Any Tips for Coffeebean????

[Bo McCorkle]

Went to the saw mill yesterday and picked up a few dozen feet of coffeebean. Ive never worked with it but love the way it looks. Anything I should look out for???

[Don Orr]

To the best of my knowledge it works similar to black locust and osage orange. Hard, maybe a little brittle and abrasive. That is if you are referring to wood from a tree called Kentucky Coffee tree. I believe they are all related.

[Glenn Vaughn]

I can verify that it is hard, a little brittle and abrasive. Get splinters out - they will fester (at least they do for me). I did a cabinet project with it and my wife loves it. I need to find more to reface the old cabinets in the kitchen and make new doors for them. I think I bought all of the 4/4 that was available in Colorado and have not been able to find any in Kansas. I have about 100 bd ft of 8/4 but don't want to resaw it; I already have plans for it.

The thing to watch for is wind shakes; they are quite common.

I have a ton of scraps from the cabinets and am going to use a lot of it for pens and other turnings. I am playing with finishing it - it is porous but polishes up nicely.

The photo is of a piece I turned just to finish - it has no function or use. It is finished natural - CA, EEE and Shellawax - sanded to 12,000 with MM.

[Jim Rimmer]

The thing to watch for is wind shakes; they are quite common.

What is/are wind shakes?

[Glenn Vaughn]

wind shake [wɪnd]
n (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Forestry) a crack between the annual rings in wood: caused by strong winds bending the tree trunk

[Bo McCorkle]

excellent thanks for the pointers