Almost Heaven.......

[Larry Frank]

I made a trip today up to Owl Hardwood in Oak Lawn, Illinois --just outside Chicago. This place has so many kinds of wood that I could not believe it. They had a piece of mahogany 2 inches thick and at least 36" wide and more than 8 ft long. It was beautiful and very expensive.


I was looking for some different woods to do Intarsia and other small projects. They have a lot of the exotics and it is great to look at them and then gasp at the price of some of them. I actually bought some leopard wood and lace wood along with others including some beech and butternut. The beech and butternut are woods that I have read about but it is so different to hold them and look at them.

Owl hardwood also has an impressive stock of various type of maple, red oak, white oak, cherry and the common hardwoods.

If you are every in the area, it is a worthwhile stop. Just be careful as you can spend your money very quickly. I am glad that it is not any closer to me as I would be there way to often.

[Jim Matthews]

I had a chat with Steve Latta when he made a presentation at the Connecticut Valley woodworking school.

I was under the impression that Intarsia came as a response to limited species available to marquetry artists.
I like some of the exotic stuff, but have frequent allergic responses to South American stuff.

Not so much with ebony or other African imports, but if it came from a Brazilian rainforest, I handle it with gloves.

Mr. Latta seemed capable of emulating many effects with a little tin of hot sand and tweezers.

[Larry Frank]

I am not certain where the impression concerning Intarsia as a response to limited species of wood available to artists.

It is generally, done to create pictures or figures with depth sign different species of wood. Typically, the wood is not stained or dyed but the natural colors are used.

The purpose of my post was not to discuss Intarsia but rather to let people in the Chicago area know about Owl Hardwood which has a terrific inventory of domestic hardwoods as well as exotics, trim molding in different woods and lots of hardwood plywood. It is a good source for wood and an interesting place to visit.

As far as the comment about allergic response, many people on the forum are doing a lot to improve dust collection and avoid all dusts. I use a Festool Hepa vacuum to collect as much dust as possible both when sawing and sanding parts to limit exposure.