Finally found oak that was nasty enough for my stair treads

[Roger Feeley]

When we built our house, they used, "character oak" flooring. But the spiral staircase company couldn't make treads with the same character. They were willing to use nice oak for 22 treads and 2 landings for $3500 which offended my sensibilities. So off I went on a hunt for some 5/4" wood that was sufficiently diseased. After much hunting, I found a mom and pop sawmill in central Virginia (I'm in the DC area) that had some rotting log out back.

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I'm finishing up the last 5 treads and second landing this weekend. I've used a lot of epoxy to fill worm holes and stuff. A lot of the holes go all the way through so I cheat a bit and drill from the back and fill the underside with a dowel rod. It takes less epoxy that way. It takes several sessions with the epoxy so it's pretty much an all day affair, off and on, to fill and wait and fill and wait.

My wife called the treads, "Stunning." That's all the complement I need. I saw to it that the treads were installed according to their visibility by her. The last five go at the bottom of the stairs to my shop and the landing is for my office so I'm well into the home stretch. Yay! One more project down.

[Matt Day]

Nice work saving $3500!

[Roger Feeley]

Thanks Matt,

I guess I should have mentioned that I have about $400 in the oak. That's for about 140 square (not board) feet of 5/4" stuff. The guy gave me a deal because it was a log that he couldn't sell to sane people. Also, he discounted it a little because it wasn't quite 5/4. It was closer to 4/4" at about 1.25" rough. I've been very strategic about planing it and I've been able to get the .960" that I needed for the treads.

It also took me nearly two years to track down wood that was nasty enough. The lumber yards all think I'm crazy.

I have quite a bit left and there is some 'good' wood. When it's all done, I will probably cut away the nasty parts and plane the rest smooth.

[Carl Beckett]

I like wood that has some character.

Wabi Sabi


My wife called the treads, "Stunning."

Nuff said!!

[Roger Feeley]

Thanks Carl,

I learned a long time ago that product has to emerge from my shop for me to keep it going. If all I do is go down there an putter and not deliver added value to the household, the goodwill will dry up and the flow of tools, machinery and material will cease. Keeping the bride happy is critical. So I always have something going that she's going to like. Married 43 years (to the same woman).

[Brad Chenoweth]

Roger,

That looks fantastic, especially when combined with the steel elements! Bravo!

[Bill Space]

I guess my expectations must be lower than most! That wood looks great to me! :eek:

You are doing well my friend...

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Any lumber sources you can recommend?

[Roger Feeley]

I finally got what I wanted at Woodlore in Fairfield VA.
i found the place by going through Wood Mizer. They keep a list of small sawmills.

[Ron Selzer]

my wife caught me cutting a knot out of rift sawn white oak on the first piece of furniture I made for her. After she got done talking to me ALL knots are saved and used in prominent spots.
Life is good I get to buy more tools and make more furniture, she gets furniture that "looks real"

[Joe Rogers]

For those others in the DC area, about 2 1/2 hours away to the west in West Virginia, is a lumberyard called Shingeltons. It is in Agusta WV a few miles off Rt 50 maybe 25 miles west of Winchester. Great family owned business that sources the wood from its own sawmill. They have let me hand pick every purchase I’ve needed and the prices are exceptional. I did have to wait for a kiln run of cherry to get through the schedule.
Joe

[Bradley Gray]

Did the mill dry the oak?

[Roger Feeley]

Did the mill dry the oak?

Yes. The price was about $3 square foot. I paid another dollar for drying. Pretty good for 1 1/8" wood. It was flat enough that most of it planed down to about .960". There was a little variation but I didn't care. I was just so happy to find wood with character.

A lot of the character came from the various maladies that wood suffers. Worms, fungus, general rot. Some of the the variations came from me mixing up plain sawn with quarter sawn. All that's a big no-no with any other project but I wanted a certain amount of chaos.

I filled the holes with black dyed 15 minute epoxy (used Mixol) For the whole project, I supposed I used about 8oz of epoxy mixed in itty bitty batches. When the epoxy cured overnight, I just planed it down and sanded it.

I used the same oil based polyurethane they used on my floors (Masterline satin). It's not my poly of choice but I felt like I should stick with what the flooring people used.

[Rich Aldrich]

Very nice. Another persons junk is another persons treasure.

[Steve Demuth]

Hey, Mom, Roger's copying my stuff again (I do have a brother Roger)

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[Tom M King]

It doesn't matter how many dollars were spent, or saved. Having the results of your ideas, and work pronounced "stunning" by Wife is priceless!

[Bradley Gray]

Happy wife,happy life.

[Roger Feeley]

Happy wife,happy life.

to be sure. She’s still commenting. The odd thing about these projects is how little she like the process. She hates the dust and clutter. Whines every inch of the way and then just glows about the result. It took me a long time to figure that out.