peterfc

Hi All

Sadly my favourite timber shop is closed due to a serious injury to the owner. I am in the middle of a job and need a big piece of Castanha/ Chestnut. There will be plenty of places around but after using the one place for the last 6 years i don't know of any other places to go to.

The size i am after is 210cm X 15cm X 110cm so if you know of anywhere in my area of Gois please let me know.

Thanks

Peter

GeniB

Have you looked on Alibaba.com ?... Good luck

macliam

Peter, It seems you had a pretty good relationship with Xico (or Chicco as you called him), so the best option for you would be to ask him - he'll know who's good and who to avoid in the area - and the kind of thing you want.

Anyone else's rcommendation is only as good as their experience.

peterfc

Hi All

Oooops Should be 210cm X 15cm X 10cm Not 210cm X 15cm X 110cm

This is to act as a beam after taking a wall and door away.

Peter

liveaboard

I think we're all too far away to really help.

I did a lot of carpentry and cabinet work when we renovated the house; due to bug worries, I used a tropical hardwood known to be resistant to nasty critters.

This sort of wood is sold in 2 ton [ish] bound sections of rough sliced tree.
so what you need is someone nearby who is working with the stuff [milling doors and windows or furniture making] and will sell you a bit. Anyone active in carpentry should be able to give you a name or two.

Alternatively, you could use a steel reinforced concrete beam, or a steel beam and plaster it over [cement preserves steel really well].

When I used up all the wood I'd bought, I went back to buy another lot, only to find the price had doubled.
My carpentry machinery hasn't been used much since then.

peterfc

Hi Liveaboard

Maybe time for plan B, the concrete beam would allow me to carry on and later clad as the picture shows but still i need a supply of Chestnut.

I had a pillar left after taking a wall down and clad it in Chestnut so here goes again.

Peter

liveaboard

I've had trouble finding supplies of wood other than basic fir construction material.
For fir, there's a shop just north, another a few km south.

The place where I bought the hardwood is 100km from me, and this is in the busy south.
They did deliver, but I had to be able to unload [forklift].

In Lagos there's a place that will sell all sorts of varieties in any quantity, milled or rough; but their prices are really high. I guess the warning is their catalogue; it's in Portuguese, English, and German.

The internet has been useless for these searches. It's word of mouth or just driving around and looking.

I suspect you're going to have to travel a bit. Good luck!

Nice woodwork by the way.

macliam

I had my windows and doors made locally by the local joinery using Tola, an African hardwood. He knew a place that had it stacked for the past 15 years, so it's well seasoned..... The cost came in at about the same as thermal-break aluminium. But then, I'm in the Alentejo, not the Algarve, so prices will be different.

I find Tola quite fibrous but soft (so can mark) and edges can sliver but not come off completely - so you can repair, although it will show if you just oil the wood. That's the second thing - my windows are oiled with a linseed-based oil, not varnished. Oiling means you don't have to rub down and strip off old varnish, but it has to be UV-stabilised or your windows will turn grey in no time.

But I know you like Chestnut, Peter, so again I think you need to talk to Xico, or someone like him in the area and find out fom them - because I agree that the internet is useless for this and anything in English will have prices marked up to suit.

scrubbedexpat142

Could you make a softwood / ply laminated beam instead of concrete?

liveaboard

Softwood is not advisable in Portugal for structural elements.
There are bugs here that can get in and eat the wood away.
Hardwoods are more resistant, depending on the variety.

I chose Iroko, [aka Kambala] for it's stability through humid / dry conditions as well as it's very high resistance to rot, fungus, and insects.

All wood moves, all wood rots if wet. Some just take a longer time about it.

There are hundreds of hardwoods available and different people prefer different varieties.

scrubbedexpat142

Good point!