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Thread: Spalted Maple Valet

  1. #1

    Spalted Maple Valet

    I found this 5/4 8" board at Farnsworth Lumber a couple months back. They threw it in the solar kiln for me and got it pretty dry so I started using it to make this valet last week. It's a continuous grain box with a drawer below (still working on that). The top is separated so there's a place for a phone.



    I was pretty happy with it when I was dry fitting it, but after glue up some slight gaps in the dovetails appeared and it went out of square by about 1/32". Not a huge deal but just annoying. Any sage advice for preventing these sort of problems? The dovetails were super tight before glue.



    https://two-bit-woodworker.blogspot.com/

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    SE Michigan
    Posts
    3,222
    Beautiful piece, Dave. When it comes to joinery, it seems a bit Murphy’s law to me. I would have thought the glue would swell the joint and make it tighter...not more gaps. The only thing I can think of is that it racked slightly (as you indicated) and caused some open gaps in the dovetails (?). It’s such a nice piece of wood, after it’s finished I doubt anyone will be noticing the joints. By the way, what’s the overall dimensions?

  3. #3
    I could be wrong but I'm sure that wood is Ambrosia Maple ... not spalted...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    Quote Originally Posted by Barry McFadden View Post
    I could be wrong but I'm sure that wood is Ambrosia Maple ... not spalted...
    You are correct. Ambrosia Maple.

    OP, very nice work!!!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Carrollton, Georgia
    Posts
    1,815
    Nice colorful valet.

    Folks around here call that Ambrosia maple and, for some reason, it sells for high dollar.

  6. #6
    Very nice! They call it wormy maple here and it’s cheap. About $3lbft. I made a headboard out of some. Nice to work with.

  7. #7
    Thanks guys, been awhile. I finished this up back in June as it was a birthday gift for the BiL.

    @Phil, I don't have it on me any longer but looking at it was pretty close to 12"x7.5"x4.5".

    I've called it Ambrosia or Spalted, this one had a little bit of both in it so I went with spalted as it's easier to spell.

    Finished pics below:



    The drawer dividers were friction fit. I was initially planning on adding a hidden compartment above the drawer and below the top, but there's and alignment issue with my dovetail jig and I lost too much height because of it. All the more reason to try hand-cut dovetails I guess.



    https://two-bit-woodworker.blogspot.com/

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