Fig wood . I have two or three fig trunks availiable that just came down in a storm (30cm to 40cm diameter) that I was considering cutting into boards which will come out 2m to 3m long. My question is ,Is it worth the trouble or is fig just fire wood?
Thanks for any advice
Philip
Replies
Philip, it depends upon what species you have...but generally speaking, the fig family; Moraceae, isn't a major timber producer. Members of this family are often vines (some are parasitic) and even the tree species in the family tend to be on the small side or have distorted growth habits. There are a few exceptions in that our native mulberry belongs to the Moraceae and it's a very attractive wood. There are also some species native to South America, India and Southeast Asia that produce commercial timbers, but none of them are standouts in terms of their worth as cabinet woods. Members of this family often produce latex sap and some of them are relatively toxic to work with.
Edited 8/10/2002 1:38:07 PM ET by Jon Arno
I"M wondering if you"re talking about the tropical ficus species such as ficus benjamina? grows only in South Florida and usually grows multiple trunks from ariel roots. Trunk often exhibits spiral growth.The so called strangler fig is native to Fla. If that's what you're talking about, this stuff is awful. Grain goes every which way and is highly stressed and reactive. Though it is beautifully white, I wouldn't waste a second with the hideous stuff. Has all the terrible characteristics of luan.
Dave of Fla.
Jon,
These are Fruit trees European dark purple figs(northern Italy) that are 50 to 70 years old. Leaves and prunings do produce white sap. For fig trees they are very large I was considering it only as a curiosity because there would not be enough wood to be of any value commercially. My doubts lie in the stability, and in the cracks and checks in drying.thanks for the note on toxicisity I'll be careful.
Since your available I'll stick in another question. When I see rosewood mentioned in publications I wonder what species are being refered to. In Italian it translates to Palissandro, of which three types are available here Indian, African and South American. In reference material I find included in these Dalbergia latifolia, Sisso,Oliveri,Guibourtia tesmanii,Guibourtia pellegriniana,Guibourtia demeusei, Dalbergia nigra, Dalbergia caerensis, and Dalbergia frutescens.
Which of these is refered to as rosewood and is it possible to easily identify them from one another.
Thanks again
Philip
Philip, I don't think the common fig produces a particularly toxic wood. Although I haven't worked with it, I've seen samples and it struck me as rather bland figured and uninteresting. Also, the samples were noticeably distorted, suggesting that the wood has poor stability and might be difficult to dry.
As for your question on rosewood, a thorough answer would make for a very long post...but we can hit some of the high points: The common name "rosewood" is correctly used to describe the woods of species belonging to the genus Dalbergia. I believe the common name palisander (sp?) is a French term for the rosewoods (originally used for Brazilian rosewood) and I suspect the term you've used in your post is simply an Italianized form of this common name.
The Dalbergia genus belongs to the legume family; Leguminosae, and there are about 15 to 20 species that produce commercially important woods. This genus is pan-tropic in distribution: native to South and Cental America, Africa, the Indian sub-continent and Southeast Asia. The various species differ somewhat in terms of density, texture and color, but they all tend to be hard, heavy, decay resistant woods with vivid pigmentation and high concentrations of natural oil. They polish beautifully, but their extractives can be irritating and are a potential allergen for some people.
As for some of the species you mention; D. sissoo is native to India. It tends to be somewhat reddish in color and one of the coarser textured of the rosewoods. D. latifolia is also native to India (southern india) and is sometimes called shisham. It tends to be much darker in color than sissoo. D. nigra is the well known and now scarce Brazilian rosewood, while D. cearensis, also native to South America, is usually referred to as kingwood. D. frutescens is the "blondest" of the rosewoods, in that it has beautiful coral pink and creamy yellow pigmentation. It is also native to Brazil and is usually marketed as tulipwood. The primary African species is D. melanoxylon, more often referred to as blackwood. There are also a couple of commercially important rosewoods native to Central America: cocobolo, D. retusa and Honduras rosewood; D. stevensonii. There are several species native to Indochina and probably the best known of these is Siamese rosewood; D. cochinchinensis.
The genus Guibourtia also belongs to the legume family and (unfortunately) some of its woods are occasionally marketed as "rosewoods." They are mostly (but not exclusively) African in origin and better common names for them include; bubinga, benge, ehie, amazoue and ovangkol. They aren't true rosewoods, but they have similar properties in terms of density and color. - Hope this helps, but to keep this post from rambling on, if I've missed something, let me know and we can deal with it as a followup question.
Edited 8/10/2002 8:10:37 PM ET by Jon Arno
Edited 8/10/2002 8:12:31 PM ET by Jon Arno
It is very important to get the gender right when speaking in Italian about fig trees. My Italian is not very good and I make lots of gramatical mistakes. Once while visiting relations in Palermo ,when discussing fig trees with a cousin, I made a very bad mistake when describing how we in the temperaperate regions of USA are obliged to wrap fig trees in the winter to keep them from dying. I use large wooden stakes, tar paper and burlap.
If you get the gender wrong ,people think you are discussing a part of a woman's anatomy that genteel people really should not talk about at the dinner table.
Everybody blushed and I felt like an idiot. So much for making a good impression with the relatives.
Frank
My first woodworking job in the mid-70's was making those burl clocks and tables that were all the rage at the time. I was in the Central Valley of CA near Fresno, Raisin Capitol of the World, also home to many fig orchards. We'd get slabs of the wood, cut thicker than usual bec they'd curl pretty badly in the drying. The color was just delectable, very close to fudge ripple ice cream with a yellowish background whose contorted grain was traced with various colors of chocolate-colored swirls...
...there goes the diet...catch you later...
frank,
Don't feel too bad about those mistakes I've heard worse. A female friend of mine (American) once was explaining to me and a group of Italians how she was trying a diet of Grapefruit which in Italian is" pompelmo"; Well she got it wrong and said a diet of "pompini". After a bit of laughter at the idea of such a diet we tactfullly explained to her that this word refers to an act of oral sex. .... She then turned a shade of red that I truely thought impossible for a human.
Philip
Philip and Frank, this has been an enjoyable thread. I grew up in a blue-collar suburban neighborhood of Detroit...peopled by the four corners of the world...including a lot of Italian families. I'm not Italian myself (although I think they named a river after me?) and I love both the Italian culture and their food...But I've got to honestly say, I've never seen an Italian blush about anything.
Jon,
Thanks that pretty much covers what I wanted to know.
Philip
P.S. I would have also read voluntarily a long rambling post on the subject.
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