What kind of wood?

[bstewert]

I was just teasing. But I am curious to see what the wood looks like, if you have any pics.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I have some Gaboon. It's super hard and heavy and the dust is very highly irritating to your sinuses. Usually very black as a dark night with slight indication of a grain pattern when polished up. Very nice for inlay or smaller details, like drawer pulls, accessories such as buttons. Takes on a nice sheen. Don't get hit in the head with a piece of it.

 

[stig]

Lousy pix, sorry!

How I got that piece is an interesting story.

I was taking some elm trees down for a guy.
I asked him if he would mind if I milled some of the better logs for myself.

So he asked me if I was into wood, because his uncle had been a builder of billiard tables and he had inherited his store of wood.

Took me up to his loft and there was a pickup load of 30-50 years old Bangkok Teak, Cuban mahogany etc.

He asked me if I was interested in trading the wood for my work.

Only time in my life I've haggled backwards. That wood was worth more than 3 times the price of what I was doing for him, but no way could I get him to accept more than giving me the wood and paying ½ price for the job.

And believe me, I tried.

A week later he called me and said I forgot a piece of wood.

The Gaboon ebony chunk.

Notice how the white sapwood has been cut away by axe.
That was the traditional way.
No reason to transport a non-valuable sapwood out of the forest.

 

[bstewert]

WOW, that is a good story!

There is a non-tangible value in giving something to somebody who really APPRECIATES it, that you can't put $$$ on.

In the left pic, is that one piece cut like that, or 3 pieces?

 

[stig]

It is one piece, but has been sawed into.
I take out pieces when I need them.
I have a huge bandsaw, the size of the one Jay has.
Great for taking little pieces out of a block of wood.

Speaking of wood: Today I came by an abandoned forester house in a forest where we have done all the work for the last 10 years.
There was a huge boxwood buxus sempervirens growing next to the house, that I have been salivating over for the whole 10 years.
It was gone today.
The game warden had cut it down and put it on the burnpile.

The biggest stems on that thing was 7 inches in diameter, and now they are ashes!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggh!!!

 

[Paul B]

boxwood wood is valuable? I will keep that in mind if I ever have to kill one of vintage.

 

[woodworkingboy]

This weird coffee table I made a long time ago, has a Gaboon ebony raised bead, it is very black. I like the ebony with the Purple heart, it is pretty striking. Once upon a time it was easy to get exotic woods like this.

 

[stig]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[woodworkingboy]

That bad?

 

[stig]

No, wrong smiley!
I couldn't find the "Mindblowing good" smiley.

I can't even begin to imagine what it takes to make a raised bead like that, when not doing it on a lathe.
Very, very impressive.


Paul, Boxwood is one of the best turning wood, there are.
It has a texture like ivory, no matter what way you cut it, you have no feeling of going against the grain.


A bunch of Danish woodturners are doing a recreation of a 1600 ball turning lathe ( the kind that can turn multiple balls inside each other).
The project almost ended when they realized that they couldn't get anything to make the balls out of, since ivory is outlawed here.
Fortunately I had some 4" thick, knot free boxwood, they could substitute for dead elephants.