From an old crate?

[steven c newman]

Awhile back, when I was making rubber hose for a living, we got a shipment from Brazil. One container load. In it were crates, inside those crates were bales of EPDM rubber. Ah, but those crates! 3/4" thick, by 3" wide, the boards that made up the sides, top, and bottom were also tongue and grooved, to fit nice and tight together. These boards were a nice light brown in colour. When the crates were empty, we were tojust throw them out......ah, I don't think so. I managed to stash a couple of these crates, and take them home. Some of the projects I built with this "find"... well this little cabinet is the only one I have pictures of. 183477It's been aroundthe block a few times since it was made back about 1990. There wasn't any stain applied, just a coat or two of varnish. This wood would NOT take a stain. The stain would just disappear into the wood, never to be seen again. Grain was very straight, kind of stringy, and had a strange smell to it. 183480Not sure what they called "crate wood" down in Brazil. Those flat panels are just 1/4" luann plywood. One more shot:183481 Any clues out there?

[steven c newman]

I was just wondering what was used for "crate wood' down in Brazil. There was some "fiddleback" grain to these boards. Glue-up was a dream! These boards never did warp, that breadboard edge has stayed the same forever. This wood will change colour, depending on how much sunlight it gets. It will change to a bright orange, if left in a sunny place. Sanding this wood, all I got was a lot of musty smelling dust. But, when I would scrape the surface with a piece of glass, a nice, polished surface came out.

Just wondering, is all.....

[Jim Rimmer]

You're not getting any responses and it's probably because their stumped like me. :confused:

[Larry Edgerton]

Back in the 70's Kubota tractors used to come in teak crates. I salvaged all I could get. Now its just junk wood though.

Its fun to make something out of what would be waste I think.

[steven c newman]

Could be a Brazil form of Luann? The stuff was a nice brown colour. There was some gray specks in some of the boards, almost like grains of sand. Vary pourous, open grain.

[Caleb Larru]

Looks like Apitong. We used to get a lot stuff from Brazil and that is what they built a lot of the crates out of. Very hard material but it machines pretty well. I don't know about why it wouldn't accept a stain though, I haven't had any problems with it other than thinning down the stain too much.

They usually use apitong for trailer decks. I have often heard it referred to a poor mans mahogany.

[Paul Symchych]

Could it be jatoba? AKA "Brazilian cherry". It is said to be common enough and tough enough to be used for railroad ties in Brazil. It used to be pretty cheap here but now that the flooring guys have discovered it the prices have gone way up. Nice wood for furniture. Works well even though it eats sharp edges.

[Caleb Larru]

Looks like Apitong. We used to get a lot stuff from Brazil and that is what they built a lot of the crates out of. Very hard material but it machines pretty well. I don't know about why it wouldn't accept a stain though, I haven't had any problems with it other than thinning down the stain too much.

They usually use apitong for trailer decks. I have often heard it referred to a poor mans mahogany.

Some more info on Apitong I found:

Apitong General Characteristics:
Apitong is a very dense and tough wood with a relatively straight coarse grain pattern that is essentially knot free . It is very harsh on ordinary steel tooling due to its extremely high mineral content. Apitong is highly durable and is chosen over other woods for applications where they may decay or there is exposure to abrasive wear. Apitong is similar to Lauan; however, it does not finish as well due to the coarseness of the grain structure. The heartwood is moderately dark brownish red in color.
Typical Applications:
Apitong has been largely successful in the United States in truck bed and truck flooring applications. It is also widely used in the construction of skids, crates, pallets or any application requiring a durable wear-resistant material.
Apitong is widely available in 8/4 random width and length truck bed stock.