Diamond in the Rough

[Ed Sallee]

I've been sitting on this cocobolo for a couple of years. It's been up in my loft and when I got it, it was wax covered, so you really couldn't see the grain, but you still knew that you had something good....

Well...I decided to make a box out of it and just ran it through the planer and ran it down to 7/8".... I don't know if the picture does it justice, but...when the wax coating went up in to the planer and I saw what was coming out...it took my breath away.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/DSC06464.jpg

[James Reichman]

Sweet! Post a completed pic of the box. What type of joinery dovetail, box joint?

[Ed Sallee]

Haven't even got that far yet.... :cool:

I'm still looking at it trying to decide which piece to make the lid out of. I do know that I am going to accent with Yellowheart.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ed,

That is some beautiful wood!

My wife can't believe sometimes how one can take what appears to be a rather bland piece of wood...plane it or turn it and discover something utterly beatutiful underneath the surface.

Gorgeous wood! Can't wait to see the box you make from it!

[John Schreiber]

...it took my breath away.
That's really something.

When I saw your last line, I was reminded that when I last worked Cocobolo, I caught a bad cold which didn't go away until I was done with the project. I later determined that rather than a cold, it was an irritation due to the dust. I'll still use it, but in the future, I'll be very careful about inhalation and dust contact.

[Brian Effinger]

That's really something.

When I saw your last line, I was reminded that when I last worked Cocobolo, I caught a bad cold which didn't go away until I was done with the project. I later determined that rather than a cold, it was an irritation due to the dust. I'll still use it, but in the future, I'll be very careful about inhalation and dust contact.

For me it is a skin irritant. So you might want to cover up too.

[John Keeton]

Ed, that wood deserves one of your very nicely designed boxes - can't wait to see it!

[Simon Dupay]

too bad that color will fade:(-cocobolo aways has that Wow! factor when first cut but after a while it turns dark.

[Mike Cutler]

Nice looking wood there Ed. I've always liked Cocobolo. It should be very nice when finished. Can't wait to see it.

[John Thompson]

Well .. my good neighbor in Flowery Branch.. I highly recommend you lock those shop doors very tight every night. Word is there is a "cocobola bandit" operating in the area and he would love to get his hands on some grain that intense..

Just a warning of course... :D

Regards...

The "Cocobolo Bandit"....

[Ed Sallee]

I started cuttin' it up today.... posted a Project in Progress in this thread over in Woodworking Projects. (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=99047)

[Mike Parzych]

Don't want to be a smart you-know-what, but you sure that isn't Bocote? It has the color and grain pattern of Bocote. All the cocobolo I've seen in much redder.

[Ed Sallee]

Oh yeah, it's cocobolo....