I think I got hit by a camaro!

[Peter Quinn]

Ever pick the short straw at work? Things where I work wood aren't slow, but they have evolved economically to a point where we seem to be taking jobs that are, shall i say, less savory than in the past few years. Having finished my current project a bit ahead of schedule, I went to get my next job card, and i could see by the look on the bosses face that it wasn't going to be pretty. Or easy. Or fun.

Short story, cumaru stair treads, starting with 10/4 material, 10"-18" widths, 10' lengths, to finish at 2" flattened, 48" lengths. Run that through your head for a second. Ever pick up a piece of cumaru? About as heavy on volume as IPE, just as hard, but it smells like horse dung when milled, and the splinters seem to cause an immediate infection. Makes white oak seem like balsa wood. Ouch.

We had a guy for a while that couldn't pronounce cumaru, so he called it "that camaro wood", and when he quit, it was because he was fatigued from working a job involving cumaru. I'm a bit more robust than he, but I understand presently why he pronounced on his way out the door "i feel like I just got hit by a camaro".

If you ever have a chance to work with cumaru, don't.

So I'm curious, what is everyone's LEAST favorite species to work with? In case i wasn't clear for the record, mine is cumaru.

[Matt Campbell]

Brazilian cherry/jatoba is my least favorite so far for the same reasons stated as yours except that jatoba smells quite nice. It is so stinkin hard and dense though. It's quite a work out to build something with that stuff.

[Gary Herrmann]

Every time I even look at a piece of wenge, I get a splinter. So that's my vote. I think my wife would agree. She picked up a bowl blank in Rockler a few weeks ago before I could stop her. I think she got 4 splinters in as many seconds.

[Mike Cutler]

Originally Posted by Matt Campbell

Brazilian cherry/jatoba is my least favorite so far for the same reasons stated as yours except that jatoba smells quite nice. It is so stinkin hard and dense though. It's quite a work out to build something with that stuff.

But the end result is worth it.

Least favorite for me. Probably bloodwood. It turns to dust when cut, and wreaks havoc with my sinuses. Mahogany is the same.
Wenge has been the worst to work with for me so far, but like Jatoba, the end result is worth it.

Never tried "camaro wood".,

[Matt Campbell]

Yes, the end result is definitely worth it. It's amazing how easily it finishes, too.

I have about 100 bf of cumaru waiting to be turned into porch furniture. I can't wait.

[Peter Quinn]

Originally Posted by Matt Campbell

I have about 100 bf of cumaru waiting to be turned into porch furniture. I can't wait.

UGGH. Good grief. Don't use it. BURN IT! It burns quite hot.

I forgot about wenge. That is a rough one, but it has the decency to reward yo for your hard work with great beauty. I'm told cumaru is also stunning when finished but I have only worked it commercially and never seen it finished.

I have a chunk of blood wood I'm planning to give away to a friend that makes band saw bowls. I've been saving it for "something", but that something never seems to come to me, and my friend is looking for a contrast wood for his latest work. Seems a better use than collecting dust on my rack.

Morado is probably the hardest thing that has ever passed over my poor jointer, but it too is worth the effort and noise.

[Karl Brogger]

You guys and your goofy exotic species.

I hate cedar. The shop smells like a F-ing hampster cage to me. Plus after about half a day exposure to it I want to gouge my itchy, watery eyes out with the corner of the tablesaw.

[Gary Herrmann]

Bloodwood is a pain. I've chipped planer knives on it. But it looks sooo good when finished.

On the other side of the coin, try machining some catalpa. I've only turned it, but when I did, my shop smelled like cotton candy. Amazing.

[Brad Shipton]

I had never heard of cumaru until today, but I think I will avoid it. Sure be nice to see some finished pics sometime. I did not enjoy working with the Jatoba much, but at least it does not stink (cant rank it worst as I have another 800bd ft to do soon). The bloodwood does look pretty darn cool going thru the clearvue. The Makore veneer I have been working with lately and the Canary wood both bother my sinuses, so I would rank them worst.

Brad

[Roger Barlow]

Ipe, yellow sticky dust, and makes my skin itch, but the guy I was working with broke out with a rash something fierce.

[Simon Dupay]

Originally Posted by Peter Quinn

Ever pick the short straw at work? Things where I work wood aren't slow, but they have evolved economically to a point where we seem to be taking jobs that are, shall i say, less savory than in the past few years. Having finished my current project a bit ahead of schedule, I went to get my next job card, and i could see by the look on the bosses face that it wasn't going to be pretty. Or easy. Or fun.

Short story, cumaru stair treads, starting with 10/4 material, 10"-18" widths, 10' lengths, to finish at 2" flattened, 48" lengths. Run that through your head for a second. Ever pick up a piece of cumaru? About as heavy on volume as IPE, just as hard, but it smells like horse dung when milled, and the splinters seem to cause an immediate infection. Makes white oak seem like balsa wood. Ouch.

We had a guy for a while that couldn't pronounce cumaru, so he called it "that camaro wood", and when he quit, it was because he was fatigued from working a job involving cumaru. I'm a bit more robust than he, but I understand presently why he pronounced on his way out the door "i feel like I just got hit by a camaro".

If you ever have a chance to work with cumaru, don't.

So I'm curious, what is everyone's LEAST favorite species to work with? In case i wasn't clear for the record, mine is cumaru.

Man, I feel your pain!!! I dread getting a order for cumaru ,the crap so damn heavy and ugly, ipe too for that matter. I also hate tigerwood, wenge, alder, merabu and amendiom and if you thought cumaru smelt bad, try smelling amendiom, it smells like old broccoli!!! and talk about ugly!

[Larry Fox]

So far my least favorite wood is pine - really don't like it at all.

[Greg Cole]

Elms are quite pungent too, smells like someones cat was locked up in the shop for a weekend and used a corner for a litter box.
Sort of off topic, but I've cut down some Spruce trees with a chain saw and some leave one hell of a smelly pitch laden STINKY mess all over your pants n shirt n arms and.....
I'll shy away from the camaro, unless it's a vintage one from the late 60's.

Greg

[Chris Padilla]

Originally Posted by Karl Brogger

You guys and your goofy exotic species.

I hate cedar. The shop smells like a F-ing hampster cage to me. Plus after about half a day exposure to it I want to gouge my itchy, watery eyes out with the corner of the tablesaw.

Interesting. I just built a cedar gate and I LOVED the smell of my garage after milling it.

[Charles Trout]

Interesting....so how do you pronounce "cumaru"? I never heard of that type of wood before.

I too love the smell in my shop when cutting cedar! I guess never having raised hamsters I can't associate it with a bad smell.