making a beam from sheet faced materials help please

[happyhero]

Hi I want to make about 3 big beams (about 1 at 3.5m and 2 at 2.5m long) and have explored different avenues. The problem is I definitely want a light American Oak look and if you get real beams that have been dried they cost 100's and if I don't I think there will be too much movement in for example a 3.5m (about 200x250cm) beam in a centrally heated house.

So now I am on to sheet materials. I see you can buy veneered in Oak plywood, blockboard and mdf. Not sure how good this stuff looks but it seems a cheaper way to go.

I am after quite a square clean look with maybe a few odd marks but definitely not one of these dark oak twisted and beaten beam effects you often see in pubs.

Can anyone advise on me doing this please, ie,

would it look ay good or obviously false?

how would i hide the join successfully making a box section?

also in the book I am looking at it says in brackets after the material "quartered", what does that mean?

anything else I should consider?

Any help appreciated.

 

[JohnD]

Is this an ornamental beam, or is it holding something up?

"Quartered" on a veneered surface means the top layer has been made symmetrical left to right and top to bottom. This is done by taking four sheets cut from the log in successive layers so that they all have a very similar grain pattern. Each sheet is one quarter the size of the finished panel.

If you look at some expensive furniture doors you will see what I mean.

You will not want to quarter your beam. It will look unnatural.

Blockboard and MDF have weight without much strength. In my view Ply is preferable for this job. If it just ornamental you can but fake beams in GRP or Polyurathene foam with a decorative outer layer.

You might think about making up a channel with three long planks.

 

[Jasonb]

You may be mixing up the term quatered with quater sawn which refers to the way the veneer was cut from the log, you can buy oak veneered boards in both quatersawn and crown cut grain patterns, the crown cut is usually a bit less expensive.

The problem with trying to make them from veneered board is that you will have to use a mitre joint along the full 3.5m length which will be almost impossible to get spot on without a lot of expencive tools. The other problem is finding veneered board over 2440long, even the jumbo boards only come in at 3050mm so you will have end joints which will not look right.

I would make the "U" shape from 3 pieces of 25mm thick american white oak which can be butt jointed with biscuits, if you spend a bit of time matching the grain it will be hard to see the joints.

Jason