Large boxwood logs

[David Keller NC]

That's about $25 a b.f., which is a lot less than most guys were asking for it when they first showed up a year ago. My guess is that there were so many of them that they just saturated the market, which I expect is a somewhat shallow for huge slabs (of anything). Of course, the figure of the particular plank figures into the asking price, as does the economy and the particular audience a store is selling to.

In my experience at least, Woodcraft's main buyer pool for lumber tends to be guys sort of putzing around the workshop making small "doo dad" projects like scroll-saw knick knack shelves, bandsaw boxes, etc... Nothing wrong with that of course, but it seems that the contractors in my area that would build large conference tables, high-end libraries for million dollar homes, etc... frequent another store here.

Your mahagony would need a special buyer, I would suspect. Probably someone making high-end colonial reproductions that needs a spectacular piece of figured stock for the door panels of a secretary, for example. Irion furniture co. would be one example - they landed a $5 million dollar contract a few years ago to fill a Pennsylvania mansion with colonial-era reproductions. Some of the pieces they reproduced went for well in excess of $100,000.

[george wilson]

If I get desperate someday I might sell the peacock mahogany,or just get too old to do anything anymore. Same goes for the big boxwood,or actually,ANY of the wood I've posted!!! Oink,Oink!!!

You are right about the customers. I met one who makes humidors. I went home with him,and he sold me a REALLY nice piece of curly maple,because it had SLIGHT variations in its curl. He wanted the curls to be as identical as planer cut marks. I thought he was quite full of it,myself. Glad to get the wood,though. It was beautiful.

[Mark Versprille]

Pedro, how about posting a pic of that piece of poplar. I love poplar.

[Thomas Knapp]

Since high quality Music woods are dried in manure, the next time someone tells me I do Sh*ty work, I'll take it as a compliment.

[george wilson]

I just yesterday gave 2 large poplar logs to my friend Jon. The biggest one was 37" in diameter at the base. this tree was nearly 80' tall,and was leaning over power lines,and towards our roof. It will be sawn into real wide boards.

The day after I had that tree taken down,we heard a large CRACK behind the house. A very tall oak tree had snapped off,landing on the roof of the house behind us. Beside it was a huge oak,that must have been 100' tall. they had to bring in a huge crane to take it down piecemeal. must have cost $6000.00,I bet. Mine cost $2000.00,but we got by with a 75' bucket truck. I felt lucky. We had just had a Winter storm,and I suppose the wind had weakened the tree enough to snap it off onto the roof.

[Richard Dooling]

George,

I also have some Cuban mahogany. The longest piece ~18” x 70” serves as my desk top - just right for a lap top computer. Most of the rest is 8/4 x 18” x 36” or so. The wood is somewhat over 50 years old. My dad picked it up in Gitmo when he was stationed there in he 1950s. Knowing I’m not likely to get any more, certainly not with the family connection, makes me cautious in approaching the wood.

Beautiful wood - not as figured as what you describe but very nice. I haven’t worked too much of it because I have not come up with a good project for pieces of this thickness. Maybe I'll resaw some for book matching but it is too wide for my equipment.

Thanks for what you share, your posts are often like free classes!


BTW, awhile back there was a discussion about wood hand plane finishes and you mentioned the method of plugging the mouth and flooding the body with BLO.
In another thread Raney Nelson posted this link:http://www.cornishworkshop.co.uk/wwmitrejack.html in answer to a question of mine.

That led me to this link where the process you described, is mentioned.
http://www.cornishworkshop.co.uk/wwjackplane.html

.

[Adam Cherubini]

George,

I have some 100 year old boxwood that was seasoned in manure. But it's not that high quality material. In fact, it stinks! It's really crappy.

(sorry about that)

On a serious note, I suspect the manure does something besides keeping the material moist. There may be some enzymes that eat out the sap and replace it with something else (the way water does), stabilizing the wood cells as they dry.

I looked at drawer bottoms on Philadelphia furniture last year. It was all white cedar, nailed up from underneath with no room for expansion or contraction. For the most part the bottoms were uncracked (and original). Riven white cedar is pretty stable. But it was also from Jersey, no doubt floated across the Deleware where it may have seasoned along the sandy banks. Legend has it, wood seasoned in this way is more stable, or at very least, moves and checks less than air dried stock. Allegedly, slow curing is only part of the story.

Adam

[george wilson]

Richard,I appreciate you putting up the mention of filling planes with linseed oil. I got it from old Mr. Simms,in his 70's in 1970. I value what he taught me. He also taught the person who became curator of furniture later on.

I think your computer desk is too long,and you should saw half of it off and send it here so I can make sure it is Cuban!!! you are very lucky to have Cuban mahogany.Some is available in sources in Florida after bad hurricanes blow it down. It was $30.00 a bd. ft. in the 80's.I saw that the Florida Cuban mahogany was not any darker that honduras,though it was a lot harder. Williamsburg's furniture conservation shop bought some. the pieces were rather small,though,not anything like you have. Use it carefully.

[george wilson]

There may be some validity in what you say,Adam. I have no way of knowing about the enzymes. Interesting thought. The slower you can dry real hard wood,the better it will behave.That is for sure,and applies to ivory,too. Ivory was buried for some time in Africa before selling it to traders. Left too long,though,bugs would eat it. About water: Water tends to wash through logs left lengthwise to the direction of flow in rivers,reducing the eventual sap content. In Alaska,rafts of logs were anchored in rivers for some time before getting to the mill. When logs are first cut,the sap is very thin and watery,and can be washed out to some degree,depending upon treatment. It makes the wood easier to dry later on. Water leaves sooner than sap. Some think that is a Stradivarious secret,but the makers were using all the same wood,and varnish,too,in the area.

Let's not forget the logs being dragged up in the Great Lakes,where they have lain for a very long time. The wood is denser,probably being first growth,but the water seems to have had beneficial effects upon the wood also. It is more stable. They get big money for the old wood. The wood has been there since the 19th.C.,yet is still bright. Logs from bogs is different. It gets blackened,or darker,especially oak. Cypress is mined in the South like that. In Australia they also get old wood,Kauri pine IIRC,that way. If I recall,the old wood is the only wood they can cut of certain species.Kauri,I think. My memory isn't so good on that part. I may be corrected.

Walnut stumps were chained under water for several years to keep them from splitting where the butt figures were. this was done in the country areas of North Carolina. Some folks do not believe this is valid,but it is from old lore,and I saw it done for making fancy gunstocks from later on.

[george wilson]

I may put up a picture of the Brazilian rosewood,but it is in a lawn building,as I just don't have room for it inside,and have cut enough guitar backs out of it to last several years. I should actually show one of those,because the slabs of rosewood themselves aren't much to see,as they are old and grey on their outsides. Inside,though,some of the pieces are really beautiful.

[Richard Dooling]

Hey George,

Here is some of the cuban mahogony I mentioned. When it came into my hands it had been through various storage issues. The largest slab is a two piece 8/4 x 36" x 38" glue-up. I have no idea what Dad thought he would make out of a 3' square 2" slab. Or for that matter how the hell he was going to surface it - not a hand tool guy!

mahogony.jpg

[george wilson]

That looks like the real stuff,Richard!!! Oink Oink!! Snuffle!