Using Less than Perfect Wood

[Linda Creatore]

Hi,

If I have a piece or pieces of wood that I'd like to use, but they are perhaps splintering a bit or deteriorating due to being wet for a long period of time, and I do not want to plane them down thereby losing their thickness, does anyone know what I can use to stablize or strengthen the wood so that it can be used as near as possible to its original thickness?

Basically, I talking about using pieces of discarded wine barrels. The wood has, of course, been wet on only one side. This causes some of the wood to become splintery in areas. This can be sanded away, but often leaves the overall piece much thinner than I would like. I am looking for a way to strenghten this kind of wood so that I can use it for more substantial pieces, such as end tables, etc.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Linda

[Vaughn McMillan]

Linda, I've seen "wood hardener" at the local home improvement store (mini-borg) and used it with good results hardening partially dry-rotted exterior trim on a house. (This was before I discovered using Bondo for that kind of fix.) I don't reacll the name or manufacturer, but the hardener I've used is a thin liquid (about as viscous as water) that you brush on liberally. It soaks into the wood and does indeed firm up "punky" wood. Don't know if it'd do what you're looking for, but it might be worth a try.

Hope this helps -

- Vaughn

[John Bailey]

Linda,

System Three epoxy has a type of epoxy to use on boat wood that seeps into the rot and strengthens the wood. It's just like water and soaks in well. I've used it as a sealant and glue on kayak paddles. I've never used it on wood so I would contact System Three to make sure it would work in your application. I believe most of the epoxy companies have a similiar product. Good luck, and let us know how you solved the problem.

John

[Linda Creatore]

Hi Guys,

Excellent suggestions! Thank you, I'll give them a try and let you know what happens. Will probably be a couple of weeks till I get to it, but I'll post my results!

Take care,
Linda

[Brent Smith]

Lee Valley sells a wood restoration kit. I've never used it, but I've also never bought anything from them that I wasn't satisfied with. It's in the finishing section of their website.

Brent

[Ian Barley]

Linda
I assume that you want to use this timber for its character or provenance? I am pretty sure that the remedies suggested would work but also that they would end up costing more that the price of new lumber to do the same job - just a thought.