Hardwood Window Frames, Door Frames, Doors What Wood Is Used?

[savageseadog]

I was thinking of using some old window frame wood but what sort of wood do they use?
Most of it looks a bit like teak, some of it seems very light.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Generally speaking, they use tree wood.

 

[Quandary]

If from the 70-80s it is probably afromosia, softish hardwood, even grain looks a bit like teak it was very popular when clear finish hardwood windows and doors were in vogue.
Correction, Afrormosia. Used to be sold as 'African Teak' classified as durable, distinctive odour.

 

[Hydrozoan]

What age windows? I think meranti is very common nowadays.

 

[savageseadog]

What age windows? I think meranti is very common nowadays.

Some old, some newish

I've noticed some of it is incredibly lightweight but I've also come across something that resembles proper quality hardwood, very heavy.

I've come across what appears to be a useful wood reference http://www.wood-database.com/

 

[PeteCooper]

Some old, some newish

I've noticed some of it is incredibly lightweight but I've also come across something that resembles proper quality hardwood, very heavy.

Weight has nothing to do with whether it is hardwood or softwood - balsa is very light but is classed as a hardwood.

 

[doug748]

Funny old business the wood trade, there are thousands of species that have been used commercially and there is no real consistency of naming or usage. You can find the wood of our Scots Pine called all sorts of different things (Red pine, White pine, Deal, Baltic pine, etc, etc) depending on where it was grown and who imported it. There is some logic in this because a Russian grown tree may produce very different timber to one from Scotland, for example.

Any ways. I would use your timber as it comes, for internal work it will be fine, as long as you have enough stuff to complete the project - matching it later could be a problem. For outside stuff it might be prudent to buy something of a known provenance unless it hardly matters. Weight is said to be not closely related to decay resistance, which depends on chemical composition afaik. The fact of it's original use should mean it will not be dreadful.

 

[guernseyman]

When I bought my cottage here it had 13 pine sash windows which rotted here and there, making maintenance a longer job - and they never looked right.
I did a deal with a cabinet maker who replaced them with utile casement windows, more like the original ones would have been. And the place looked like a million dollars.

 

[KellysEye]

Everything I made for our boat in wood was Teak.

 

[[448]]

No evidence to support this, but I would steer clear of the lightweight stuff.

 

[Keith 66]

Most hardwood window frames i have seen have been some type of Philipine mahogany, this varies from very pink & light known as Lauan & not very durable to meranti which is harder & dark red meranti which can be very hard & heavy.