Persimmon Island Counter Top?

[Rick Wooldridge]

Has anyone had any luck using Persimmon for a counter top or cutting board. Planning to build a top for the Island in our kitchen 8'x 3' and have a very large persimmon log available. Just wanting advice before wasting a nice log.

[Mel Fulks]

I've never heard of it being used for anything except mallet heads ,same with dogwood .They can both twist a lot ,even small pieces that have been allowed to dry .Let us know what happens.

[Anthony Albano]

I have never seen a large piece; will be interesting to see. I heard that the heartwood is black as ebony but dont know how wide it will get

[James Boster]

I have cut Persimmon before on my Woodmizer. Largest log I have seen was about 20". It is very hard but not too hard to saw green. When it dries it is very hard. Yellow color with black streaks. Very pretty. IF you cut wide boards be prepared to rip them into narrow strips after they dry to build anything. It cups VERY VERY bad. On the 10" wide boards I have sawn before they cupped almost a full 2" in the center from the edge. Would make a beautiful top if you can control movement.

[Danny Hamsley]

I have sawn it too, and it is beautiful. It would make a very unique counter top, for sure.

[Julie Moriarty]

I'm working on a kitchen cabinet upgrade and using Honduran mahogany and African Sapele. The doors are coming along great and really beautiful. But the problem I have is one day someone will come along and take a sledge hammer to all this beautiful wood and all the hard work I've put into it simply because they wanted a new kitchen. They will have no appreciation for the wood or the time and effort it went into creating it and probably replace it with white-painted MDF bought at a big box store. That's the reality of kitchens. Everyone has their own taste and kitchen components have no value if you don't like the look.

But when you make a piece of furniture, it could last for generations. Well made furniture has lasting value. People appreciate the beauty of the wood, the quality of the craftsmanship and the details. Put all than into a kitchen and it's value plummets. And one day you're watching some kitchen renovation show and you see your gorgeous work about to be smashed by a sledge hammer.

I Googled "persimmon countertop" and "persimmon table" in images. There wasn't much. Someone at Lumberjocks made a table out of persimmon and it was beautiful. Maybe the wood deserves to become fine furniture instead.

[Rick Wooldridge]

Thanks for the reply. The log is over 20" I need to go back and measure. It has been cut for a couple years and the ends painted so I didn't know how much it would move. I was thinking of having it cut 9/4 by about 10" wide. Would quarter sawn help with the cupping? You have me worried there. I guess I could always end up with a face gluded 2x2 strip top. Would really like the boards close to eight inches wide and use four to five boards.My neighbor has a Woodmizer and will slice and dice anything I need.

[Richard Coers]

Thanks for the reply. The log is over 20" I need to go back and measure. It has been cut for a couple years and the ends painted so I didn't know how much it would move. I was thinking of having it cut 9/4 by about 10" wide. Would quarter sawn help with the cupping? You have me worried there. I guess I could always end up with a face gluded 2x2 strip top. Would really like the boards close to eight inches wide and use four to five boards.My neighbor has a Woodmizer and will slice and dice anything I need.

It's been down for a couple of years? On the ground? The ground contact area is likely discolored, but I would be surprised if it wasn't full of cracks. I cut some pretty big chunks for turning. I could hardly keep up with cracking, and lost a lot of it. Got a lot of pen blanks though.

[Danny Hamsley]

Yes, quartersawing will help with cupping and warping. You could saw it using a technique called modified quartersawing that will yield mostly rift and quartersawn grain. Position the log on the mill with the pith level at both ends (same distance from the bed on the sawmill). Square up the log into a cant. The flitches that you remove to square the log will be flatsawn. Once square, position the blade above the pith so that the pith will be centered in the 9/4 board that would come from the exact center of the log. Saw out that 9/4 board from the middle of the log. Now you will have two halves left. Flip them both 90 degrees, and saw the boards from top to bottom. If you visualize the end of the cant, visualize the center 9/4 board removed. The remaining top and bottom cants are the ones that you flip 90 degrees and saw out the boards. This orients the growth rings more perpendicular to the face of the boards. Where the growth rings are perfectly perpendicular, that is the perfect quartersawn grain.

The first 9/4 board with the pith will probably crack at the pith, but you can cut out the center cracked area after the board has dried and you will have the two widest perfectly quartersawn boards.