Newell Posts are the posts at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs; it supports
the handrail. They are made from all types of material, but by far the most
common use in the housing market is Oak. This word is quite often misspelled and
I believe that the correct spelling is newel.

Since the most prolific type of flooring used in houses is Red Oak Strip flooring,
then it stands to reason that the most common type of stairs that are in those
houses would be made of Oak also. Using Oak Stair Treads, an Oak Newel, and a
Oak Handrail would make sense as it would match the floor.

Newel posts are used not only as mentioned above, but also anywhere the handrail
turns a corner. Oak newels can be used with iron balusters, or aluminum balusters,
or painted balusters and even with Oak balusters. They all have a different look,
and all are appealing.

These posts can be square and plain, or they can be turned round, or part of each.
Having a square portion on the bottom makes the job easier for a finish carpenter
to secure the posts to the starting stair and the top stair. By far the most
common type is a 3″ x 3″ square bottom post that is turned round everywhere except
where the handrail attaches at the top which would also be square.

On really up scale houses the newel posts can be up to 8″ square or more. These
are called box newels and they are very handsome and also quite expensive. But
they do look really nice in the right settings.

So visit several building supply shops before you decide which one to use, or go
online and see what is available first.

If you need wholesale pricing on Newel Posts, or Newel Post blanks in any species,
drop me an e-mail and I with your specifications and I will get you a prompt quote.
E-mail to: Bob@HarrellWP.com

See related articles on Wood Turning Blanks

Embossed mouldings can make your house, office, room addition stand apart
from the crowd. Any type of moulding can be further enhanced by embossing.

Embossing is added to wood by pressing and burning a pattern into the
wood with a metal die.  The resulting pattern is all wood; it works, stains
and looks like wood because it is wood.  We have hundreds of embossing
wheels to offer a wide variety of patterns.  Poplar is the ideal wood for
embossing because it is soft and takes the patterns very distinctly.
Basswood is also an excellent choice.

Harder woods, like oak can be embossed, but the impression is not as deep.
Same with Maple and Cherry.  Mahogany takes embossing very well but is
expensive when used as crown moulding or a chair rail.  If it is used for
a picture frame, the cost can be easily justified.

Picture frame moulding is probably our specialty.  We can run small
quantities, but the price will be higher than if run with some volume.
The labor to run small quantities is what drives up the price.  Each piece
of equipment has a specific amount of time required to setup prior to
running.  If it takes an hour for example to set up a moulder to run a
given pattern, then that time must be allocated to the amount of material
that is run through it.  If you only need twenty feet, the moulder can do
that in less than an minute.  If you ordered two thousand feet, the moulder
could process it in about a half an hour.

The same goes for the embossing machine.  Set up time is required.  You
have to find the wheel for the specified pattern and install it on the
machine.  Time is money in the woodworking business as it is in any business.
The lumber yard has to locate and then handle the raw material used to make
embossed mouldings.  Then comes shipping charges to the mill that makes the
finished product.  All these charges add up, so don’t expect to order enough
moulding to make one small frame out of, as the price will floor you.  Buy a
small piece from someone who makes picture frames for a living and you will
pay much less as they always buy in bulk.

Embossing can be applied to all types of mouldings.  Used as an accent on
Architectural mouldings or apply as a pattern to part of a crown moulding.
The uses are endless.  Small mouldings can really dress up kitchen cabinets.
Rope type mouldings have been poplar for the last decade in both kitchens
and bath room cabinets, as well as furniture.

Dentil moulding is also very poplar.  I have seen it used as fascia board on
older houses, used as trim on both crown moulding and chair rail moulding.
It is very versatile.

Send me a picture of what you are looking for and I will either have the
exact pattern or suggest one that is very close.

 E-mail inquiries to Bob@HarrellWP.com

Harrell Wood Products Company is a company that specializes in making custom wood products. Whether it is custom parts for furniture or cabinet manufacturers, we guarantee quality parts, on time, to your specifications and at competitive prices.

Since 1980 we have been supplying furniture manufacturers edge-glued panels, squares, turnings, carvings, embossed mouldings, dowels, drawer components, bun feet, frames, rails and stiles, etc. We specialize in custom wood products.

The same goes for kitchen and bathroom cabinet manufacturing companies. We supply drawer fronts, drawer sides, door parts or complete doors, blanks, panels, turnings, corbels, anything that you can’t make or don’t want to make yourself. Just send us a drawing or describe what you need and we will make samples for your approval. If you need parts of any kind, in almost any species, we can supply it at competitive prices.

Upholstery manufacturers, we can supply you with almost any kind of bun foot
imaginable. We probably already have the lathe head built to turn it or else
we will make a new one. Need spindles, or carved legs, or fluted legs, we have
them all. All are made to order, however, as we do not inventory anything. Only custom orders are accepted.

Species that we can supply include: Alder, Cherry, Hard and Soft or Wormy Maple, Red and White Oak, Poplar, Pine (both Southern Yellow Pine or White Pine), Hickory, Ash, Mahogany, and others as required.

We supply stair components such as treads, risers, handrails, newel posts,
balusters, starter step mouldings, stair skirts, etc. We also make parts for
spiral stairs.

Custom flooring whether standard strip flooring, or plank flooring or something
out of the ordinary. We don’t supply bamboo, or other imported species. We
specialize in North American Lumber products.

Please e-mail all inquiries to:  Bob@HarrellWP.com

See other article about Wood Panels

All wood turning blanks are not produced alike.  So if you are a volume user
make sure you know what your options are before ordering from a particular
vendor.  If you are just turning as a hobby make sure you shop around
because you can get burned on price big time if you don’t.

There are four main specifications you need to define before you purchase
wood turning blanks or squares as they are commonly referred to in the trade.

The first is define whether the squares must be solid or glued up.  This of
course will be to a large part dependent on the size that you need.  A good
way to explain this is as follows.  Lets say that you manufacturer Baseball
Bats. Although glued up squares can be as durable as solid stock, they sure
don’t behave the same way when you smack a ball with one.  A typical
baseball bat would be made from solid Ash 3 x 3 x 36 squares.(the lenght
varies as does the thickness depending on the age of the end user).  These
would need to be kiln dried to 6-8% moisture and be sound (knot free). 

So there is a little more to just buying wood turning blanks than meets the
eye. You should tell whomever you are buying from exactly what the end
product will be so that they can provide the necessary squares with the
features you need at the cheapest price.  Species of wood becomes another
main specification.  If you are going to make bunk bed posts are they for
barricks, dormitories, or childrens furniture.  If they were for the first two,
chances are that they would be made from Oak, but they could also be
Hard Maple, Hickory or Ash.  If they were for childrens furniture they might
just be painted so a low grade Poplar or Beech or even Pine could be used.
You need to specify as the cost varies a lot depending on the species used.

If you are making stair components, then the ballusters would be made out
of solid squares, but the newel posts are probably made from glued up
stock since most solid squares do not exceed 3? x 3? in thickness.  A newel
post is typically  3″ thick after machining (moulded, turned and sanded).
These would have to start with laminated or glued up stock.  Most stair
manufacturing companies require that newel posts are laminated with a
maximum of two glue lines so you would have to use three pieces of 5/4
lumber to make up the 3? thickness required by the finished product.  If
you didn’t specify how many glue lines are allowed, you could end up
having these newel posts made from 4/4 stock with three glue lines and
now you have another common problem.  Getting a proper color match.
The more plys allowed the greater chances there are of getting at least one
of the plys with a color defect that can ruin the looks of the finished product.

So color matching is another specification that should be defined before you
order squares.  If your finished procuct will take a real dark stain or is
painted then color matching will not be a problem. If you are using just a
clear coating as the final finish, color matching is critical.  So specify what you
need before you order. 

In summary, specifications are recommended when buying wood turning
blanks especially if you are buying in volume.  You need to specify the
species or sub-species of wood, then are they air dried or kiln dried and to
what moisture content.  Are they solid or laminated (face glued).  The
number of plys and are finger joint or edge-glued plys acceptable.  What
about color matching and are sound knots allowed or must they be clear
and free of knots.  What about pin knots, are they allowed.  And are you
buying rough wood turning blanks or a net size (S4S, PET meaning surfaced
four sides and precision end trimmed for length).

Specify before you buy but consult with your vendor so that you don’t pay
for higher quality squares that you need.

Please e-mail all inquiries for wood turning squares to  Bob@HarrellWP.com
for a prompt quotation.  We can also handle shipping requirements.

The current “Green” movement is one force driving up the demand for reclaimed wood panels.  Deforestation because of population growth is another.  Insects and disease had also changed the look of forests throughout the world.  Prime examples of this in this country is both the Dutch Elm Disease that ravaged the Elm forests at the turn of the last century, and the Pine Bark Beetle that is ravaging the Pine forests on the East coast today.

By reclaiming the wood that was used to build barns, factories, warehouses, homes, grain mills and other structures that were build in the early 19 century, we are now bringing products to the market that you cannot reproduce today.  The wood that was used back then came from virgin forests which had trees that were hundreds of years old.  The heart wood from these trees was prized back then for it’s durability, it’s color and it’s character.  Today most forests are on their third, fourth or even fifth generation of harvest.   The trees are smaller, have less heartwood and more defects than the trees that were cut at the turn of the last century.

Reclamation of old wood can be used to make flooring, cabinets and furniture, paneling, beams, siding, almost anything imaginable like coffinsor jewelry boxes.  I have seen programs on TV that show harvesting old logs off the bottom of river beds.  Some of these trees have been submerged in the mud for decades.  Yet the wood and the products they are making from it are beautiful.

The species of wood found in these old structures ranges from Heart Pine to Hickory including Red and White Oak, Maple, Cherry, Cypress, Elm, Douglas Fir, and Redwood.

I’m not a “Greenie” but I do feel that it is very practical to use these reclaimed wood panels to make new products rather than just have them fill up our construction landfills.  Also the heart wood of these old trees may never be seen again, so let’s not waste them.

Please e-mail all inquiries for wood turning squares to  Bob@HarrellWP.com

for a prompt quotation.  We can also handle shipping
requirements.

See other articles on Wood Panels

Wood panels are widely used to make quality furniture, kitchen and bathroom cabinets, wall panelings, wains coating, stair treads, ceiling panels as well as doors of all kinds.

In furniture and kitchen cabinets, wood panels are used as side panels, doors, drawer fronts, drawer sides and tops for fine furniture. A dining room table is a perfect example of the use of a wooden panel. The two main parts of the table top are made of egde glued panels, as are the table extensions. These can be used as they are made (example a Cherry table top) or overlaid with a fancy veneer (Mahogany table top).

Another use of wood panels is for wall paneling. Have you ever been a lawyers office where the room is covered in wood? It makes quite an impressive statement. The same can be done in your house with an accent wall surrounding a fireplace for example. Wainscoating is basically a waist high example of a wall panel.

These panels are made of many different species of wood. For furniture they could be Mahogany, Cherry, Oak, Pine, Maple, Poplar, or Alder. Wall paneling is often made from Douglas Fir, Maple, Hickory, Pine, Cypress, Oak and so on. They all vary in price and take stains or color differently so one should choose carefully before deciding on which one to use.

Poplar types of interior paneling are tongue and groove, ship lap, board and batten, v groove and other custom patterns.

Door panels are used everywhere. Most kitchen cabinet and vanities use floating door panels. Both exterior and some interior doors use wood panels between the rails and stiles.

Anyway, wood panels have lots of different end uses. If you are a furniture or kitchen cabinet manufacturer, my recommendation is to purchase these panels from a mill that specializes in making them, as they are always cheaper to purchase than they are to try and produce in-house.

Please e-mail all inquiries for wood turning squares to Bob@HarrellWP.com
for a prompt quotation. We can also handle shipping requirements.

See article Solid Wood Panels

Solid wood panels are used to make a variety of parts in the wood working industry. In kitchen cabinets for example, they can be used to make doors, drawer fronts, drawer sides and backs, even the cabinets themselves could be made of solid wood panels.

Most kitchen cabinet manufacturers use plywood panels for the cabinets and use solid wood panels for the doors and drawer fronts and rails and stiles. Furniture is built much the same way. Plywood with fancy faced veneers are used to make the cases while solid wood panels make up the doors, drawer fronts and rails and stiles.

Alright,  what is a solid wood panel anyway? It is made by gluing various width strips of solid wood that have been defected for knots, wane, bark, cracks, stain etc. These strips are usually inverted alternately to minimize any cupping and warping that may occur after they have been glued up.

These rough size panels are made about one inch longer than the required finished size in length and width to allow for any slippage of the strips and to allow for keeping the overall panel square.

The panels can be bought in the rough size or as an S4S (surfaced for sides) and PET (precision end trimmed) panels.The S4S processing is accomplished by running the rough panel through a double sided planer (either knife or sandpaper).  The PET is done on a tennon machine that cuts two sides perfectly parallel to each other. This is done twice, once on the sides and then on the ends.

The end product is a perfectly sized, square, flat solid wood panel that is ready for final shaping, sanding and finishing. Picture a drawer front for a dresser. It is usually a rectangle with either a profile shaped around the edges or maybe some pattern carved into it depending on the overall look of the piece of furniture that it is going into.

Any way, solid wood panels have a multitude of uses and by buying them from a wood supplier that just makes these panels can save a furniture or kitchen cabinet manufacturing plant a lot of time by not having to make them themselves. This time can be used more productively by making and assembling the cases and then finishing the entire product.

To get pricing information for solid wood panels please email inquiry to:

http://bob@harrellwp.com        for a prompt quotation.

See also Article on Custom Wood Products