Can anyone provide a source or idea for the roof strips (slats)? Not really up to ripping about 22 of the things out of a plank.
My local lumberyard had 3/8" x 1-1/2" strips of clear fir which I used on the Huckster rebuild. They worked like a charm.
Redwood lath out of an old house? You'd have to plane it, though. Or didn't they use lath & plaster in the MidWest?
Gary, there's a small lumber mill near Midland that does small orders, Heritier Lumber I think is the name, between Midland and Crump in Bay County..He had a lot of wood he has cut and dried himself, might be worth a call. He was very fair with some rough saw wood I bought a few years ago. Jim Derocher AuGres
Ralph -- Yes, they used lath and plaster in the Midwest, but the lath wasn't Redwood.
They used Yellow Popular lathe in houses around here.
My '29 Nash has redwood in the top.
I had to have a couple of new ones made. A woodworking shop made, they were cheap.
If the car was made in Wisconsin and they used redwood and redwood doesn't grow there I would say they must have thought redwood was great stuff to make the top slats from.
Redwood isn't so prone to rot or attract termites.
Find a real lumberyard, the one the local finish carpenters use and call them. Lot's of stock sizes available in usually fir and in poplar. Nice part is they are S4S (finished square 4 sides) when they come in and only need cut to length.
22 without saying size says maybe a spaced slat roof? S4S would be great. If going the butted side by route you may want to check with an old canoe restorer...they make slats with a special bead rolled tongue and groove arrangement to keep them locked together.
If you want oak, you could maybe call someone like John Sieger in Missouri. One of the guys normally on here has his number handy. Then ask John next time he mills up top slats out of oak if he could make you a set.
John only builds a couple of Hack bodies a year, but mills up his own wood and uses his signature Robertson Screws when he makes his body assemblies (Does that make the body on the Hack I bought a Canadian Repro?)
If you are going open slat, you may want to look at how John does his. Rather than a twill or duck material for the first layer of the roof material, John goes down to a place like Calico Corner...and buys some really sharp royal color of a decent material. I'm prejudiced of course, but I think it looks really sharp.
Thanks guys. Gives me some ideas to work with. Most lath (saw some at Menards) is pretty rough and only about 4' long. Most old houses are just demolished these days. Missouri is a bit far. I've got a couple months till I get to that point so maybe I can find something closer to me. Jim, will keep in mind the mill you mentioned.
Gary
I would really guess it is a regional thing as to what specie was used originally. They were certainly lightweight, above all. I've never seen an original top in oak, or any other heavy wood like that. From first hand knowledge, we have 4 martin-parry bodies and all roof slats are yellow pine, like old ladders are made of. These bodies were made in southern indiana and york, PA. Strong, rot resistant and lightweight in the size used. We have a truck body made in cleveland that has fir top slats. We had a hercules (indiana) bodied olds woody that had poplar (tulipwood) slats. An early model A wagon with poplar slats and lastly have a 1948 buick with a hercules (indiana) body with redwood slats. I don't think any body builder cared much as long as it was available nearby, and a wood that is strong and lightweight. ( the buick is the only one that doesn't fit that criteria , but that was a true luxury model in it's day) hope this is some help. There is nothing better than a good woody !! IMHO !
Here's the inside of my Huckster Wagon (see profile photo for outside). It has Ash strips which I planed down in a planer. Some were pretty floppy when done, so they were installed near the outside edge which needed more bends. The stiffer ones were put towards the center. It may not be an original body but it has held up for 40 years so far.
Roof weight is a big deal being so high, and raising the CG. I would choose the lowest density for the strength needed.
Early 20th Century
My 25 Indiana has oak slats in the roof maybe because they built the whole cab out of white oak. I had to replace a few of them that were broken when something fell on the roof of the cab while it sat in the loft of the barn sometime between 1942 and 1980 when I found it. The new ones are cut from a 1" board that was ripped to 1/4" strips from one edge on a table saw back when I was in high school. It did not take long to cut them and they are a perfect match to the originals beside them. Anyone with a table saw could make them any size you need from any type of wood you want.
Bob
After posting this I may be wrong on the size since 1/4" sounds a little thin. I cut these out 30 years ago after all!
Bob
Yes, there are always exceptions to the rule. Bob, your wonderful truck could care less how much the cab weighed. It is important to note the use of white oak, though. Big difference between red oak and white oak, as white oak stands up to weather so much better.
For light duty auto and delivery body roofs, lighter is better.
Easy to rip on a band saw with a coarse blade. I think there is 11 on a '26 tudor. I've made them out of oak and it takes maybe 20 minutes to make them all counting setup and everything. Also, the band saw doesn't produce a lot of waste, so you don't loose to much of the board... If you want them nice and smooth, you would have to cut a little wider, then plane and/or drum sand them.
The original roof of my Martin Parry body is thin bead-board slats with no spacing.
that is how all my martin-parry roofs are constructed...... the bead on one edge, right?....the edges probably butted originally but after 90 years, they have about an 1/8" space between....