Questions on American Beech

[Alan Turner]

Need some guidance here from those with experiece working Am. Beech, from Ohio. Workbench tops is what I have in mind.

I have an opportunity at some 12/4, quarter sawn American Beech. I got a sample board, about 8" wide, and it has roughly 3" of what I would call sapwood, by appearance. I have never worked Am beech before. The suspected sapwood is of a slight diff. color, but seems (to my fingernail at least) of similar hardness. The heartwood has a pinkish cast, but the sapwood has a more yellowish cast to it.

I milled it 3 days after receipt to flat on two sides, and stickered it. Sat for 2 weeks in the shop.

This morning I resawed it, and cut a couple of tuning forks. The one of pure heartwood stayed straight; the one which had both heartwood and sapwood showed the sapwood bending out, and opening the original 1/16" kerf to 1/8" evenly over 9".

Moisture content inside the 12/4 was between 13% and 14%, if my moisture meter is correct, which I would not bet my life on. It is an older one; made by Valley Products & Design, of Milford, Pa. and I got it from an estate, so I know it was probably made before 1987. I suspect that it is pretty hard to get 12/4 wood much lower in terms of MC than this if the wood is not old.

Can anyone comment on the sapwood of Am beech, its strength, or stability. I can live with the appearance. If I scrap the sapwood, which I nearly always do when building furniture, then my price just about doubled, making it not a good buy. I would need to use it to have this purchase make sense.

Is this wood sufficiently stable to make workbench tops? The shop they will live in (my new teaching studio) will be subjected to extremes in terms of heat and humidity in the summer, and cold (smallish amount of heat) in the winter.

Any wood experts here?

I would have sent a sample to Jon Arno, but he passed away a bit ago, to the great loss of the woodworking community as he was a kind and knowledgable and sharing man.

Thanks for any information.

[lou sansone]

hi alan

I built my bench using american beech and did not include much of the sap wood. I had a little problem with it moving around. Part of my problem was moisture and part was my own carelessness in clamping. The wood was in the 10-12% range and when it finally got down to 6% some of the joints opened up. I think that it was also somewhat case hardened. It is hard as nails and does make a nice bench, so if you can get it kilned to 8% then it would probably be worth using. Hard maple is nice as well, but pretty expensive and not that many folks cut 12/4.

best wishes
lou

[Andy London]

I have a lot of American Beech on my woodlot in New Brunswick, I have found air drying for up to 6 years and even kiln drying some, lends itself to very fustrating results in projects. it just doesn't want to stay flat.

I probably have close to four thousand feet of it that has been setting in my barn for 6 years, just haven't been able to find a buyer due to the fact our beech is so unstable.

[Dan Forman]

Alan---I don't have any firsthand experience, but remember reading just the other day that American beech is subject to much more movement than the European varity. Can't remember just where I saw that, but here is a link to some very basic wood info. http://www.woodbin.com/ref/wood/index.htm

Dan

[lou sansone]

I have a lot of American Beech on my woodlot in New Brunswick, I have found air drying for up to 6 years and even kiln drying some, lends itself to very fustrating results in projects. it just doesn't want to stay flat.

I probably have close to four thousand feet of it that has been setting in my barn for 6 years, just haven't been able to find a buyer due to the fact our beech is so unstable.

hi andy

a couple of thoughts on beech. When I was building my bench I thought that the best use for it would be bench tops and flooring. Have you tried to find buyers for it with those two uses in mind? It is a real nice looking wood IMHO, and I think would make decent flooring.

lou

[Andy London]

hi andy

a couple of thoughts on beech. When I was building my bench I thought that the best use for it would be bench tops and flooring. Have you tried to find buyers for it with those two uses in mind? It is a real nice looking wood IMHO, and I think would make decent flooring.

lou
I have tried the flooring manufacturers as we have four big plants here and they will not touch it. The Beech floors here are from Norway beech, very stable and beautiful.

As a kid we would use beech in the barns, cattle and potatoe as it is very string and will last if inside.

I tried turning the stuff a few times and it still warpps, tried a few crafts and a night table, everything was a disaster:) Guess that is why there is so much of it in our firewood, it's excellent for that!

Andy