Saving dry/brittle wood strip

[Jorge Hedges]

Hello All!

 

I was gifted a nice amount of wood strip, but I find it to be dry/brittle.

 

Is there anything that can be applied to the wood to save this fair amount of wood strip?  Maybe linseed oil?

 

Thanks!

 

Jorge

 

[Charles Green]

Tell us the wood type and dimensions.

[Jaager]

A bit of exploration about wood:

Some of it is 100's if not more years old before it is even cut.  Except for a thin layer just under the bark, it is dead even on the hoof.

In a living tree, it is wet.  One of its jobs is to circulate water and nutrients.   When wood is cut and milled, one of the other processes is to get the excess water out = seasoning'

Wood "likes" water.  It will always have a water content that is in proportion to the concentration of water vapor in the air surrounding it.  Wood cannot get drier than this.

Wood is cellulose and lignin.  Cellulose is a polymer of sugars.  It will oxidize.  Very slowly if it is just in contact with atmospheric oxygen at ambient temp.   Very quickly at 451 F. in the presence of oxygen,  or an an aqueous environment and exposed to the right enzymes from gut bacteria.  The reverse is that exposed to elevated temp in the absence of oxygen, it will reduce to elemental carbon - charcoal.

 

Old brittle wood is probably that way because it is a species of young brittle wood.  The dry part is limited by the relative humidity.  Every species of wood in an environment will have about the same degree of "dryness".   The cure to your problem is to use a more appropriate species of wood.   

Edited February 21, 2023 by Jaager

[Jorge Hedges]

Hello Jaager!

 

Thanks for your feedback... these I am guessing that were included in a Mamoli Victory kit that was incomplete, so the wood was gifted to me.  Either they are crazy old, or like you mentioned, the wood was not the appropriate one at the time.

 

Thinking of testing Linseed oil vs. Tung oil and see results.  Also read that a slight, moist wrap would help.

 

I'll see if I can get the wood types, in case it helps.

 

Thanks!

 

Jorge

[Jaager]

Jorge,

 

I mean this with no degree of authority.  More in the way of an old farmer telling a soldier:  you might want to go another way than walking thru the mind field (as well as minefield)  that is in the direction that you are going.

 

Are you sure that the person who made this gift to you is really a friend?😉

 

Without doing more than a superficial inspection I have the following poor opinion of the original iteration of Mamoli :

 

The number of molds is not adequate for the degree of support needed.

The  relationship of the plans to those of the actual ship is an accident  if it happens to be close.

It looks to me as though the same plans were used for the hull of the old versions of these three:  Beagle  - Bounty  - Endeavor

The trash wood - only good for making pallets - this quality of species used has been mentioned more than once. 

There is no real remediation.  Even if you can do something to reverse the effects of age, the wood that you have was probably sprouted as junk. 

Alchemy has always been a delusion, a mind altering substance generated dream.  Your efforts will probably be a form of alchemy.

 

There are plenty of plans of Victory 1765 floating around.  A check to see if the Mamoli plans lines are close to being authentic may be prudent.

 

I have been doing a bit of lofting and I find that the difference between even a 90 gun liner and a 100+ gun liner is more than just 10 more guns would suggest.

There is a significant jump.  A 100 gun liner is a monster.  It is so much work.  If all that you want is a decorator style model, this Mamoli project may be all that you need.

If your purpose is a bit more serious,  you may wish to begin with a better foundation.  Not matter your choice, this project will be a significant time sink.

 

Dean

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Jaager

[Jorge Hedges]

I have no plans whatsoever to build the Victory… there’s just deck hardware and wood.   No prints either.

 

I was asking about the wood, to see if I could use it in my other, way simpler projects… if I were to build a Victory, I would go the Caldercraft route, as it has been mentioned that it should be the best version out there.

 

Thanks for the heads-up anyway… always good to have input!!!

[Jaager]

There is a joy involved with working with species of wood that are appropriate for our uses.

An unfortunate factor is when a wood with a limited supply and is harvested from the wild reaches fad status.  The result is a high price and or unavailability.

Harvesting your own - making a deal for tool use if you do not have them would be productive and sustainable.

 

Is Calycophyllum candidissimum - Lemonwood, Degame  grown in Puerto Rico?   Eriobotrya japonica -Loquat, Japanese Plum?   Citrus sp. - Orange/Lemon/Lime?   Zanthoxylum flavum - West Indian Satinwood?  Any species of Rosewood?

 

Going domestic is less expensive.  Using trees that are too small for commercial exploitation opens many more possibilities.   Most authors and members live in temperate or colder regions so species that we can get are the ones written about.  That does not mean that wood that is growing close to you cannot be just as useful.

[Jorge Hedges]

9 hours ago, Jaager said:

There is a joy involved with working with species of wood that are appropriate for our uses.

An unfortunate factor is when a wood with a limited supply and is harvested from the wild reaches fad status.  The result is a high price and or unavailability.

Harvesting your own - making a deal for tool use if you do not have them would be productive and sustainable.

 

Is Calycophyllum candidissimum - Lemonwood, Degame  grown in Puerto Rico?   Eriobotrya japonica -Loquat, Japanese Plum?   Citrus sp. - Orange/Lemon/Lime?   Zanthoxylum flavum - West Indian Satinwood?  Any species of Rosewood?

 

Going domestic is less expensive.  Using trees that are too small for commercial exploitation opens many more possibilities.   Most authors and members live in temperate or colder regions so species that we can get are the ones written about.  That does not mean that wood that is growing close to you cannot be just as useful.

Unfortunately, I have been told that local wood is not really oriented towards model ship building.

 

One of the nicest woods here, the famous Guayacan tree, is a VERY slow grower, and is VERY hard wood to work with for miniatures.  It is mainly used for turning the mortar/pestle kitchen tool for mashing garlic and other exquisite pastes for cooking, or to prepare our famous "mofongo" dish made out plantain... basically a tool for mashing the hell out of it.

 

The others are really regular wood that is not suited, thus why I go for walnut in a local lumberyard with a limited selection of what they call exotic wood and try to see what's available every now and then.

 

Pic below is what I was given in terms of wood (in addition to 2 brand-spanking new, complete Model Shipways kits - Mayflower and Constitution - which are posted in my Disarmodel Whaleboat build log here), as well as some tools.

 

Once again, thanks for your time and observations!  Very good info you have provided.

 

 

[Roger Pellett]

If you live in Puerto Rico you may have a selection of outstanding local hardwoods that most model makers can only dream about.  The various Citrus varieties come to mind.  Boxwood is supposedly native to the Caribbean.  And Mahogany, the real stuff not its misnamed cousins was prized by the Spanish Navy as a shipbuilding timber.  I have several pieces in my stash and it’s nice stuff.  

 

I agree with Jaager.  Your gifted wood was probably poor stuff to begin with.

 

Roger

 

 

[Jaager]

None of the wood species on my list for possibles for you will be available at a commercial hardwood dealer.  Do you have local tree services?  I would doubt that firewood would be a big deal there, so that is not a likely source - it is not really all that useful here - they deal in wood that is mostly open pore and coarse grain.   Is smoking your own meat a hobby there?   Are there county extension agents for farmers?  They may know of farmers who have useful species of trees if you tell them what you are looking for. 

A two foot long log is as long as you need.  If a log has too much diameter, a wedge can bisect it. 

Any tree harvesters on the island?  The stuff that you want is the stuff in their way.  Trash that they are happy to get rid of.

You will need a "friend" with a 14" or larger bandsaw.  You supply his blades.  Study on seasoning?  Look up how to make your own kiln.  Speed will not be an imperative, so a lower temp will work - it just needs to be high enough to suspend or kill fungus and wood eating insects.

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Jaager

[Jaager]

I did not express this,  but I think that for scratch builders, this skill will become more of a necessity than a lark.  The price of the wood that we want is going up out of proportion to inflation and the availability is going down.  

The perspective that I am seeing this from is POF.  Compared to most all of the rest of a vessel,  the volume of wood required for frame timbers and the fraction that becomes waste is a whole other magnitude.