Reclaiming Lock Gates - what fun!

Swing_blade_Andy · April 29, 2004, 01:16:44 PM

Guys
Have a go at my current project.

http://gallery55364.fotopic.net/c167030.html

The centre and the west of France is crisscrossed with canals though which most of the commerce travelled for nearly the last 400 years.

My village is the last Lock adjacent to the the Main Atlantic port of La Rochelle. These Lock gates have been here for 150 years or more and have suffered a bit so they are to be replaced. The contractor was going to burn the timber but I managed to get them off them for a song.

There are 6 gates, they weigh more than 3.5 tonnes each. The main beams are 4.6m(16ft) long and 300mm square(1ft) the cross beams are also 300mm square and about 2.7m (9ft) long and thers a great pile of deck boards whcih are 80mm thick held on with hand forged square nails. There will be more than 2.6 cubic meters of timber yield per gate.

I have spent the last 5 man days unraveling the giant gigsaw puzzel to deconstruct the first one. It was great fun - 5 to go. When I'm finished I'll have 30 cross beams and 10 primary beams and a great big pile of deck timber. Its all Finest French oak and ... well lets just say that its well seasoned.

The next step is to power wash all the mussels and tar off and then, after it dries I will bath them in Tung oil to seal it.

I think that these will make the framework for the extension on my house - or I might sell them I haven't decided.

What do you guys think?

Andrew

Tom · April 29, 2004, 02:24:56 PM

I think you are a lucky son-of-a -gun. :D

I don't know whether French Oak would be any better than any other kind of Oak but being over 150 years since the trees were cut sure makes them special. I would say that they are worthy of a sign being attached to them when you use them in your house. It would also be great if they were exposed so that others can appreciate them too.

You're an honorable fellow to have salvaged that wood. Take pictures and write a book. This could be a chapter or two. ;D

Bro. Noble · April 29, 2004, 03:19:35 PM

Andrew,

I don't know how the market there would be, but here you could probably saw fireplace mantles out of them and sell them at a good price.

Tom, that Andy does indeed come up with some interesting projects. None more interesting (with beautiful pictures) than when he did some sawing for some Galloway Hookers. He e-mailed me some pictures, but I never could get him to post them. I'll bet everyone would really be interested seeing them ;)

Haytrader · April 29, 2004, 03:34:54 PM

I wood
I wood

:D

iain · April 29, 2004, 04:02:32 PM

a few years back i made some cabinets out of lock gate oak
had some stunning streaks and shading in it

open up some of it and have a look

ps it will stink when you work it ;D

Swing_blade_Andy · April 30, 2004, 02:55:30 AM

Hey guys

Thanks for the rap.

Galway Hookers, again, OK Noble I'll dig out the pics, (You'll especially love her lovely lines, her tightly tucked rear and her imposing presence. She looks especially good against the setting sun.)

Watch this space for more.

Iain
I'm certainly going to make some furniture out of the timber. There is so much of it that we'll not need to get any new logs for a while.

I love that fact that these gate might very well have farewelled Napoleon as he was transported to Ille d'Aix which is the Prison Island of the coast here, on his way to St Helena Island off Cannes.

Anyone any suggestion how to get the tar off???

What do you think about Tung oil as a preservative and moisture sealer???

Andrew

Frank_Pender · April 30, 2004, 10:19:51 AM

Andy,
As to the tar you might thnk of putting them in a very cold container and chipping it off.

twoodward15 · April 30, 2004, 10:57:14 AM

Hi Andy, I see you are from France. I plan on being there in the beginning of December this year for a couple of weeks. I will be in Martigues (hopefully). I'm sure it is a sore subject, but I'm in the military and we will be deployed to Istres for the month. Anyway, on to the big stuff, I am looking to do a little bit of woodworking sight seeing while I am there. Any places I should see? I was there a couple of years ago and saw a lot of the roman ruins and did a lot of the wine tours (grew up on a grape farm over here). I'd like to pick up a little bit of olive wood and see what else there is to see. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!!!!

Swing_blade_Andy · May 02, 2004, 12:35:57 PM

Hi Woodward

What Can I say ' you lucky sod'.
I presume you mean Martigues in the Rhone Valley near Marseille on the Med.

What you can see will all depend on whether you'll have a car or be relying on trains. If you can give me some more info like how far you want to roam and how long you will have for leave without being declared AWOL. then I can come up with some hints as my Aunt lives in that region.

There are a lot of opportunities to get Olive wood as the South, expecially Provance which is carpeted with olive trees. In Fact you can buy 100year old potted Olive trees in the local Supermarket would you believe. I'm just about to pick up two of them for my garden. Just ask around when you get there - I hope that you speak/understand French (or at least the brand of French they speak in the South).

My Village is about 850 km north of where you will be so I don't think that I'll be much help but I'll do what I can if you let me know some more details.

Bonne Chance, Bonne travaile

Andrew
Buy the way what was the 'sore subject'?

Swing_blade_Andy · May 02, 2004, 12:40:17 PM

Oh Frank

About the tar.

I plan to make a carpenters horse and scrape it off with a draw knife. Do you think that this is feasible?? Does anyone have some good plans or pics of such a horse - thats the wooden one where you can hold the timber one one end with a lever you push with your foot.

There is about 100 sq meters of deck to do as well as the beams. With them I guess that a powere washer is the only solution.

Don't know - have to try it.

Andrew

twoodward15 · May 03, 2004, 11:27:33 AM

Hi Andy, I guess the sore subject is that I'm military going to France, we get bad publicity over here that the French people don't like us very much. Anyway, I want to thank you for responding. I should be there for 2 weeks and if everything goes as well as it did last time, I'll have more time off than I work. I think we will work 2 on 2 off or 2 on 3 off (days). I'll basically be looking for someplace to buy the olive wood already dried (sawmill or lumber yard). I prefer the sawmill because it gives me a chance to talk to the locals. We will definately have transportation. Last time we had mini-vans. I do alright with the language fortunately. We generally try to stay within 6 hours the hotel, so it gives us a good roaming distance. the hotel we stayed at last time was perfect. It was in a great location, just outside of the business district in Martigues. It was an excellent trip and I can't wait to be back there. Thanks for the help Andy.
Todd Woodward

sawinmontana · May 07, 2004, 05:56:17 PM

This is a picture of a shaving horse I just finished building. I used the book "The WoodWrights Book" by Roy Underhill for the plans.

Scott

ADfields · May 07, 2004, 08:08:19 PM

I would think a steam cleaner could get the tar off. Never tried it but they can cut plastic if you get to close so should also cut tar. ;)
Andy

Swing_blade_Andy · May 09, 2004, 09:37:00 AM

THanks for the input guys.

I'll try both the drawknife and the powerwasher approach and get back to you both.

Thats a cool as anything shaving bench 'Sawinmontana' just wondering when the girl with the low cut blouse comes along to do the shaving thing. I gotta get me one of them..

Andrew