Some of you nmay have seen this post over on Old Tools, but really, I am not averse to using power tools or hiring someone with the right tools to do what i cannot, so, here is the question — what think you all on the subject of feather grain crotch wood? I had a big walnut crotch sawn last winter. Actually asked the sawyer to cut it thick for possible gunstock use, but he for reasons of his own sawed it at 5/4.
The figure is very nice. It is still drying, but because I was there, and as “there” is 800 miles from my house, I brought 3 pieces home. There are several more pieces still with the sawyer. It is all still at about 28% MC, so I have some time.
I have been thinking of making coffee table out of some of it, with
the rest for panels or boxes, etc. It seems a shame to use a solid
inch of figured wood for any of these purposes, but I don’t know.
What is the best way to handle it? Would it work to re-saw it in half and plane to 2/4, then reinforcing the tabletop with a frame? I don’t have a saw capable of that kind of work, as the pieces are a couple of feet wide, but some shoo around here might.
Should I leave it as-is at nominal 5/4 for the table top and re-saw box and panel pieces as needed, after ripping to rough width?
If the plan is to resaw, when should it be done? Now, while still damp, or when fully dry?
Replies
Joe,
My method of choice would be to let it be. Surface the 5/4 stock and use it like that for the coffee table. If you want a larger table, bookmatch it with another of the slabs. If you decide to resaw it, why not saw it into veneer and glue it onto a substrate. You know - make it go further.
As to whether to resaw green versus dry... Well, it's a lot heavier when green. Also, you tend to get "threads" rather than dust. Either way, use a 3tpi blade.
By the way, I've never heard of "feather" grain. Is that similar/the same as flame?
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Refer to message 42711.1 for a photo of the wood I am working.
I have been working some walnut crotch pieces for the last couple years and learned a couple things that seem basic. Here goes:
You need to get one side of the board flat or close to flat. This is very important to make decisions on how you will resaw or plane.
I would leave the crotch to dry in the thickest dimension possible for the longest time you can wait. If you decide to resaw a wet piece of crotch-- you might have more surprises than you might anticipate.
I have found a general rule to be a good guideline:
Once you come down below 3/4" thickness with the crotch, its best to have a frame ready to set the piece in to maintain its flatness. Leaving planed crotch boards around that are 9/16" x 15w x 38L is an invitation to warping and cupping.
I've had the best luck finding the surface I like and getting it flat to be the best way to work a board to the finished dimensions I need.
Good luck and post a photo when you can
dan
Excellent advice. Yes, I was trying to make it go a bit further, but can leave it as is. I have a fair amount.Chris - not sure if there is any difference between "feather" and "flame." It is just that lovely grain pattern that you get i parts of walnut crotch wood. If there are any genuine technical distinctions, I don't know them.Dan -- sounds like you are saying that the wild grain leads to some crazy warping and checking. I can wait as long as I need to, so wait I will. The rest of the wood will be air dried to about 13% at the mill, and then kiln dried (but not steamed, so we won't mess with color). Maybe I should have left these pieces there, but they are in Texas now and the mill is in northern Illinois, so I guess these will dry via air and air conditioning.Is your emphasis on flatness because the crotch will need planing and you won't know how much thickness you actually have to work with until you have your face side fairly true?Joe
Krenov might sit on stock like that for years waiting for the right creative impulse. Let it dry. Bring it in to the shop and live with it a while. The right use will hit you in due time.
It's way too early to worry about flatness, tearout, and all that technical crap. I'd get it gathered up in my shop, store it properly, and see what sort of artistic impulse strikes you. It'll all work out when it comes time to mill it.
My only aesthetic suggestion at the moment would be to rule out any horizontal use of the wood (coffee table top, etc.). You want this stuff upright - like door panels for a secretary or a Krenov style cabinet on stand or something like that. But that's just me - usual disclaimers about chocolate and vanilla and all that. I don't like highly figured wood on pieces that you have to stand over and look down in order to see the wood - I don't think the eye ever quite takes it all in as it does when the wood is presented face-on, at more or less eye level. Then there's Nakashima so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt and purely as an opinion and not an edict.
Edited 8/14/2008 3:52 pm ET by BossCrunk
Krenov would cut it into sawn, (1/8" or so), veneers and make the most use of it. I would tend to agree if it is really outstanding. But then I like his work a lot.
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