Door frame wood

[tr3aproj]

Beginning work on the wooden door rail in a TR3A. The carpenter suspects the top rail wood is Cuban mahogany which is bowed about 5/8". Does anyone recall the factory source of the wood? You can still obtain reclaimed Cuban mahogany but would cost hundreds of dollars. Would Philippine mahogany be an adequate replacement? Are the wooden top rails commercially available?

[Menno van Rij]

Try a carpenter who builds boats (yachts etc). I opted for marine quality plywood and sealed it with -again- marine quality 2 component varnish.

 

Menno

[TR 2100]

Beginning work on the wooden door rail in a TR3A. The carpenter suspects the top rail wood is

Cuban mahogany which is bowed about 5/8". Does anyone recall the factory source of the wood?

You can still obtain reclaimed Cuban mahogany but would cost hundreds of dollars.

Would Philippine mahogany be an adequate replacement?

Are the wooden top rails commercially available?

 

 

The factory records just show this as "hardwood".

Mahogany would be too hard, I'm sure. Any reasonable quality

hardwood would be OK. Your local shop should have an offcut

or two, quite cheap.

 

I haven't heard of anyone making these commercially. It's not

too often that anyone needs them, so I can't see that it would

be a worthwhile commercial exercise.

 

I do have a record of the rough sizes, but it sounds as if

you have a pattern to work to.

 

AlanR

[rodofcv]

I've always found it strange that balsa is a hardwood!

 

Rod

[John Bazzano]

The top rails in my TR2 look an awful lot like Philippine Mahogony, which is not all that hard when compared to other hardwood like Oak, Walnut or Ash. It's also very easy to work with. Go with that!

 

John

[BRIAN H]

Most wooden body frames were made out of ASH.with it being strong and light.Hope this helps. BRIAN H

[Alec Pringle]

Ash would be a logical choice as Brian observes, but the top rails (and blocks) that I've seen are a reddish tropical hardwood, not a temperate hardwood - as were the little blocks under the elbow rails amongst Alan's parts stock. They are not decent mahogany though, just some cheap and cheerful hardwood which is relatively soft and relatively brittle. From what I've seen in the past, rather better resistance against both damp and woodworm than ash.

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

Edited March 6, 2010 by Alec Pringle

[vivdownunder]

Look for a supplier of furniture grade (select) kiln dried dressed timber, and the cheapest hardwood he has in stock will be the closest to what S-T used.

 

It isn't SE Asian Mahogany (Meranti), which wasn't seen until around the mid 70's.

 

Regards,

 

Viv.