Avocado Wood Bench

[Mike Henderson]

Some time ago, a neighbor took down an avocado tree. Unfortunately, I didn't know about it until it was already down - when I saw the pile of wood. The workers had cut the tree into fairly short pieces so they could carry it.

My neighbor gave me whatever I wanted to take - it was less wood that he had to get rid of. I cut the pieces down the center and put them in my attic to dry.

Recently, I took them down and decided to use the wood to make a small bench that could be used in the bathroom, or anywhere else in the house. I documented the build here.

This picture is not a good representation of the bench. The legs are splayed but because of the angle of the picture, they appear to go straight down.

Mike

AvocadoBench-020.jpg

[Mike Allen1010]

How was the avecado to work? In So. cal. that qualifies as “domestic hardwood “.
Love the bench-classic form.

[Mike Henderson]

How was the avocado to work? In So. cal. that qualifies as “domestic hardwood “.
Love the bench-classic form.

It's pretty easy to work, maybe a bit easier than cherry. The problem is that it orchard wood is not straight and clear and occasionally has some stress in the wood. But it's good-looking wood.

You know the old joke: "What's the best wood?" Answer, "Free wood!"

I had to buy some plain old poplar today and was astounded by the price - over $6bf list.

Mike

[Ron Citerone]

Nice job, that is some interesting wood. I like it!

Mike, $6.00 for poplar is pushing the limits for a lot of hobbyist woodworkers. I feel the pain.

[Brian Tymchak]

Nicely done Mike. I've never seen avocado. Pretty wood.

....I had to buy some plain old poplar today and was astounded by the price - over $6bf list.

Saw your note and just checked prices at my favorite sawmill. Looks like hardwoods, with the exception of Walnut, have all come back down to what I was paying a few years ago. Poplar 4/4 @ $2.75, 8/4 @ 3.75. Sorry Mike. Hmm, maybe I should find some space on my rack. ...Want me to ship you a few hundred bf?

[Dave Zellers]

Avocado? Alligator Pear!

Who Knew? Absolutely gorgeous bench. Very unique. I was going to ask if this is the first time you have worked with avocado but see in your build it is not. And you're right, the splayed legs don't show well in the pick here but they do in the build. This encourages me to pull out potential usable wood from trees I cut down on my lot that otherwise would end up in the shop wood stove. My lot is only 1 1/2 acres but you have shown there is interesting wood to be found everywhere. We just took down a Leyland Cypress and a Black Locust. The Black Locust will most likely get used as in ground posts (they last forever) but the cypress is at least 14" in diameter so definitely usable lumber.

Thanks for posting that.

[Christopher Charles]

Nice looking bench and can’t beat the price on the wood. Thanks for sharing.

[Mike Henderson]

Nicely done Mike. I've never seen avocado. Pretty wood.



Saw your note and just checked prices at my favorite sawmill. Looks like hardwoods, with the exception of Walnut, have all come back down to what I was paying a few years ago. Poplar 4/4 @ $2.75, 8/4 @ 3.75. Sorry Mike. Hmm, maybe I should find some space on my rack. ...Want me to ship you a few hundred bf?

To be fair, I only needed a small amount and bought it at Home Depot because it was close and convenient. I expect my normal hardwood supplier is less expensive. I also get a discount at HD so my price was a bit less.

Mike

[Jay Rasmussen]

Looks great, Mike. Love that urban lumber.