All , If you have never had the pleasure of working this colorful and often times grainy wood by all means have at it . My supplier sorts for White , all others go into another stack , even Birdseye and what could be called Ambrosia Maple by it’s looks .
These folks wanted a Rustic Maple look Vanity base for the childrens bath room , and they said they love knots .
as a note soft Natural Maple is resaonable in price coming in around the $2.00 bf price , the waste factor can be higher but it is one of my favorite woods and takes a finish the same as hard Maple .
regards dusty , and I hope you use and enjoy this beautiful wood
Replies
Dusty,
Neat. It doesn't look much like the soft maple I've been working with lately though... I attribute the dark colouring to the age of the tree, which is about 26" at the widest.
EDIT: Removed duplicate attachment
Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com
and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Edited 7/26/2009 1:32 pm by flairwoodworks
Chris ,
They say it's Eastern Soft Maple but there is not much soft about it .
As the wood turns Grayish to Charcoal in color the integrity can be compromised by defects , fine cracks , softer areas in this Eastern wood , I'm sure your's is local or Western Maple i.e. Pacific Maple .
Do I see some bench seats in those slabs ?
I'm going to go look at a large pile of Black Walnut in various slab form that was cut and stored many years ago originally from Northern California orchard regions .
regards dusty
Dusty,Well, I'd hope that Eastern soft maple is softer than Eastern hard maple. Mine is certainly a local Westcoast tree.The big slab was made to be a bench, but then the clients decided that it looks too nice to sit on, so now, as it stands, they want to make a table out of it. The smaller, squarish slab is an end table.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Chris ,
Say , do you want in on some of that Black Walnut , if it looks good and the price is right and I end up with it I would be happy to send you the info and pics and save what you may want . We have family in Tacoma Wa , so we could prolly get it up that far if you don't come waaaay down this way .
regards dusty
Dusty,"Northern California orchard regions"
Are you thinking maybe some Claro in there?Boiler
Boi,
I've heard it referred to as " orchard Walnut " don't know much about Claro.
So ,,, you want to inlay some Black Walnut with the Spruce for paddles ?
I'll cane up some seat frames for the Canoes you get the boats ready .
dusty , and already warm
Dusty,Now theres' a new type of oar. Lets see, the thermal swell factor and the lateral width movement in relationship to the depth of the dip...I think it's a job for lateral soft maple dowels. Hand rubbed to a gleaming finish with Rogue's Double Dead Guy Ale. Heard it went to 107 in Portland. It's about 74 with a 10mph on-shore breeze now. Just about sippin time in the Adirondacks.
Hope the weather breaks for you. That outdoor stick stuff dries to fast and it gets reallll cranky on the table saw.Take carebarely simmering on the coast
boil b ,
My 9' Sawyer white water counter balanced oars are Spruce or Fir laminated on the outer most portion of the blades a piece of Ash .
The Ash gets beat up on the rocks before the softer Spruce , so I was thinking a strip of Walnut could cap the edges of the blades ,, dunno .
109° today , no real relief in sight .
Koa would be better , statistically speaking , check it out .
regards dusty
Edited 7/28/2009 9:22 pm ET by oldusty
Dusty nothing like a good peice of Ash!
Amen Brother !
"Do you want in on some of that Black Walnut" Aw crap. Those few words are going to sink me. I have never said no to wood - I just can't bring myself to. I do really like walnut, but I don't like buying wood. Delierating... Aarrgh! contemplating... mulling over... pondering... STEP AWAY FROM THE WOOD!Okay, what details do you have? Green, kilned or air dried? Rough or surfaced? 4/4, 6/4, 8/4? How much per bdft?The jury is in. I'll tempt myself further and request some juicy details.Wood - my weakness! Read more here...
http://flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2B3CECCE825F255A!432.entryChris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
WOWEE !
That is one heck of a lot of wood , apologize if I have opened some dark cave .
You've been collecting for a while from the looks , I see some Nakashima style slab tables and chairs eventually from your hoard . Are you related to Frenchy in Minnesota ?
No details yet on the Walnut , except it's dry , it's old , it's all different thicknesses and a pile the size of my van ( not my wives mini van ) and it is from the Golden state .
I will share as details become realities .
regards not much dust just hot
Dusty,If you've got not much dust, but rather hot, does that make you...As to all the wood, like I said, I've only once declined wood. It was really firewood-grade and I was still reluctant to pass that up. Perhaps that was a turning point for me.But still, keep me posted!Thanks,Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Chris,
It was really firewood-grade and I was still reluctant to pass that up.
Ohhhhhh, some great finds in firewood. I fould some hornbeam (hop?), burls and some really curly elm on a recent purchase. Small pieces but surely big enuf for boxes.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,I'm talking about badly checked maple shorts.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I graduated from the NHLA inspection school and graded hardwood lumber almost 20 years ago. So I am a little rusty today.
Not being able to see the wood up close can be deceiving. However from what I saw in the photos I saw no evidence that the wood is soft maple or birch. It appears to be hard maple with heart wood and sap wood mixed in the same board.
Soft and hard maple can weight the same and be just as hard. Soft Maple has what I call chicken tracks on the surface.Hard maple does not. In hard maple the rays glisten and in birch they do not.
The heartwood tends to not be as stable as the sapwood. If you have to make a lot of cuts around the knots it might make a grade of one common hard maple. It will not make No. 1 or No. 2 white maple.
Examples of some woods are at http://www.ahec.org/hardwoods/pdfs/IllustratedGradingGuide.pdf
Hi gb ,
Thanks for the link , that is a great resource I'll keep it handy .
I've been buying the wood for many years , I originally was under the impression it was hard with a mixture of colors , a few years later i needed more and when they looked it up on the COMPUTER they said , sure enough you bought Soft Maple , I said I really didn't care what the heck it was just send more and make sure it has color .
It very well may be a mix run of Soft and Hard but no Birch .
Maybe I'll take a few pics of a board or two so you can get a better look.
Thanks for chiming in , I have learned much from your posts
regards dusty , boxmaker
gb , All ,
Here is a better look at some of the lumber .
dusty,
I got a mix of both hard and soft maple that's been drying for nearly a year now. Time to have a looksee.
Haven't done too much with maple for a while now so your discussion has kindled an interest. When we sawed it last year, if I recall, some had a mix of the dark heart and creamy white sap wood.
Will be picking up some 3" x 11" x 16' hard maple beams tomorrow or the next day. The guy who ordered it wanted 12" beams but the sawyer could only stretch it to 11". $16 ea. doesn't sound too bad methinks.
Gads, now I'm sounding like frenchy 'cept his sawyer prolly pays him to take it off his hands!
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob ,
3" X 11" X 16' , prolly sounds like bridge timbers to me
So what would the guy do with them for real ?
All I can say is , it's a good thing there are no hard wood mills nearby, heck my small hoard is a mere apprenticeship as I reach my full curmudgeonship like Frenchy , I got to build them sheds to house more and hoard more and beat Frenchy to the mills .
regards dusty , this calls for a hat shot !
Here is a link, suggesting the appearance between hard and soft Maple is very similar: http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Hard_vs_soft_maple.html
Strange you started this thread, I picked up a lot of hard Maple, with mixed color (sap and heart) for just over $1 per BF and the stuff is really nice, wondered why so little is used in furniture. One can achieve spectacular effects with the mixed colors.
I'm planning a somewhat formal kitchen table and chairs, just finished the end chairs with armrest design, you can look here:
https://sites.google.com/site/willemmartinssden/wood/new-projects/Chairwarmrest.zip?attredirects=0
dusty,
it's a good thing there are no hard wood mills nearby
Thanks for the lead in - not sure which of us is the straight man here. :-)
(Tried to insert a pic here but Prospero isn't cooperating. Will try later.)
This is the old sawmill that used to be on our property. It was built around the turn of the 20th century and remained fully functional until around 1965. Tink, aka the Mayor of Kidderville, was commissioned to tear it down about that time. You can still see remnants of it today, about 2/3 of the dam is still standing, the abuttment for the powerhouse and the pier for the waterwheel.
From what I understand it was water powered and huge belts drove the saw and milling machine(s), no electricity was generated from it. I'm researching the deed to find out if there were ever water rights for our property - thinking green here.
In the springtime when the ice jams up it is not unusual to see 3' of water in the old mill pond. Here's a pic taken in 2006 when we had flash flooding from a storm (micro burst?) that deposited 3" of rain in a little over an hour.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob , how appropriate a sawmill site on your place , very cool .
So what were the original intentions for those 3 X 12 X 16 ' planks ?
dusty , but cool this a.m.
dusty,
Apparently one was going to be used to support the end of a loft - it has a wavy grain in it, don't know about the other two. The guy moved up here from MA this spring and is a woodworker. A, cabinetmaker I'm told.
I bought the beams, not sure what I'll use them for. This wood hoarding thang is gettin outa control. Great, eh!
Let me see if Prospero ate Wheaties for reakfast today.
View Image
Yup. That little shed on the front housed the paddle wheel, kept the snow off in the winter.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Dusty,
The jist of your message IMHO is that wood with character is nicer looking than wood that is more uniform in color, grain and texture. I fully agree.
At Woodcraft, people often ask, "How can I get the stain to be less splotchy? I tell them about Preconditioner, but I also comment that "splotchy" looks good to me. The use of preconditioner makes the wood look more like "a photo of wood".
Modern makers of kitchen cabinets often put the stain in the lacquer which is sprayed over a cabinet in order to make the wood look less like God actually made it. :-) That hides the identity and beauty of the wood.
To me, wood is like a beautiful woman. The less she has on, the better she looks.
As time goes on, I use less stain. Almost none anymore. Also I look for wood with interesting grain patterns and color changes.
The wood I use most is maple, and I like curly. I am about to make two bowls out of a nice piece of spalted wormy maple.
Have fun. Nice post. You could be the best boxmaker in the US, maybe the world.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel ,
I too try and use more naturally beautiful woods when I can , and only use stain when I'm being paid to do so in most cases .
Maybe the splotchy look syndrome you hear from your customers is more inherent in newer wood workers taking a piece of Pine or some other softwood and using Walnut stain and wondering why it looks sketchy .
I do love wood , even though I get burnt out on the job sometimes my appreciation for the natural beauty of our medium will never wane , no pun intended.
Actually when you start out with already beautiful material there is little we need to do , just cut it and polish it to shape.
Typically when a factory puts a shaded or tinted finish on it is because they are trying to trick the eye and make cherry out of Beech or Poplar .It has to cost more to do a tinted finish and more can go wrong .
Mel , my gosh you are stating to sound just like Will , hey are you one of those double dippers , I mean multiple personas and screen names ?
I hope you will shoot a few pics of the completed bowls , I like the way you make them , perhaps I'll commission you .
warmest regards dusty , an average maker of boxes
Disty,
we share many values.I started a thread on non-traditional wood projects over in the general discussion folder. I put up a number of photos of strange things that I have made. I didn't put up any bowl photos but I would be happy to add some. Please stop over to that thread, read what it says, and then PLEASE put up a post with any non-traditional types of woodwork that you have done.
Mel
PS I only have and use one name here, "9619" which is the street number of my house.Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel ,
This is one of those special pieces of wood , you keep saving it until you find the just right place to use it .
I wood call this piece " natural movement "
regards dusty
Dusty,
Magnificent piece of wood. It is like Nature was riding a wave through that log.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
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