to the skin and internal organs. Typically it takes years of exposure for the effects to manifest themselves.
When handling and working with pressure treated lumber there are several precautions to take to reduce your exposure to the harmful chemicals.
Today pressure treated lumber is treated with either alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ) or copper boron azole (CBA). At your local home improvement store, check the label on the pressure treated lumber to see which method was used to treat it. Follow the manufacture’s guide lines on handling the material to reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals.
