modern solid wood newel post construction

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big-all

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neighbour gave me pre painted 90mm newel off cuts to use/recycle/burn
now i looked at one and it looked like they make up staves 38mm wide and laminate in multiples to make a say 8 to give 304mm and 3 newels
now one looked like it had a giant finger joints and it was cut dead centre as the fingers looked even so decided to cut off 12mm as this would intersect the fingers off the"V"near the edge so small and large fingers but no all staves and no fingers
i was amazed last time i bought timber it was solid unlike the newel that unbelievably had 10 different bits off wood in the 90x90 slice

is this normal nowadays :oops:
 
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Wickes have been using laminate/staved newels for some years now I believe. Hemlock, so nice straight wood.

Blup
 
just surprized me a bit there where so many odd sizes [about 5]that i got the impression that trimmings would just be glued together in an endless cycle
 
Technology and cost makes if economic to do this, rather like engineered flooring.

blup
 
In the past larger diameter round work was sometimes been hollow and made from staves - mainly on weight grounds.

We've seen a lot more structural timber with is end-joined finger jointed in recent years - I was at first taken aback but the rep assured us that if it was used at the supplied cross sectional dimensions it would be as strong as a single piece of timber (these were all extremely long 3in thick C24 softwood material, up to 7.2 metres long). I suppose the lack of knowledge in the market place about timber (see Oak Furnitureland, for many examples of crap "craftsmanship") combined with the cost of timber means we have got to the point where we'll see a lot more stuff like this
 
Well, on visible work it doesn't look as nice. So, aesthetics?

Personally, I wouldn't accept one, simply because you often cannot hand plane the stuff, the joints always show through clear finishes and I also suspect that over time those joints will also telegraph through painted finishes - but that's my preference. Whilst this is a serviceable and acceptable approach for chopping boards or the like, I think there are limits
 
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Engineered (small stuff glued together) timber is (supposedly) more stable - therefore less likely to twist or otherwise go out shape than kiln dried thick stock. Does it look as nice, will it show through? Just don't know or it's personal opinion.
Fitted some glazed doors from a DIY barn supplier, found those were engineered timber veneered to look like solid. Those haven't moved since being hung some years ago.
 
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