I lucked into a piece of old-growth redwood reclaimed from an old water tank. I made one piece of furniture out of it, and have a bit left which I'd like to use for a second piece. However, there isn't much left and if I could glue a couple of pieces together I could gain flexibility in design.
Any problem just using some Titebond I or III? Keep in mind that, while I have cut off any rot, this is reclaimed wood from a water tank, out in the weather for easily 50 years, and the texture is almost crystalline. Structurally fine for what I want, I just don't want the glue line to separate in a few years.
Howzbout a SWAG? If you cut to unexposed wood, that part will likely take the glue real well. The oxidized wood won't play much of a part in the structural integrity, so don't worry too much about that.
I'd want to make sure that the glueup sections were completely dry, after processing, before glueup.
My experiences with redwood are that 'If it's pink, it's good.'
I have redwood this and that about this place. Makes me something of an odd guy - I'm in Texas. My redwood came from my trees when we lived on the western slope of the coastal mountains in Northern Ca.
It really depends on the acid content. 50 years leaching on the inside and outside means like there is little acid left.
I just had to take apart a large bench I built in 1986. That bench lived on top of cement and later upon a Redwood Deck. My 4 level deck was over 3000 square feet and we had planned on adding another 1000 but we survived the Santa Clara Meltdown and retired without to much loss. The wood was just fine on the outside, I was cleaning up the outside so my wife would have another project from them. I found that once moving here, and they dried out in the hot Texas sun, termites invaded and left trails. No acid to kill them off quickly.
When living on the coast - our home was built upon a massive rootball of our Redwoods. I had just over 100 100' or higher coastal in several sub species. The house was built before we owned it but we got to have some of the wood that was left in logs that were not toted off.
I called in a band saw sawmill and got the wood cut up into over sized lumber. This is tough stuff and we have several large pieces with us.
Not a bit of glue in them. But I have used Epoxy. See if you can find some deck /builder glue that lists redwood on the species list.
I plan on getting some auto Bondo and fill (with putty knife the 1/4" wide trails down the 2x4x8' sticks that I planned down.
I suspect the crystal like surface might be just that - a chemical reaction between the high tannin oils and lime in the water.
Mart> I lucked into a piece of old-growth redwood reclaimed from an old water
My first thought is is should be fine. Redwood is a fairly soft wood and should absorb the glue well. If you have a few scraps you might plane them and make a test specimen. Glue it up and apply a load until if fractures and see what happens:
- If the glue joint fails = bad.
- If the wood fails separate from the glue joint = good.
First Redwood is legally labeled as a Hardwood. It is used to build multistory houses. Fir is best for King and Queen Beams due to long strands.
The weathered and limed redwood likely takes glue nicely. I'd use peg joints instead of glue if possible anyway.
When living on the West coast I had a 2 cord wood bin. That was a tough bin. I used it for almost 10 years before I moved. Hated to leave it there but he new owners fell in love with it when we sold the house to them.
The oil vaporizes over time. Old wood has little oil.
Mart> >> I lucked into a piece of old-growth redwood reclaimed from an old water
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