Zebrano counter top project

[Rick Fisher]

I was asked to build a " contemporary " 3 piece wooden counter top .. 2 large pieces are Zebra and there is a centre piece that is Black Walnut.

I am milling the longest piece, which will be 17" x 100" .. What a workout ..

Jointing the 3 boards was okay.. planing was terrible.. now I am sanding them prior to glue up ..

My shop reeks like pig manure.. I reek like pig manure.. Zebrano stinks.. I will post some pictures in a bit..



Above the boards are milled up .. I am trying to figure out the grain match ..

[Rick Fisher]

[Rick Fisher]

I have to put a really big tenon on one end.. It will mortise and tenon to a 20" x 20" x 1-7/8" Black walnut square.. and another shorter Zebrano counter top will come off the walnut at 90 degrees..

Its for a new home that is really " contemporary " inside ..

[Peter Quinn]

Nice work Rick. I feel your pain...or I have felt it....I had to make a series of zebra wood counter tops a few years back at work. I quickly realized the name was not a reference to the visual aspect of the boards...they stink like zebra dung for sure. Its heavy, its hard, the splinters are brutal...but at least its UGLY! And to me at least, not that so cute I could hug it like a pug kind of ugly. I've never seen it used in any manor that I found pleasing, it sure was no pleasure to work with in my recollection. I saved a few drops and have yet to think of anything to do with them. I'd burn them in the fireplace but I fear what kind of stink that might unleash.

We found stress cracks across and along the grain post glue up that had to be cut out and replaced. These had not been visible initially, perhaps the pressure of clamping made them appear? I remember reading a short while latter in a Woodshop news article that because zebra was very popular in Europe at the time they were felling it at an alarming rate, that the trees were large and brittle and required a good cushion of trimming set on on the forrest floor where the tree was to land to soften the impact, and that most loggers seemed to be skipping that step for the sake of profit or productivity. Upshot, lots of it ends up with micro fractures that can show up later in the process, even post finishing! Hopefully the african logging industry has solved that problem, or at least the vendors on the end user side have pushed corrections. I haven't heard of any issues with it lately.

Love to see pics of the finished work if you get them, sounds like an interesting design with the walnut piece in the middle.