Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with
ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped wood
pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking for
suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be hardwood
(as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went to the
hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any hardwood boards
of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as large as 2x4). But
right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4 foot lengths of
fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full length fir 2x4s
sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about 6 times greater
(per lineal foot)!

After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition told me
that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles
themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall. I
brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling, I
quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut through
than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with oak
hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the
wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much g. But what's got me
writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain to me
how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much sturdier
than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed (apparently) of
the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does it have a
designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to specify it by?.
Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used for house
framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and lots of money
is not)?

Thanx,

Ken

"Ken Moiarty" wrote in message
news:VMIAe.1939321$Xk.246912@pd7tw3no...
Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with
ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped
wood pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking
for suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be
hardwood (as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went
to the hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any
hardwood boards of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as large
as 2x4). But right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4
foot lengths of fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full
length fir 2x4s sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about
6 times greater (per lineal foot)!

After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition told me
that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles
themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall. I
brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling, I
quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut through
than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with oak
hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the
wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much g. But what's got
me writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain to
me how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much
sturdier than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed
(apparently) of the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does it
have a designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to specify
it by?. Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used
for house framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and
lots of money is not)?

Perhaps the wood for the wedges was indeed hardwood, and was simply
mis-labelled by Home Depot. Alternately, some stealthy shopper may have
stuck a fir bar code on a scrap 4 foot length of oak, to get a cheaper
price and get out the door without a chance of persecution. In my
experience, fir is fir, and it is all relatively soft , but probably fine
for a low-stress wedge like you needed.. The kiln dried or pressure treated
fir is more resistant to sawing, but should be easily told from hardwood. My
wheelbarrow frame is made of a true hardwood, either oak or hickory, I
think.

"Ken Moiarty" wrote in message
news:VMIAe.1939321$Xk.246912@pd7tw3no...
Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow
with
ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge"
shaped wood
pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking
for
suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be
hardwood
(as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went to
the
hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any hardwood
boards
of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as large as 2x4).
But
right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4 foot
lengths of
fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full length fir
2x4s
sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about 6 times
greater
(per lineal foot)!

After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition
told me
that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles
themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall.
I
brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling,
I
quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut
through
than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with
oak
hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the
wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much g. But
what's got me
writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain
to me
how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much
sturdier
than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed
(apparently) of
the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does it have a
designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to specify
it by?.
Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used for
house
framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and lots o
f money
is not)?

Thanx,

Ken


Look at a table of maximum bending stresses for various species of
lumber. You never know what they will have at HD-sometimes doug fir,
sometimes spruce-hemlock, SPF, etc.

You probably picked up a piece of SYP (southern yellow pine) from the
staircase area..

I can't address the fir vs. fir issue, however I'll touch a couple related
points:

The designation "hardwood" is actually a designation defined by the cell
structure of the wood, not hardness. Some "softwoods" are harder than some
"hardwoods".

I did some demolition in my bathroom a while back, exposing a wall. The
2x4's with which that wall was constructed would barely take a 16D nail
without it (the nail) bending over. They looked like regular 2x4's but felt
like iron.

Also, the lumber industry has a term "SPF" (spruce,pine,fir) meaning one of
the above, we might know but we don't care. I would not be too confident in
home center classification of wood beyond "conifer-flavored wood product".

Steve



"Ken Moiarty" wrote in message
news:VMIAe.1939321$Xk.246912@pd7tw3no...
Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with
ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped
wood
pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking for
suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be
hardwood
(as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went to the
hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any hardwood
boards
of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as large as 2x4). But
right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4 foot lengths of
fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full length fir 2x4s
sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about 6 times greater
(per lineal foot)!

After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition told me
that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles
themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall. I
brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling, I
quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut through
than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with oak
hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the
wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much g. But what's got
me
writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain to me
how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much sturdier
than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed (apparently)
of
the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does it have a
designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to specify it
by?.
Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used for house
framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and lots of
money
is not)?

Thanx,

Ken

Ken Moiarty wrote:

In looking for suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed
it should be hardwood (as opposed to softwood), for strength,
durability, etc.

Not a real good criteria...

Basically, "hardwood" refers to a deciduous tree, "softwood" refers to
an evergreen tree. Balsa is a hardwood tree but the wood is soft.
Southern yellow pine is a softwood tree but the wood is hard.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Ken Moiarty wrote:
Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with
ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped wood
pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking for
suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be hardwood
(as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went to the
hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any hardwood boards
of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as large as 2x4). But
right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4 foot lengths of
fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full length fir 2x4s
sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about 6 times greater
(per lineal foot)!

After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition told me
that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles
themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall. I
brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling, I
quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut through
than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with oak
hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the
wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much g. But what's got me
writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain to me
how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much sturdier
than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed (apparently) of
the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does it have a
designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to specify it by?.
Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used for house
framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and lots of money
is not)?

Thanx,

Ken

Even within the same species of wood there is a great variation in
hardness. Lumber grades reflect this. From Number 1 select down to
'common'. Common nowadays is what used to be 'cull' and went mostly to
box companies or the scrap pile back when I was a kid. I built a set
of racks for my PU about 10 years ago. Found a 2x4 of number 1 select
fir for the stakes. Growth rings so tight they were almost too close
to count. Paid through the nose for it ($17.00 IIRC) but...

Harry K

Ken Moiarty wrote:
Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with
ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped wood
. . .
right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4 foot lengths of
fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full length fir 2x4s
sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about 6 times greater
(per lineal foot)!


For reasons that I don't entirely understand, pine and fir that
grows slowly (As a second generation of trees in a mature forest)
is much harder than fast-grown pine in a plantation, where the
reverse is true for hardwood.

Doesn't the wheelbarrow section have pre-made replacement
handles, anyway?

--Goedn

DadOh has it correct. See http://www.diyprojects.info/bb/ftopic14689.html
for more info.

I'll quote part.
Q: A Softwood is a soft wood and a Hardwood is a hard wood. Right?
A: False. A softwood is the wood of a conifer (or a Ginkgo), a hardwood is
the wood of a dicot tree. The hardest hardwood is some three times as hard
as the hardest softwood, but the hardest softwood is some four times as hard
as the softest hardwood. The softest woods in the world are hardwoods.


"Ken Moiarty" wrote in message
news:VMIAe.1939321$Xk.246912@pd7tw3no...
Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with
ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped
wood pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking
for suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be
hardwood (as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went
to the hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any
hardwood boards of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as large
as 2x4). But right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4
foot lengths of fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full
length fir 2x4s sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about
6 times greater (per lineal foot)!

After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition told me
that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles
themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall. I
brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling, I
quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut through
than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with oak
hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the
wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much g. But what's got
me writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain to
me how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much
sturdier than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed
(apparently) of the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does it
have a designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to specify
it by?. Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used
for house framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and
lots of money is not)?

Thanx,

Ken

The less sun the tree gets, the less it grows and the tighter the rings.
That's why the best lumber is cut from the North side of a mountain.

--
JerryD(upstateNY)

For reasons that I don't entirely understand, pine and fir that
grows slowly (As a second generation of trees in a mature forest)
is much harder than fast-grown pine in a plantation, where the
reverse is true for hardwood.

Doesn't the wheelbarrow section have pre-made replacement
handles, anyway?

--Goedn

If I recall correctly from Hoadley, "Understanding Wood":
- for softwoods, slower growth results in harder wood (and I think it's
because the earlywood is harder than latewood in evergreens, so you
want thin bands of latewood)
- for hardwoods, faster growth results in more latewood which is harder
(and I recall a series of pictures of a ring-porous wood which
demonstrated this phenomenon)

(I'm posting from google groups; I dunno how to force google to quote
message text)

- Daniel H

I beleive you missed the point Jerry. Yes you are correct that a
slower-growing tree has tighter rings, however, it is not stronger.

IIRC the explanation to why fast-growing hardwoods are stronger has to do
with the proportion early to late wood. Apparently, early wood is stronger
than the late wood and wider rings (given the same species) indicate more
prolific early growth.

That said, I think tighter grain looks nicer.

Steve
Also in upstate NY



"Joe" wrote in message
.. .
The less sun the tree gets, the less it grows and the tighter the rings.
That's why the best lumber is cut from the North side of a mountain.

--
JerryD(upstateNY)

For reasons that I don't entirely understand, pine and fir that
grows slowly (As a second generation of trees in a mature forest)
is much harder than fast-grown pine in a plantation, where the
reverse is true for hardwood.

Doesn't the wheelbarrow section have pre-made replacement
handles, anyway?

--Goedn

"Ken Moiarty" wrote in message
news:VMIAe.1939321$Xk.246912@pd7tw3no...
Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with
ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped
wood
pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking for
suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be
hardwood
(as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went to the
hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any hardwood
boards
of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as large as 2x4). But
right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4 foot lengths of
fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full length fir 2x4s
sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about 6 times greater
(per lineal foot)!

After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition told me
that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles
themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall. I
brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling, I
quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut through
than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with oak
hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the
wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much g. But what's got
me
writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain to me
how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much sturdier
than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed (apparently)
of
the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does it have a
designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to specify it
by?.
Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used for house
framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and lots of
money
is not)?

Thanx,

Ken



The piece in the hardwood section was probably a "Select" grade or vertical
grain ("VG") that had been kiln dried to remove the moisture content and is
used for exposed purposes like furniture. Beams under joists in a home
(around here at least) have to be Doug Fir #2 or better. They cannot be Hem
Fir.

Doug Fir is much stronger than Hem Fir and actually is not really a fir, it
is only called one. It is a species all to itself.

Most studs are not Doug Fir they are usually Hem Fir which is which is
cheaper and is Western Hemlock or some variety of fir such as Grand Fir,
California Red Fir, Noble Fir, White Fir, or Pacific Silver Fir .
When you buy Hem Fir it could be any of the above.

CR

"Goedjn" wrote in message
...

[...] Doesn't the wheelbarrow section have pre-made replacement
handles, anyway?

--Goedn

Yes, the wheelbarrow "handles" I used were pre-made replacements. In case I
didn't make myself clear... it was the wedge-shaped wood sections (mounted
between the handles and the wheelbarrow tub) that I bought the 2x4 wood for.

Ken

BTW, I couldn't buy the replacment handles at my local HomeDepot (or any of
its nearby competitors). They used to sell them, this I do recall. But now
they only sell the whole wheelbarrow, which would have cost me $129 (CDN).
(I had to drive out into the boonies where I was able to buy replacment
handles for $30 at a farmer's supply outfit.) Not sure whether to think of
this as a "clueless urban consumers market" driven situation, or more
cynically as just marketing-strategy aimed at maximizing whole wheelbarrow
sales by withholding the obvious, less economically wasteful common-sense
alternative. Or probably, as per usual, a little of both... g

Thank you for this link!

Ken


"No" wrote in message ...
DadOh has it correct. See http://www.diyprojects.info/bb/ftopic14689.html
for more info.

I'll quote part.
Q: A Softwood is a soft wood and a Hardwood is a hard wood. Right?
A: False. A softwood is the wood of a conifer (or a Ginkgo), a hardwood is
the wood of a dicot tree. The hardest hardwood is some three times as hard
as the hardest softwood, but the hardest softwood is some four times as
hard
as the softest hardwood. The softest woods in the world are hardwoods.


"Ken Moiarty" wrote in message
news:VMIAe.1939321$Xk.246912@pd7tw3no...
Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with
ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped
wood pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking
for suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be
hardwood (as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went
to the hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any
hardwood boards of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as
large
as 2x4). But right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4
foot lengths of fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full
length fir 2x4s sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about
6 times greater (per lineal foot)!

After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition told
me
that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles
themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall. I
brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling, I
quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut through
than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with oak
hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the
wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much g. But what's got
me writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain to
me how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much
sturdier than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed
(apparently) of the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does
it
have a designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to
specify
it by?. Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used
for house framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and
lots of money is not)?

Thanx,

Ken

"Ken Moiarty" wrote in message
news:6V1Be.1946977$Xk.391792@pd7tw3no...

BTW, I couldn't buy the replacment handles at my local HomeDepot (or any
of its nearby competitors). They used to sell them, this I do recall.
But now they only sell the whole wheelbarrow, which would have cost me
$129 (CDN). (I had to drive out into the boonies where I was able to buy
replacment handles for $30 at a farmer's supply outfit.) Not sure whether
to think of this as a "clueless urban consumers market" driven situation,
or more cynically as just marketing-strategy aimed at maximizing whole
wheelbarrow sales by withholding the obvious, less economically wasteful
common-sense alternative. Or probably, as per usual, a little of both...
g


Nope, concession to reality. Cheap wheel barrows seldom outlast their
handles. I'm sure they would have ordered a set for you, but having a set
in inventory for each model they've sold for the past say, ten years would
be plainly bad business.

I ended up making new handles for mine, then a couple of friends' who saw
mine. Elm makes a great handle.

"Ken Moiarty" writes:

"Goedjn" wrote in message
...

[...] Doesn't the wheelbarrow section have pre-made replacement
handles, anyway?

--Goedn

Yes, the wheelbarrow "handles" I used were pre-made replacements. In case I
didn't make myself clear... it was the wedge-shaped wood sections (mounted
between the handles and the wheelbarrow tub) that I bought the 2x4 wood for.

Ken

BTW, I couldn't buy the replacment handles at my local HomeDepot (or any of
its nearby competitors).

Maybe you should have contacted the manufacturer.

I bought a wheelbarrow at HD a while back and the tire went
flat. After much frustration trying to fix it I emailed
the manufacturer to find out what the trick was.
Turns out the wheel has a lifetime
guarantee. They sent me a new one no charge.

As a contractor I can tell you Home Depot and Lowe's are by far the last
place I "choose" to shop. This problem with the replacements is typical.
In my case I now just buy 1" rigid steel pipe and drill holes in them. I am
a contractor superintendent and use one on a regular basis and just really
learned this trick from others thru the years.
As far as wood you can get som hickory or red oak and round the handles with
a lathe or something, but that is alot more expensive and time consuming.

Hope It helps,
Andy W.
Superintendent
TLC Diversified

"Ken Moiarty" wrote in message
news:6V1Be.1946977$Xk.391792@pd7tw3no...

"Goedjn" wrote in message
...

[...] Doesn't the wheelbarrow section have pre-made replacement
handles, anyway?

--Goedn

Yes, the wheelbarrow "handles" I used were pre-made replacements. In case
I
didn't make myself clear... it was the wedge-shaped wood sections (mounted
between the handles and the wheelbarrow tub) that I bought the 2x4 wood
for.

Ken

BTW, I couldn't buy the replacment handles at my local HomeDepot (or any
of
its nearby competitors). They used to sell them, this I do recall. But
now
they only sell the whole wheelbarrow, which would have cost me $129 (CDN).
(I had to drive out into the boonies where I was able to buy replacment
handles for $30 at a farmer's supply outfit.) Not sure whether to think
of
this as a "clueless urban consumers market" driven situation, or more
cynically as just marketing-strategy aimed at maximizing whole wheelbarrow
sales by withholding the obvious, less economically wasteful common-sense
alternative. Or probably, as per usual, a little of both... g

"ANDY WIERSMA" wrote in message
news:RqdBe.230$3F4.18@trnddc03...
As a contractor I can tell you Home Depot and Lowe's are by far the last
place I "choose" to shop. This problem with the replacements is typical.
In my case I now just buy 1" rigid steel pipe and drill holes in them. I
am
a contractor superintendent and use one on a regular basis and just really
learned this trick from others thru the years.
As far as wood you can get som hickory or red oak and round the handles
with
a lathe or something, but that is alot more expensive and time consuming.

My grandfather, a thrifty junkyard welder of a farmer, just welded big pipes
to all his wheelbarrows. They did not wear out or break.

And if you are using one inch OD pipe, you can get some bicycle or weight
training type foam grips. Some of these grips are very rugged and will add
to hand comfort.

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 05:44:21 GMT, "Ken Moiarty"
wrote:

In looking for suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be hardwood
(as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc.


Go to the local photocopier importer. The shipping pallets are often
made of hardwood, Oak I believe. The palllet corner supports are
often a 4" x 4" Oak block. The rest of the Oak pallet is also useful.
They will only be too glad to let you take away their pallets. If not
try other warehouse type businesses that have shipping pallets and ask
them if any is made of hardwood. Again they are only to happy to give
them away.

"George" George@least wrote in message
...
[...] Nope, concession to reality. Cheap wheel barrows seldom outlast
their handles.

The wheelbarrow in question is old, but not at all one of those cheap ones
and except for the handles (and associated other wood parts), is far from
being worn out in any sense.


I'm sure they would have ordered a set for you,

No. They said they didn't and wouldn't.

but having a set in inventory for each model they've sold for the past
say, ten years would be plainly bad business.

Wooden handles (for this ubiquitous type of wheelbarrow; that is, made to
use wooden handles) are standard issue. Parts for alternative models or
designs of wheelbarrow (i.e. which don't employ this common issue wooden
handle) are another matter. My quote of $129 (CDN) to replace my
wheelbarrow is based on what my local HomeDepot charges for a new
wooden-handled type wheelbarrow. Essentially, these vendors would have me
buy a whole new wooden-handled type wheelbarrow when, in a manner of
speaking, all I'd be getting out of my purchase would be the wooden handles
(plus a little saved labor)!


I ended up making new handles for mine, then a couple of friends' who saw
mine.

Yeah, making my own handles was my "plan B" option. Don't have a lathe, but
my nephew who works as an apprentice at a woodworking shop would happily
take care of the lathing aspect. Had no idea what kind of wood to use
though.

Elm makes a great handle.

Elm, eh? I'll remember that if I ever find I need to make my own in the
future. Thanks.

Ken

In article aGhBe.1952269$6l.1462312@pd7tw2no, Ken Moiarty
wrote:

Elm, eh? I'll remember that if I ever find I need to make my own in the
future. Thanks.

If you plan on cutting your own, check if there are cutting
restrictions due to Dutch Elm Disease. Here, we can't cut between April
and September.

djb

--
~ Stay Calm... Be Brave... Wait for the Signs ~
------------------------------------------------------
One site: http://www.balderstone.ca
The other site, with ww linkshttp://www.woodenwabbits.com

Thanks for the clarification on the "fir" designation... In my original
post, I was assuming (I now realize, wrongly) that "fir" necessarily meant,
Douglas Fir.

Ken


"CR" wrote in message
...

"Ken Moiarty" wrote in message
news:VMIAe.1939321$Xk.246912@pd7tw3no...
Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with
ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped
wood
pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking for
suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be
hardwood
(as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went to the
hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any hardwood
boards
of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as large as 2x4). But
right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4 foot lengths
of
fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full length fir 2x4s
sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about 6 times greater
(per lineal foot)!

After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition told
me
that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles
themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall. I
brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling, I
quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut through
than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with oak
hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the
wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much g. But what's got
me
writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain to me
how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much
sturdier
than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed (apparently)
of
the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does it have a
designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to specify it
by?.
Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used for house
framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and lots of
money
is not)?

Thanx,

Ken



The piece in the hardwood section was probably a "Select" grade or
vertical
grain ("VG") that had been kiln dried to remove the moisture content and
is
used for exposed purposes like furniture. Beams under joists in a home
(around here at least) have to be Doug Fir #2 or better. They cannot be
Hem
Fir.

Doug Fir is much stronger than Hem Fir and actually is not really a fir,
it
is only called one. It is a species all to itself.

Most studs are not Doug Fir they are usually Hem Fir which is which is
cheaper and is Western Hemlock or some variety of fir such as Grand Fir,
California Red Fir, Noble Fir, White Fir, or Pacific Silver Fir .
When you buy Hem Fir it could be any of the above.

CR