Woodshop

[freeztar]

:D Right on cue Freezy! Mmmm...burls only riparian you say? Nobody told the tree I cut this burl from, as it was growing on a slope in the Willamette valley.

 

:doh:

I was actually thinking of something else when I wrote that.

You are correct, no validity in my claim.

:doh:

 

The tree was doomed by developers cutting in a new subdivision, and while I couldn't save the whole tree, I did rescue some of the wood. What kind of wood you say? Why, Acer macrophyllum, variously known as Big-leaf Maple, Oregon Maple, or Broadleaf Maple. :)

:D That was my first guess until I got riparian in my head. :doh:

 

The appearence of grain exposed by a cut in wood is dependent on the orientation of the cut. For this piece of Maple burl, the cuts perpendicular to the wild surface under the bark give the grain pattern referred to as 'tiger' or 'fiddle-back', whereas cuts paralell to the surface yield 'birds-eye' grain pattern.

 

Interesting...

What if you cut it at a "diagonal"? :)

Because I cut the piece green, I nailed a chain to it and sunk it in a pond for a year to keep it from splitting & checking. This procedure keeps water in the cells so they don't collapse as they cure; once cured, the wood is taken out of the water and air-dried. A quicker method some use is to immerse the wood in PEG, polyethyline glycol, but that's expensive and a chemical mess. :)

Do all woods take a year to cure with this method? Does the wood ever have a tendency to rot before it is cured?

 

So, I'll get another wood sample for us later today, an even more exotic PNW burl from a tree seldom used by woodworkers. :) I came, I saw, I sawed. :)

 

Did you find it by a river?

;)

[freeztar]

Mystery burl wood #2. This is an unfinished project I started ~25 years ago:eek: ; I think it's a cribbage board. :) The edge pieces are Oak. The colors are not 'true' partly because these bits of wood have been sitting around for so long, & the fluorescent light I'm using is not full-spectrum. What's a woody to due? ................:)

 

 

What IS one to dew? :) :D

 

Let's see, this one is way more difficult...

 

I honestly can't tell much from the grain so I'll go on your hints alone: it's from PNW and it's a rarity in woodworking.

 

Is it douglas fir?

 

(slightly unrelated question for you :), have you ever driven up 101 towards Port Angeles and seen the chainsaw art prominently displayed in someone's front yard just to the west of 101. There's probably 50 or so pieces that sit out in the yard. Some of them are quite impressive!)

[Turtle]

The appearence of grain exposed by a cut in wood is dependent on the orientation of the cut. For this piece of Maple burl, the cuts perpendicular to the wild surface under the bark give the grain pattern referred to as 'tiger' or 'fiddle-back', whereas cuts paralell to the surface yield 'birds-eye' grain pattern.

Interesting...

What if you cut it at a "diagonal"? :hyper:

:D Something of a combination I suppose; bird's back tiger fiddle? Fiddle eye tiger bird? :(

 

Do all woods take a year to cure with this method? Does the wood ever have a tendency to rot before it is cured?

 

More or less a year. Of those burls I tried this with I waited a year and they were 'done'. Partly I didn't want to take them out too soon and find it was all for naught, and partly because the pond was snowed in during the Winter. :thumbs_up

 

Let's see, this one is way more difficult...

 

I honestly can't tell much from the grain so I'll go on your hints alone: it's from PNW and it's a rarity in woodworking.

 

Is it douglas fir?

Doug Fir is widely employed in woodworking. Used in plywood, dimensional construction material, and millwork to name a few.

 

(slightly unrelated question for you , have you ever driven up 101 towards Port Angeles and seen the chainsaw art prominently displayed in someone's front yard just to the west of 101. There's probably 50 or so pieces that sit out in the yard. Some of them are quite impressive!)

 

I have driven that road & the scene sounds familiar; I used to go up to kite retreats at Fort Warden that way.

 

Here's what C.P. Lyons writing in Trees & Shrubs of Washington says about mystery wood #2.

The wood, with its outward promise of something very desirable, fails to be so. Although workable when green, it dries to become a hard, brittle wood of little commercial value

 

Since Doug is unlikely to know this regional wood, I'll reveal that it is Arbutus menziesii, or as we call it hereabouts, Madrone. I air dried this burl, and it continued warping for years; I seem to now recall having the frame complete at one time, but the Madrone burl panel warped and broke open the joints. :eek: Anyway, that's another cut from the Turtle's corner. :hyper:

[Turtle]

Mystery burl wood #3. The original burl has a hoary story, weighed 50+ pounds, and got the pond treatment. No trees died in its collection. :hihi:

 

[DougF]

Well you got me on mystery wood #2,

Don't recall hearing the name before, but I have seen that red papery bark of this tree before.

 

as to mystery wood #3,

the wood grain looks like a Oak of some kind.

[Turtle]

Well you got me on mystery wood #2,

Don't recall hearing the name before, but I have seen that red papery bark of this tree before.

 

as to mystery wood #3,

the wood grain looks like a Oak of some kind.

 

Roger & Roger :) That is to say, I thought #2 might be a stumper, and #3 is Oak. Garry Oak I suspect; Quercus garryana. Good call. :)

 

Meantime, the work on the combination plane is going well. The irons are still soaking in oil and there's a lot of work to get them all back to working condition, but I have the main frame, the bars, the sliding skate, and the fence cleaned up and tuned. On removing the spurs (one on the main frame, one on the sliding skate) I found that only one lobe of each was ever sharpened, and those lobes are now worn back so they don't extend past the fence. I prefer to sharpen only the leading edge, as this leaves more metal in support behind, and since the spur is not reversable and one doesn't drag the plane backwards to cut with an iron in place, sharpening all around a lobe is rather useless in my view.

 

That's all I got. :cup: :)

[Turtle]

... On removing the spurs (one on the main frame, one on the sliding skate) I found that only one lobe of each was ever sharpened, and those lobes are now worn back so they don't extend past the fence. I prefer to sharpen only the leading edge, as this leaves more metal in support behind, and since the spur is not reversable and one doesn't drag the plane backwards to cut with an iron in place, sharpening all around a lobe is rather useless in my view. :rolleyes:

 

In this short film, I remove, sharpen, & reinstall the spur cutter on the main frame of the Stanley 45 combination plane.

 

YouTube - Stanley 45 - spur cutter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhQuN8P9tdA

[Turtle]

Any pleasure in anticipating using the Stanley 45 combination plane is thouroughly and completely sucked desert dry and blown away by the cleaning of it. ;) Stay tuned, but don't hold your breath.

 

Then there is the wood! Good grief and oh bother to that burden too. Worse than a damn booger on a finger. :hihi: Fuel for thought and the rocket stove. :) I honestly thought that years ago I already burned the pieces pictured below; what's left of building only one of a pair of Bible stands. Can you say "uncompleted project?" Call them mystery wood #4 if you must...I call it firewood. .........:hihi:

[freeztar]

Why would you burn that when you could make a giant throwing-star (shuriken) out of it?! :hihi:

[Turtle]

Why would you burn that when you could make a giant throwing-star (shuriken) out of it?! :hyper:

 

Laugh it up funny boy! Don't think I mightn't. :naughty: Since it is already Ash, it just made sense to burn it. :hyper: I admit that while looking at them on the floor and leaning against the wall - keep in mind these are pedestal legs - and considering where best to cut them to fit in my coffee-can charcoal retort rocket thingy, I wandered astray to thinking what a lovely set of shelf brackets they'd make. :eek: :naughty: :naughty: :doh: :D

 

In reading your reposte, I did notice an interesting advert on the page for custom wood switch-plates. Not a bad idea for some thin sawed pieces o' woot. ..... ... ___ __......

 

Light Switchplates - Get Decorative Wall Plates and Custom Made Switch plates

[DougF]

:naughty:

 

And #4 looks like oak also!

Oh Ash :naughty:

[Turtle]

:naughty: :naughty:

 

And #4 looks like oak also!

Aye; 'tis true.:naughty: But it's Ash through & through, and while plain-cut Ash strongly resembles Oak, quarter-sawn Ash does not give the 'tiger' pattern that quarter-sawn Oak does because Ash wood lacks the wide rays.

 

Do I lay 'em 3 legs to fire or steel Doug? What say yee?

[DougF]

Aye Mattie, I say put the steel to her, :naughty:

[freeztar]

I second the steel, but you should really consider a shuriken instead of shelves, seriously!

 

But I'd forgive you if you made cool switchplates...

 

You can always retort the scraps.

[Turtle]

Aye Mattie, I say put the steel to her, :eek::doh:

 

I second the steel, but you should really consider a shuriken instead of shelves, seriously!

 

That's a big Jolly Roger; the pieces go to the possible bag.

 

Here's mystery wood #5. This is from the bole of a 30" tree that went down into power lines ~1961. Recovered due to the foresight of an operations superintendent of the utility company.

[Turtle]

In the mean time, I took more out of that tool chest than the #45. That the other tools still need thourough cleaning is not helping my atittude attitude (or my spelling!). One may not be what it seems, the other exactly so. ;) :)

[freeztar]

Well, I know jack-diddley-squat about this stuff, but I can't help guessing

 

1) Some type of wood grip (I know, that's a pathetic guess )

2) A mounting bracket for a planer?

 

Let Doug guess before you give it away, as he seems to know more about this stuff than I and I'm sure he would enjoy the challenge. :shrug: