Too much wood

[atgcpaul]

Queue the snickers.

I went to our local HD/Ikea type store and came home with many board feet of teak. Already S4S (although has a slight round over on all the edges), 3/4" thick, 3.5" wide, 5' long, and too good a price to pass up.

Problem is, the packers might not want to put it in our shipping crate unless it resembles furniture. I think they'll be destined for an outdoor garden bench but I don't have all my tools, etc, to build it the way I want to/know how.

I was thinking a slatted "coffee table" with a framed top would be easy but I don't even want to drill into the boards or do any milling of the ends. My wife suggested a slatted wall hanging as an art piece.

Any ideas?

[Bill in Buena Park]

I think your wife has the right idea. You might even make some feet for the bottom of the frames so they could be self-standing, thus making them 'panel room dividers'.

[dbhost]

If you are trying to solve a shipping problem, maybe hot glue it into slatted privacy screens?

[leehljp]

Queue the snickers.

I went to our local HD/Ikea type store and came home with many board feet of teak. Already S4S (although has a slight round over on all the edges), 3/4" thick, 3.5" wide, 5' long, and too good a price to pass up.

Problem is, the packers might not want to put it in our shipping crate unless it resembles furniture. I think they'll be destined for an outdoor garden bench but I don't have all my tools, etc, to build it the way I want to/know how.

I was thinking a slatted "coffee table" with a framed top would be easy but I don't even want to drill into the boards or do any milling of the ends. My wife suggested a slatted wall hanging as an art piece.

Any ideas?

On 3 different occasions I shipped wood boards (100bf to 150bf each time)surfaced 4 sides without a problem. My close friend tried it with oak boards from HD and the shipper made him take them out. He asked me how I was able to do it. I said "Simple, they won't let you ship raw lumber. I shipped unfinished book shelves, simple as that." No problems with the shippers or customs in Japan or the USA. ON the way moving back to the USA, from Japan, I still had about 150 BF of walnut, cypress, oak and cherry. I brought them back as unfinished book shelves. Customs went through my shippings both ways. No Problem.

OH, and on my way back, I had several bowl blanks and 2 slabs of Japanese wood 2 inches thick (kiln dried surfaced 2S) and about 2' X 2' for bowl turning that I listed as bowl blanks for turning. Again, no problems.

Boards/lumber are a no-no
Kits/bookshelves are OK.
Choice of Semantics matter!

Lastly, my friend did exactly as I did the next time he was home (USA) and returning to Japan - unfinished book shelves. It worked fine. IF it makes you feel better, include several square concrete blocks as spacers for the "book shelves." There are plenty of magazines and Pinterest photos of that kind of book shelves.

[atgcpaul]

If you are trying to solve a shipping problem, maybe hot glue it into slatted privacy screens?

Hot glue! That is an excellent idea!

[atgcpaul]

IF it makes you feel better, include several square concrete blocks as spacers for the "book shelves." There are plenty of magazines and Pinterest photos of that kind of book shelves.

I did that after college, but I'm not adding the weight of cinder blocks to our max storage weight limit.

I have a bunch of plywood from the shipping crates so I think I'll rip 4" strips, cut them to 12" lengths, and then hot glue them to 3 planks to make "bookshelves". In my experience, the packers just want to be done fast so I think it'll pass muster.

When we packed out of the US, I had several 14' long walnut planks that wouldn't fit in storage crates so they got stored in their oversized storage area along with things like ladders. A year in, my wife's employer did an audit and determined they weren't going to pay for lumber to sit in the oversized storage and I could either take it out or pay $25/month to keep it there. We had another year before we came home so I really had no choice but to pay myself. When we were between tours my Dad brought his trailer to the facility and now they're stored upright in his garage. He didn't want them laying on the floor but upright so I had to cut them down to 12' at the warehouse. Broke my heart, but free storage is free storage. Luckily he has tall ceilings.

The employer actually doesn't want any lumber stored in any crate either and there is definitely lumber in there, too, but I guess they missed that in the audit.

[capncarl]

I suppose you could bundle them together and tape a copy of some bed frame assembly instructions in an obvious location.

[atgcpaul]

Nothing like a move looming over your head to get you motivated, huh?

The glue gun was no match for the oily teak. The plywood battens held for about 10min and then started popping off so I resorted to a single screw at the end of the two boards. Then the two panels were joined with a 50cent pair of hinges. I think the screws are small enough that they'll be easy enough to fill with sawdust and glue down the road. I need to fashion a few more panels like this with shorter boards and then I'm thinking I'll slap a little finish on them just to give them a little more legitimacy. Peeling the large barcode sticker and sticker residue takes more time than making the panels.

[leehljp]

Room divider! Excellent!