I need to know what Ford originally used to frame out body panels specifically in '32 - what species of wood? I'm assuming maple or birch. I am looking at replicating doors for my '32 RPU and they had extensive wood framing - I want to be as accurate as possible. Thanks, Steve
I go with the oak. Thats some hard stuff to cut and the one I took the wood out of indicated it was oak from the grain.
Hank Ford used Hard Rock Maple a lot in his cars. Of course he owned the forest where the wood was harvested. A buddy just did a bunch of wood kit copying for my deuce 3w and when it came time to choose a species of wood, I was talked out of maple because it's so damn hard. Even to put screws or staples into can be a chore, so we used cherry wood.
Poplar-a hard wood with a fine grain. Henry was cheap and he owned some large tracts of land in Michigan with lots of poplar. It's easier to work with than oak and holds up well.
I'm no wood expert, but I can tell you for sure that the original wood in my '32 Ford Tudor is not oak or ash. I've been old they used poplar as overspray has indicated, and the reproduction wood I bought for the top and rear window are made of poplar.
That's right ... I had forgotten about that. Ford pioneered making charcoal "briquettes" from the scrap lumber left over from making T's (1920s). The Kingsford Company was formed by a relative of Henry Ford shortly thereafter, taking over Ford's production of charcoal. Ol' Henry was some smart cookie! A cool factoid.
I restored a very nice 1910 Ford touring for an old guy that was a serious collector and an AACA certified judge. He brought me the body and we stripped the original paint. The wood was a fine grained type hardwood and very workable. My grampa was an antique furniture restorer and I learned some about wood types but this wood baffled me. The old guy told me it was "gumwood", which I was unfamiliar with. It did look and sand a lot like poplar. I'm still not sure exactly what it was but the old guy always was very thourough on his research when he restored a car. ¶ Gumwood has been used a great many years for fine cabinet construction and furniture. For a long time it was not known in the finished wood by its rightful name American Gumwood but was called satin-walnut, hazelwood, etc., because in the hands of skillful finishers it was made to resemble other woods so closely that very few could distinguish it from those other woods. In Europe, especially, it has been used under other names and was recognized for its good qualities long before it became so popular in America, Today it is known as red gum, sap gum and sweet gum. It enjoys very extensive use for furniture, building trim, cabinet work and for many other purposes. ¶ Gumwood is a very close-grain, close-knit wood of fine texture. It is commonly called a soft wood, but is designated as a hard wood by its manufacturers. It is harder than white pine but not so hard as maple, oak and birch, so it may well be called a medium hard wood. ¶ This wood is plain or straight-sawed and also quarter-sawed, but to account for the wonderfully interesting grain figure is beyond the ability of most men today. That is one of Nature's riddles. The formation of figure in gumwood obeys no laws, apparently; it ramifies throughout the logs at random. Some trees have pronounced grain figure in the wood, some have much and some little. Soil conditions and location of individual trees affect in some mysterious way the structure of the wood. Each gumwood log produces boards of somewhat different grain figure; one will be rather subdued while another may be strong, while still another will be intricate and quite ornate. ¶ As to color, the sapwood of the gum tree makes a rather light colored wood with occasional dark brown streaks. The heartwood produces boards of a medium light brown with a reddish tinge. The lumber from the sapwood is called sap gum and the lumber from the heartwood is called red gum. ¶ Red gumwood is graded or selected to supply plain or figured wood. For fine panels and furniture the wood is veneered and when matched as to pattern produces wood which is very similar to Circassian walnut. The plain sawed gumwood finished natural or with a very light brown stain is much appreciated for interior wood trim because it produces walls of soft., subdued quality that is very rich for a background of a decorative scheme. The quarter-sawed plain gumwood, not selected for decorative figures, is also much used for the same purpose. ¶ The present day popularity of gumwood in America was somewhat delayed because no one took the trouble to learn how properly to season or dry it. When not properly dried the wood warped and generally was not stable. But now these structural difficulties have been overcome by correct seasoning. ¶ Gumwood is beautiful in its own right and there is no need to place its value according to what woods it will represent well when properly finished. It is, nevertheless, prized because in the hands of skillful finishers the grain figure can be selected and patterns matched so well as to make finishes which are fully as beautiful as Circassian walnut. Then properly finished gum resembles black and other walnut woods closely, so much so that when used in the same panels or piece of furniture with other woods it takes an expert to tell the difference between the two woods. Gumwood finishes very much like mahogany, too, when the wood is selected for grain figure of similar nature, Finished in its natural light brown color gumwood is much liked by some, while others like it better after a very light, thin brown stain has been used on it to slightly darken the color. For enamel jobs gumwood makes an excellent base. Its uniformity of cell structure, its uniform density does not permit the wood to absorb paint, stain or enamel coats unevenly, and there are no pockets or streaks of resin to come through the finish. ¶ For stained finishes water stains raise the grain of gum a bit more than it does on other woods? but it penetrates deeply and its very transparent nature produces a far more beautiful finish than other stains, and the sapwood really needs a water stain to make a uniform color and clear tone because of the very light streaks of wood. It is well to use a very thin stain coat on light wood streaks which appear along side of dark wood; coat these light streaks before staining the whole surface. ¶ Gumwood is most beautiful when finished in dull lustre. The hand rubbed, varnished surface, the flat varnish surface and the shellacked and waxed surface are all preferred to the high gloss, polished surface for interior trim, especially. ¶ When gumwood is used for the stiles and mouldings of wall panels with mahogany or walnut veneer for the panel centers the gumwood should be coated with a toner before staining. For a toner a weak solution of chloride of iron, or sulphate of iron (copperas), is suitable. Dissolve this chemical in water and brush it on to the gumwood and let it dry. That will subdue the sharp contrast between sap streaks and give a more uniform effect. Follow this toner with water stain or oil stain. ¶ Gumwood being very close-grain does not require a filler, at least not a paste filler or varnish liquid filler. It is good practice to brush on a thin coat of raw linseed oil, or a mixture of ¼ raw linseed oil and ¾ turpentine first. Let it set a few minutes and then wipe off. Let it dry at least twelve hours before staining with water or oil stain. The oil fills the very fine wood pores and makes a more uniform suction which helps to stain the wood a uniform color. Paraffin oil has been recommended for that purpose, but that is a very doubtful proceeding, because that oil is bound to leave a thin film of wax on the wood and wax is a mighty poor foundation for varnish, shellac, paint or enamel. Gumwood is often finished with a stain, two or more coats of white shellac and wax, or the shellac is rubbed dull and no wax is used. Then again the furniture finisher likes to apply one very thin coat of white shellac and when dry rub it close which removes all shellac except what is lodged in the fine wood cells and which acts as a filler. The shellac goes on after the stain.
If you decide to use oak try only to use the dark core not the brighter wood that surounds it wich will rot wery easily (Im a woodenboatbuilder)
Hey, Are you sure it wasn't ash, and not oak? Both look almost alike to the non-woodworker! Steel, when in contact with oak rusts quickly given the acids in oak. Ash was widely used in vehicle body building by coachbuilders, but I've never seen any used in a Ford Motor Company product, other than the Iron Mountain produced ''woodies"! Poplar is the wood i've seen used by Ford in production bodies. Swankey Devils C.C. "Spending A Nation Into Generational Debt Is Not An Act Of Compassion!"
Unfortunately I've not owned a Ford with wood framing etc. (still on my 'bucket list') but have been told Henry used mostly oak and maple for framing, and birch for cosmetics (moldings exterior panels, etc.). I saw some NOS moldings a long time ago at a Ford dealership, a couple of the then-old timers said they were birch. Most of the wood supposedly came from Ford's vast property holdings in the western U.P. of Michigan. Several years ago we visited the restored "company town" he constructed in the 30's to process wood for the cars - and probably to make the charcoal too. Story has it he had enough influence to convince the railroad to run a siding into his company town. It's an interesting place if anyone gets a chance to check it out. Here's a link to some of the info, pics, etc on Alberta, MI. I didn't read it all but it might shed some light on the what kind of wood question: http://hunts-upguide.com/alberta_detail.html
Henry Ford also requested venders use a certain type wood and size so he could recycle the shipping crates, to use in the bodys
I took hard maple out of my '29 tudor [door jams] but other woods may have been used in different parts of the car.Replaced al the wood with steel.......sorry but wood and fiberglass are for boats.
I imagine ol' Henry would have used just about any wood that met a minimum requirement he set. Definitely a frugal and shrewd businessman.
Plus, the poplar now makes sense, because it regrows so dam fast. That would be important to someone building that many cars. I think poplar is a poor choice otherwise...
Henry Ford was a very smart man. He requested that anything shipped to him be on Oak pallets of a specific size. He would then use the oak as floor boards and other wood products in his automobiles. What was left was cut up to make briquettes.