abit of a gloat about wood....

[John A. Callaway]

A buddy and I traveled up to Griffin , GA. yesterday and visited a little store called thewoodyard ( .com ) and I pickup up a nice pile , and so did my friend. He purchased ambrosia maple, bloodwood, purpleheart, honduran mahogany, and some tiger maple.

But I didnt take pictures of what he bought, just what I got. I bought Sapele ( 6/4 , for a hope chest project coming soon ) which is stacked on the bottom of the horses, up top there is one wide board of curly maple, several pieces of tiger maple, a couple of heavy figured bird's eye maple boards, two boards of rose wood, and two boards of blood wood.

Guys living in Georgia need to stop in and meet Rick. He has a ton of beautiful lumber, lots big slabs, and really, the guy is just super nice. I bought enough to get a nice deal off of the website listed prices, and so did my friend. We will go back when supplies get low again.

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http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j87/trainman0978/DSCN3043.jpg

here is the kicker... all of the imported wood he sells comes in through the port of savannah... and I live about 6 miles from the port.... yet I had to go 206 miles up the road to put my hands on it.

[Rick Erickson]

Very nice John. I've been meaning to stop by there. Only live about 30 minutes away. Let us know how the hand tools work on the Sapele. That can be some tough stuff to work with. I hope you've got a high hangle frog for your 5 1/2.

[Zach England]

Very nice John. I've been meaning to stop by there. Only live about 30 minutes away. Let us know how the hand tools work on the Sapele. That can be some tough stuff to work with. I hope you've got a high hangle frog for your 5 1/2.

What is so bad about Sapele? I have a good bit of it, both "ribbon stripe" and conventional, that I want to use on a cabinet and some speakers. I tried planing some of the ribbon stripe Sapele and it planed beautifully--almost like walnut. It had a bit of an oily feel and an unusual smell--almost like cardamon.

[john brenton]

Judging by the comment about the high angle frog, it sounds like he's talking about tricky grain, but I've never had that problem with sapele, and I've had a lot of it. Maybe we've just been lucky with getting nice cuts.

I can attest to the worthiness of John's gloat. That is some fine wood. The bloodwood is so heavy and dense, I'll be interested to hear how it works, and see what you use it for. Plane cheeks and a wedge?

John's a great guy, and it was a great visit. I'm a believer in the 5 1/2" now.
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What is so bad about Sapele? I have a good bit of it, both "ribbon stripe" and conventional, that I want to use on a cabinet and some speakers. I tried planing some of the ribbon stripe Sapele and it planed beautifully--almost like walnut. It had a bit of an oily feel and an unusual smell--almost like cardamon.

[John A. Callaway]

ah yes, good brew, good times... Enjoyed the visit.

from the looks of some of the other sapele the dealer had planed, it looks alot like mahogany... I chose it because the plans for the chest call for 5/4 wood... the book used jatoba...but that stuff has a really bad rep for being a tough wood... and this sapele is graded the same as african mahogany... and I took the 8 to a board last night and it didnt give too much of a fight.

Rick, the HAF is on the list... after a LV plow and router plane. If needs to be moved up to the top of that list then thats okay... its a cheaper order than either of those other two tools...

( BTW... how about those saw horses... built just to store this wood on initially. love walking in there and seeing everything sitting...waiting... )

[john brenton]

That was fantastic brew. I have bought that ale before and don't remember it being quite as good...either it was a different brew or I just had the right taste buds for it last night...don't know. That rum was spectacular too...it tasted how all that wood on the horses looks.

What was the name of that encyclopedia of joinery again? I'm gonna order it.

[John A. Callaway]

Illustrated Cabinetmaking - How to Design and construct, furniture that works ... By Bill Hylton

Popular wood working book store usually has it for under twenty bucks.

[john brenton]

Thanks, just ordered it.

[Rick Erickson]

Ribbon Sapele can be a challenge to say the least and it looks like he has some of it. Cuban and Honduras Mahogany is hands down easier to work with hand tools. Not saying it can't be done but I've not had near the success with it. If you got it to plane like Walnut your doing a whole lot better than me.

[John A. Callaway]

What is ribbon sapele? how can I tell if from the regular wood.... ?

[Zach England]

Ribbon Sapele can be a challenge to say the least and it looks like he has some of it. Cuban and Honduras Mahogany is hands down easier to work with hand tools. Not saying it can't be done but I've not had near the success with it. If you got it to plane like Walnut your doing a whole lot better than me.


What seems more likely is that the wood I THINK is ribbon sapele is actually something else. I will post pictures when I get home.

[john brenton]

Now that he said ribbon sapele, I know what he's talking about. You definitely can see stripes running down the length of the lumber, so you'd know it. If I get the chance I'll take a picture of some. I don't have a lot of it, but I did have some 1/2" boards and they're in there somewhere.

I don't know if what I'm saying is really what is happening, but when you are planing it's like each stripe is running the opposite direction. It is hard to get a uniformly smooth surface when planing. I just planed them as best as I could then scraped or sanded.


What is ribbon sapele? how can I tell if from the regular wood.... ?

[John A. Callaway]

well... In the one board I took the no. 8 to, you can notice the grain doesn't run straight down the board... it waves from side to side a little bit... maybe that is it.

[john brenton]

If it is what I'm thinking of, the best way I can describe it would be the stripes on the American flag running down the length of the board, alternating in color and texture as you plane. In my own words, I would say that when you plane it, it's like you end up with every other stripe being a line of tear out. That's the way it seems. I know have a pretty piece or two at the house. If nobody has posted a pic by later on I'll give it a shot. Or maybe google images would have one?


well... In the one board I took the no. 8 to, you can notice the grain doesn't run straight down the board... it waves from side to side a little bit... maybe that is it.

[john brenton]

I think this is the stuff...along with the obligatory stuffed gut plane shot. The plane is 50 degree, but I took kind of think cuts. The effect and the depth is sweet.

[John A. Callaway]

as pretty as that is... I fear this way more. LN... I will be ordering that HAF frog and toothed blade next friday without fail.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j87/trainman0978/DSCN3050.jpg

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Here , with a little help with denatured alcohol is something beyond my capability....for now. notice the nice tear out right in the middle. I took the no.8 across the grain first, then smoothed it out with the 5 1/2 ....

[john brenton]

Whoa, that's pretty nasty...but will be woth it when you get it. I don't know that the extra 5 degrees is going to do that. Its already too deep to be easily worked with a scraper. Looks like time for some advacned technique. I've never tried it, but I think I've heard of shellacking a real bad area like that to toughen the fibers and then planining. I just had a similar piece and trying to contain the tear out was two steps forward, two steps back.

[Tony Shea]

I've just recently had deallings with a door panel I made of ribbon sapelle and man was it a pain. I also had big issues with movement due to the swriling grain I chose to highlight in the door panel. I regretted the decision after trying to true the door frame to the front of the cabinet. I ending up having to plane and plane and plane until I came close to a 1/2" door frame, starting from the original 3/4". I will try and post of pic of the door.

I dimensioned the sapelle all by hand, and now I really want a drum sander. This stuff was just nasty to deal with and my scrapers got a huge workout. I used the 50* frog on my LN #5 and wish is was 55*. It was a bit better than the 45* but not real noticeable. I enventually ended up with a panel that had no tearout but was not without much difficulty. You'll certainly get a huge workout in your ablilities with this stuff, and think the Birds Eye will be more pleasing to deal with than your sapelle. Good Luck.

[John A. Callaway]

I will be getting the 55 degree just cause I agree, 5 degrees isnt worth 85 bucks. Add the tootherd blade to it and I should be able to win against this wood.

( in other notes, I do have access to a full sized drum sander, so If I can't win against this wood, it can. )

Also this piece is still way to thick, so I have plenty of meat to work through to make it to the final thickness.