On Mar 9, 2:24 pm, "C & S" wrote:
I have the opportunity to purchase some American Beech, sawn last spring and
stickered since at the dirt cheap price of $.40/bd/ft. I've never used the
stuff before. Goolge tells me that it is prone to twisting an splitting when
being dried, also not particularly dimensionally stable.

My question is: I can just expect 25% less yield out of a pile, or is the
stuff just ill-behaved and likely to **** me off. I'm looking for a
completely subjective qualitative 1st-hand opinion on this stuff. I would
probably just use it as a secondary wood or painted (yes I do that from time
to time) furniture. I'm guessing that "not dimmensionally stable" means -
dont even think about it for shop fixtures.

So should I pick up 100-200 bd/ft becaue it's cheap and I'll eventually use
it, or should I steer clear?


Beech has become a common substitute for maple in chairs and
tables. You can see some of the stuff at Starbucks. Once it is
cured it should behave quite well. It tends to be 'springy' and
resists splitting better than most furniture woods. It tends
to split and warp during seasoning because it does not
give up it's moisture very well, and is especially troublesome
during kiln drying. Once it is dried, those problems are past.

--

FF