Opinion Please

[Jim King]

Several weeks ago I promised to post photos of some samples of tropical plywood that we are in the process of making samples from to get an opinion of. Maybe I have been in the Amazon to long and have some worms in the brain but I think some of them would make nice kitchens. These are the rough samples but the finished product will be perfect.

I would like some opinions ?

[Jim Becker]

Of all these, I prefer the last one, Jim. Number three is "interesting".

One thing about using sheet goods in cabinetmaking is that one has to be careful about being "too bold" over too broad an area most of the time. That's the major issue with all of these samples (relative to my taste)...they are very busy. Great for door panels, but could be a problem for general carcass work. The last one could be adaptable and would even be better, at least for the kind of work I prefer, if it just featured the straight grained heart. The sap may fall in the wrong places for carcass work, resulting in a lot of waste...and I'm sure that this would all be premium stock.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I'll take a million of #3; 500,000 of #4; and 250,000 of everything else.
Delivery tomorrow OK?

Very nice wood. When are you going to start importing exclusive to the creek?

[Wally Lloyd]

These are just rough samples, just to prove the plywood factory can do it.

[Glenn Clabo]

Jim,
My vote goes with #4 if you are just thinking kitchen cabs. The rest are too busy for my taste...
The first one reminds me what should be on the wall of a haunted house.

[Wally Lloyd]

Cliff, Tomorrow is out of the question, Maybe Wednesday? :-)

[Nancy Laird]

Jim, I think I agree with Jim about large panels. Numbers 1, 2 and 3 would make nice door panels, but I think all are too busy for large panels. I don't like #4 at all.

Just MHO.

Nancy

[Bruce Page]

Beautiful but a little too wild for my taste - at least for kitchen cabinetry.

What’s the latest on the Oliver No. 21 that I turned you on to last year?
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=47395

[Dixon Peer]

Just curious...are these woods sustainable? Are they certified? No question about their beauty.

[Cody Colston]

That first one looks like a line of monkeys...hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil...;)

I have to agree with the majority. The grain/figure is too wild for cabinetry. It would be overpowering. I already see too many projects with an overabundance of stunning figure. IMHO it should be a focal point, not everywhere one looks.

[Art Mulder]

I like #3, #4, and #5 -- but I agree with JimB that #5 would probably be more marketable without the sapwood.

I'm curious, though... just how big are these panels? I can't really see a scale, but they're clearly square shaped and fairly large. So are they 5x5, 8x8 or something else?

It would be interesting to see one of these panels with a coat of BLO and some laquer on them, to get an idea of what they would look like in finished form - brighter, duller, more pronounced grain, etc.


The first one reminds me what should be on the wall of a haunted house.

That first one looks like a line of monkeys...hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

I see a line of huge evil parrots glaring down at me. Man, an artist would pay big bucks for that - just add some tint, a few paint or stain hints to bring out the image, frame it, and blammo: $500-$1000 at a gallery.

ta,
...art

[John Timberlake]

Any of them would be great with only one or two of the bookmatched piece. Number 1 is too busy to look good all over a kitchen either as a full sheet or for all the doors. Number 2 is a little better. The other three would be great. I especially like number 5. I think it could be used for cabinet doors, drawer fronts or even full panels for a portion of a wall.

[Wally Lloyd]

Art, these sheets are 4 by 4 feet. Just an experiment to create interest.
I think it worked!!!!

[Paul Douglass]

Kitchen cabinets - no, front of a small wet bar in a play room - yes.

[glenn bradley]

[quote=Cody Colston;625524]That first one looks like a line of monkeys...hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil...;) quote]

Now you've done it Cody . . . all I can see is monkeys.

For large areas I think the last one is the only contender. For other panels I can see all of them appealing to different tastes including mine. Are they 'wet' for the pics or are they really that dark?

[Wally Lloyd]

These are all dry wood, if they were wet or sealed it would scare you. It took 15 days of steaming before they could be sliced.

[Jim King]

As I posted this on more than one site I will give a general answer. Thank you very much for the replies. It is almost exactly as I expected. Some up some in the middle and some positive. What I am trying to duplicate is what a major US forestry company failed at several years ago as they had no one who knew the wood and where to find it to make any quantity. Our target market is high end boats and housing products , I am the first to agree that this is not for the small town of 696 people in Northern Wisconsin where I grew up. The sizes will be ¼ , ½ , and ¾ inch thick and 2 foot by 4 foot to 4 foot by 8 foot.. The plywood is double faced with the same species to make a very stable product with 1/16 inch thick face stock on both sides after sanding . Yes it is harvested sustainable . I think it is an interesting adventure and thank you for your replies.

Any more suggestions would be appreciated.