green wood for floors

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  • floatingkiwi
    country member
    • Nov 2008
    • 3603

    green wood for floors

    I have read that green wood is the best for steaming. What about floors?
    Say a living oak tree was to lose a limb, you went out and chopped a bit off it and shaped it into a floor and installed the thing in ya floaty girl. How would this go?
    ..don't judge a man till you've walked a mile in his shoes..
  • chainyank
    Kosterbåt - Hulda
    • Apr 2007
    • 321

    #2
    Re: green wood for floors

    I too await an answer from thems whos knows............ (but in my uninformed opinion, i think they would work good - if you let them dry and stabilize. Rough them out and bury them in damp sawdust for some amount of time. Put them in completly green and they will split up) (or I could be talkin' whoee)

    Comment

    • RFNK
      Port Stephens, Australia
      • Feb 2007
      • 26941

      #3
      Re: green wood for floors

      Well, I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong but ..... it's a bad idea. The floors in your Folkboat are wedged tightly against the planking and have the keel bolts running through them. They need to be fitted very well to serve their clamping purpose without distorting the planking. You also want to be able to remove the keel bolts again at some time in the future. If you put green floors in, you could distort the planks if the green wood warps at all, which it will, and it will shrink away from its tight fit with the planking as it dries. Its warping will jam your keel bolts and this could even split the floor if you're unlucky, I suspect. Use good, seasoned hardwood for your floors and shape them accurately to the shape you want them to keep. Rick
      Rick

      Lean and nosey like a ferret

      Comment

      • Bob Cleek
        Senior Member
        • Feb 2000
        • 11970

        #4
        Re: green wood for floors

        Definitely no way, no how. As mentioned above, your floor timbers should be well seasoned to ensure a good fit. A good fit is essential in floor timbers perhaps more than anywhere else in a boat. You don't want your floors moving. That said, if it's good oak, season it (a year per inch is the rule of thumb) and enjoy!

        Comment

        • rufustr
          Senior Member
          • Feb 2006
          • 6665

          #5
          Re: green wood for floors

          I think Spotted Gum may perform differently than American Oak.

          Love the photos Ian, can smell the sawdust.

          Do you have any of the new interior for the EBS?

          Comment

          • RFNK
            Port Stephens, Australia
            • Feb 2007
            • 26941

            #6
            Re: green wood for floors

            Actually, I was informed only a few weeks ago that Spotted Gum is not such a stable timber - it swells and shrinks quite a lot, not only as it dries out initially but as it is wet and dried during use. A more stable timber is Fllooded Gum. Either way, I'd only use seasoned timber with a high degree of stability for floors, especially in a tight, critical application like a Folkboat. Rick
            Rick

            Lean and nosey like a ferret

            Comment

            • RFNK
              Port Stephens, Australia
              • Feb 2007
              • 26941

              #7
              Re: green wood for floors

              There sure are. Its relative instability doesn't mean it's not a good boatbuilding timber, it just means you need to be careful what you put it with. Rick
              Rick

              Lean and nosey like a ferret

              Comment

              • floatingkiwi
                country member
                • Nov 2008
                • 3603

                #8
                Re: green wood for floors

                A clean tight seasoned fit makes the most sense to me. Besides, the green way is too easy and from experience, the easy way is almost always the wrong way.
                That garboard plank is a big old wide plank that could use all the constant stability it can get.
                Would it be OK to laminate seasoned oak to the old floors to strengthen them, as a couple have failed through the bent grain in the natural crook?
                ..don't judge a man till you've walked a mile in his shoes..

                Comment

                • Jay Greer
                  Senior Member
                  • Nov 2004
                  • 14425

                  #9
                  Re: green wood for floors

                  Shrinkage would be a deterring factor. Once fully seasoned, if installed green, the drifts will be loose. Like wise, fastenings into the frames will distort and possibly crack the floors.
                  Jay

                  Comment

                  • floatingkiwi
                    country member
                    • Nov 2008
                    • 3603

                    #10
                    Re: green wood for floors

                    Jay, explain drifts.
                    And, contrary to what I would think proper, there are no fastenings that bind the frames to the floors in my folkboat.
                    Never have been.
                    ..don't judge a man till you've walked a mile in his shoes..

                    Comment

                    • RFNK
                      Port Stephens, Australia
                      • Feb 2007
                      • 26941

                      #11
                      Re: green wood for floors

                      Yes, new `wings' of the floors can be laminated onto the old floor timber if it's in good condition. Just create a curved surface on the top of the old floor and then laminate new strips (thin, with epoxy) to the shape you want. You'll need to remove the floor to do this and then shape it all to fit back in. The laminated floor will be very strong as long as you have a good bond between the new laminated section and the old timber. If there's any oil etc. soaked into the old timber, then you'll need to build a whole new floor. I found fitting these to be a real headache so seek advice better than mine for this! Use only dry, seasoned hardwood for the floor and laminated strips. Rick
                      Rick

                      Lean and nosey like a ferret

                      Comment

                      • floatingkiwi
                        country member
                        • Nov 2008
                        • 3603

                        #12
                        Re: green wood for floors

                        Yeah I am getting some together as you described. Some dowels epoxied vertically in the things would not hurt or would the elasticity or spring strengh be jeopardized?
                        ..don't judge a man till you've walked a mile in his shoes..

                        Comment

                        • Peerie Maa
                          Old Grey Inquisitive One
                          • Oct 2008
                          • 62422

                          #13
                          Re: green wood for floors

                          Originally posted by floatingkiwi
                          Jay, explain drifts.
                          And, contrary to what I would think proper, there are no fastenings that bind the frames to the floors in my folkboat.
                          Never have been.
                          A drift is a thickish, 12 cm or above bar, used for a nail to secure two pieces where a bolt cannot be used. The leading end is tapered on the anvil, and when driven it is often headed up over a washer.
                          It really is quite difficult to build an ugly wooden boat.

                          The power of the web: Anyone can post anything on the web
                          The weakness of the web: Anyone can post anything on the web.

                          Comment

                          • Bruce Hooke
                            Senior Member
                            • Mar 2000
                            • 14297

                            #14
                            Re: green wood for floors

                            Originally posted by floatingkiwi
                            Say a living oak tree was to lose a limb...
                            Limbs often contain a lot of what is called "reaction wood" that results from the uneven loading on a limb (tension on top and compression on the bottom) as opposed to the more uniform loading on the trunk. So, limb wood is commonly less stable than wood from the trunk. Of course if the limb was pretty much vertical than it can be thought of as a trunk...

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