Something simple?

[George Sanders]

Ever start what should be a simple enough project and have it turn into the project from hell? I have one right now. I am building 2 well covers in 3/4" treated lumber. The big box doesn't sell 3/4 T&G so I bought 3/4x4 deck boards. I milled it on my router table with a glue joint bit. The sample cuts lined up perfectly. Then the wood dried. That's when it turned to you know what. Warps, cups, twists, bowing, one boars looked like a snake trail. With a healthy dose of profanity and a rubber mallet I was able to glue the wood from hell into an assembly. I had to take a scrub plane to level things off so that I can put one panel atop the other crosswise, the way he wants it built. Screwed down with the proper treated deckscrews. Prime and paint and I'm done. If anyone ever asks me to build something with treated lumber again I'm going to tell where to go and how to get there.

[Gene Howe]

{Quoted]If anyone ever asks me to build something with treated lumber again I'm going to tell where to go and how to get there.

Sorry you had to find out on a job. At least, my epiphany was on a project at home. I'll only use it when "code" calls for it. I do not like that stuff!:mad:

[Joe Chritz]

White oak, cedar, purpleheart, ipe or a few others. Deck boards are for decks as you have found out.

I have tried building with it once and only once.

OK, it may make a decent outdoor chair or bench but anything close to fine woodworking is out of the question.

Sounds like a good save on your part. Grandpa always told me some things you have to learn yourself.

Joe

[Stephen Edwards]

I can tell you what does work for such outdoor projects as yours. At least it has worked for me.

Frame your cover using PT 2x4s or what ever dimension is appropriate for your situation. Then, cover that with either 1/2 or 3/4 PT plywood. If you need or want a more "finished" look you can then trim it/cover it with PT fence boards, also available at the borgs, for a project as small as a well cover. Works great and lasts for years.

[Thomas Bank]

If these are safety covers, much better to use a precast concrete piece as even PT will degrade over time. You still see in the news about people falling through wooden well covers every now and then...

[George Sanders]

Thanks for the comments. I just had to vent a little. I'm used to building things that turn out nice, with only mildly unpleasant surprises. Like the bookcase I built for my woodworking books. Turned out that once I gathered them up, I had more books than bookcase.:o

[Dewey Torres]

George,
When you posted your plans for these and I read how you were planning on constructing them I had a feeling you were in trouble. IIRC you were contemplating cross grain construction.

I built a set of 2 for my neighbor and they were done by creating 2x4 a frame glued and screwed which has 6 of those Simpson right angle strong ties that overhang the edge of the well (2 on each side and 2 in the front) The PT lumber is then just laid on like decking material and cut to the shape of the well. I can send pics or a sketch up if this interests you. Or you may be too far along to care.

Either way, please know that everyone on here who has been woodworking for any length of time has had a "project from hell" story whether they may want to admit it or not.

[Narayan Nayar]

Either way, please know that everyone on here who has been woodworking for any length of time has had a "project from hell" story whether they may want to admit it or not.

Or two. Or three. Or more...

:)

Vent away, man. We've all been there.

[Roy Hill]

There is a treated wood that is kiln dried, treated and then kiln dried again. It is called Cox wood. That is a brand name. There is a lumber yard in my home town that only stocks that type of treated lumber. It is a little more expensive but can be painted immediately and worked with little shrinkage over time. I'm not sure where it comes from but, when I am doing something with treated lumber that I don't want to shrink that is the wood I use. I bought some 2 x 4 x 10 a while back and noticed that one of the boards was actually quarter sawn, I'm sure that was a mistake on someones part.

Roy Hill