Wood Work

[rfitzpatrick]

Which Model A has the most wood, which one has the least? I've a '31 Budd Cab-- not much there whether it's wood or not. Surely the PicUp's weren't meant for Families-

[whirnot]

The roadster has almost none, I am guessing the Four doors have the most.

[Charlie Stephens]

Originally Posted by whirnot

The roadster has almost none, I am guessing the Four doors have the most.

You need to add an exception for the 1931 slant window Fordors, they have very little wood.

Charlie Stephens

[Railcarmover]

I used the original wood on the Sport Coupe..stiffened the top bow and main bow by lining the bottom edge with flat bar.countersunk and pattern screwed it every six inches..the wood is dry and hard but the joints were loose,it tightened up nice and solid..

[31 Woody]

Uhhm, the 150A and 150B have lots of wood, in fact, its all wood.... ;-)

[Bob from Northport]

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The entire back of my 1931 Panel delivery is wood with a metal skin

[rotorwrench]

Ford used a minimal amount of wood in the bodies that were assembled by Ford Dearborn and the many assembly plants. The Sport Coupes had wood and cardboard for the tops with some hard rubber for tack strips. Tudors had wood for tops & tack strips. Bodies that were assembled by the contractors like Briggs, Murray, & others had more wood for internal structure since they were limited on stamping capability. Fordor & Cabriolet bodies were contractor made. I know Budd formed a whole lot of stampings for Ford which include a lot of the van bodies and pickup cabs but I'm not sure how far they went with body assembly. The bodies Budd made for the Dodge brothers were mostly steel with wood used as tack strips for the interior. Budd liked to use steel since it was superior in strength and they were the best in the world at forming the stuff in that time frame. I'm sure Ford used them more for their capability to do what no one else could do. Their stuff was expensive for the era but it was very good quality. Ford was stamping more and more parts in house in the model A era but they were still developing their capabilities to mass produce stampings. Their steel processing and rolling mill facility at the Rouge was constantly being updated for more steel production. Most of Fords wood production was done at the Iron Mountain facility.

[History]

What kind of wood was used? Was there different types of wood used?

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by rfitzpatrick

Which Model A has the most wood, which one has the least? I've a '31 Budd Cab-- not much there whether it's wood or not. Surely the PicUp's weren't meant for Families-

Depends on how you look at it. Yes, the Station Wagon and the Special Delivery are probably the ones with the most wood when factoring in the floor and roof, along with the side panels.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by History

What kind of wood was used? Was there different types of wood used?

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[History]

I think I saw maple, birch, oak with small solid knots permissible? I just couldn't get it to clear up enough to read it.

[Jerry in Shasta]

Fdz

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by History

I think I saw maple, birch, oak with small solid knots permissible? I just couldn't get it to clear up enough to read it.

See if this helps. Open it in PDF for the largest screen view..
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[rotorwrench]

Most of Ford's wood came from that upper peninsula area of Michigan and northeastern Wisconsin near to Iron Mountain and Kingsford, Michigan. They both harvested and planted trees in that area. They had a cutting mill, a powerhouse, and kilns to dry the wood. There was a lot of hardwood in that region so they used the best hardwoods the area had to offer for structural wood. They likely used the softer woods for non structural wood needs and crates for shipping. They even supplied wood to the body contractors as much as they could. The refuse was used for fuel and also made into charcoal briquettes. Kingsford charcoal is still around. Ed Kingsford was related to Henry somehow and helped him purchase the property there at the Iron Mountain facility so Ford named the town there and the company in his honor. I think Ed was married to one of Henry's cousins.