Timber Making

[Athenasby Regalado]

Thereis quite a process involved between sourcing timber and it being ready for install. The process starts with logging trees at their place of origin, transportation to a mill where it is rough sawn, and then it is shipped to our factory where it cut to size and put through our moulding machine where it is processed to project requirements.

Logging, or commercial logging, involves cutting trees for sale as timber or pulp. The timber is used to build things such as homes or furniture and the pulp is used to make paper and paper products. We supply timber from a range of areas, including sustainably sourced options, in various species.

Each tree that is cut down is milled strategically so that a large amount of timber can be used. This is achieved by cutting various shapes out of a tree and getting as much material as possible; this provides lots of smaller sized lengths.

Timber is delivered to our factory in an unseasoned state where it is sorted onto pallets. Pallets are then transferred into our kiln ready to be dried. While in the kiln, timber is slowly dried to the standard EMC range, usually taking between 4-6 weeks. This process vastly reduces any timber movement.

A spindle moulder machine is responsible for moulding each piece of timber into the required shape/profile. Each piece of timber is cut with a cutter head attachment to create the desired shape. We use a range of different cutter head profiles depending on the profile needed. For the moulder to machine a piece of timber through the cutting knives, it needs to have a flat surface on all four sides.

The machine consists of a very heavy steel base for stability. Through the top houses a vertical spindle, onto which is bolted a block containing the cutters. The spindle is controlled by a mechanism which determines how much and where the cutter profile cuts the timber.

The size of our products depends on what we can source from sawmills. Small sizes are accessible, but larger timber pieces are quite challenging to source. Large pieces of timber require large trees to be logged, which is not always possible. This causes lead times to be several months longer and also inflates the cost.

For battens that are larger in size and are being fixed to a substrate with a face fix screw, we recommend using a larger screw and more of them. If a Click-on Batten system is being used, the mounting tracks are needed to be installed closer together to add extra support and help prevent movement. A mechanical fix (screw) may also need to be added to assist the clip in taking the weight.

Often products with a custom profile are chosen to achieve the desired design intent for a project. The good news is that custom profiles can be quick to turnaround and are complimentary for large projects.

If suggestions are shared with us and become a popular request, we usually add these to our range! For example, flute and dome profiles started as custom profiles but are now part of our standard due to high demand.

As a construction technique, mass timber is defined by its use of columns, beams and boards made of multiple wood layers or pieces tightly laminated or otherwise bound together. The two mass timber types Pantelides works with are known as mass plywood panel and mass ply lam, which have several advantages, environmental and structural, over the usual building materials.

Every ton of timber grown sequesters 1.8 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A mass timber building could be 25% faster to build compared to a concrete building and result in 90% less construction traffic. Once the structure is finished, the wood goes from benefiting nature to having natural benefits.

While mass timber construction has been in use in Europe for several decades, the U.S. has been slower to adopt it, in part because strict building codes were focused on steel and concrete, treating any use of wood to construct tall buildings with caution.

The sharp corners and crisp edges of the store-bought wood was a dead giveaway that it was new. So before I got to beat up any of the boards, my first step was sanding the four edges on the top of each board using my palm sander. This wore down the crisp edge into a rounder and smoother one, so they looked older right off the bat.

I also used the same tool to make some line impressions across the boards. I just laid it down and hammered on top of it to create a nice long ridge. You could do the same with any long, thin object that can withstand the impact of your hammer (a long nail laid on its side would work great). I though it created the effect that some hard edge had bumped into it over the years.

If you watched the video, you can also catch a couple of techniques that I forgot to photograph: namely dragging a paint can opener to make long smooth scrapes down the length of the board (another effect that I really liked after stain was applied) and making those nail punch holes that I mentioned earlier.

Keeping in mind that we wanted a fair amount of variation from board to board, Sherry did a few tests first to see what each of the stains looked like with a light coat of stain (wiped off quickly) and a heavy coat (which was allowed to penetrate for a bit longer). Here are the test boards with the light coats on the left and the heavy coats still soaking in on the right:

We actually ended up liking both stain colors. We thought the Dark Walnut would help it relate to the bottom of the console (as well as some of the other dark woods in the room) while the Ebony would be a closer match the the gray pallet boards that originally inspired us. In reality, on a lot of the boards Sherry actually ended up using a layer of each color to achieve a tone somewhere in the middle so nothing looked too jarring.

You can see how our finished project turned out in this post (which includes yet another video!). It also includes details about how we assembled the 2ft sections into a long tabletop.

I have not tried distressing, but currently my husband has a few patina concoctions brewing in the garage to patina our newish cedar fencing. The idea is that you rub the boards with white vinegar using steel wool to give the cedar a greyish silver. It looked a little too green for my taste so we are going to try out another patina.

Love your distressed top!

I love your website! You guys have such amazing projects. I have done my fair share of distressing wood and in addition to the great techniques you used, if you are feeling adventurous you could try using a blow torch. With the type of wood you used it would make the raised grain and any imperfections black. You can also stain on top for another different effect. Thanks for all the inspiring ideas!

I found your blog just a few weeks ago, and although our relationship is still new I have a very serious question to ask the both of you: Will you adopt me, and teach me your crafty ways? But seriously I love all of your projects and I REALLY love how detailed you guys are in your step by step instructions! Thanks for sharing all that you do!

In college, I toured an upscale cabinetry factory as part of a Business Operations class. There was a whole section of the factory devoted to distressing the wood, using many similar techniques to those you described above!! :)

Oh yes! We drove all over town in search of anything in the right width and in enough bulk to cover the whole top- it was nowhere to be found. And first we tried to use pallets in our back yard but they just splintered and fell apart and took John forever to mess with so we had to abandon that idea. Thankfully we found what we needed in the end- but reclaimed wood would have been amazing if we could have hunted some down!

By showcasing the architectural and commercial viability of advanced mass timber products in construction, the competition is intended to support employment opportunities in rural communities, contribute to the health and resiliency of California forests, and advance sustainability in the built environment.

California is the largest consumer of engineered wood products west of the Mississippi River, yet almost none is produced in the state. By showcasing opportunities for mass timber, GovOps seeks to stimulate the demand for buildings constructed using mass timber and generate investor interest in potential in-state production capacity while advancing its climate change and green building objectives.

Mass timber also has the potential to help reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires in California. After a century of suppressing forest fires to protect communities, many U.S. forests are now overly dense and susceptible to large and severe fires. Mass timber products present an opportunity for large, solid structural elements to be potentially manufactured from relatively small-diameter trees as well as other traditionally lower-value resources (such as trees that are dead or dying due to bark beetles or other insects and disease). Demand for these byproducts of sustainable forest management practices helps provide a market incentive for forest thinning and other landscape restoration efforts that reduce the risk of high-severity fire. The intent of this competition is to inspire interest and support for innovative wood products among the architectural, developer and building communities as well as the general public.

Mass timber is more commonly used for construction in Europe, but the last decade has also seen an increase in use as a structural element in North America; Canada, Washington and Oregon have experienced some early success in making these products a viable alternative to traditional building materials. As a construction material, mass timber is attractive to designers for its strength, affordability, aesthetics, construction efficiency, structural performance, reduced carbon footprint, and ability to work alongside other materials as a structural element.

Demonstration projects are needed in California in order to promote mass timber usage and to increase familiarity at the local permitting and approval agencies, as well as with design practitioners, developers and construction contractors as to the viability of these products and their ability to help with current forest health issues in the state.

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