Some while back I displayed along with Bob Zajicek of Czech Edge Tools at the MWTCA meeting in Madison, Ga. I met a fellow there that was quite interested in one of my infill planes and the next week he called me and proposed a trade. It seems that he had this very old rosewood log that he had acquired and was interested in trading it and some ebony for the plane. After a careful evaluation of values we struck a deal in which I got the rosewood log, some ebony and some cash and he got the plane. Everyone walked away happy which is how all good business deals should end.
The story that accompanied the log intrigued me. He relayed the story as it was told to him and stated that of course there was no way to confirm the facts of the story, however I thought it was interesting and decided to publish the story here along with pics of the log and some of the first infill billets sawn out of a portion of the log.
The Story,
In the 1950s an artist fellow that had been studying with Picasso came back to the US. He was a sculptor and his medium was exotic hardwoods. He brought with him quite a stash of ebony and rosewood logs in sizes suitable for sculpting. Of course he had not made a name for himself in the art world and he was the epitome of the term starving artist. He fell behind on his rent and his landlord was about to evict him. This artist had touted to the landlord about the worth of the logs and so the landlord thought that maybe he could seize the logs to sell for back rent. Well this artist fellow got wind of the landlords intentions and moved one night under cover of darkness taking as many of the logs as he could with him. He stored them in an abandoned mobile home while looking for new accommodations that included room for a studio. The mobile home subsequently burned along with the logs contained. (cringing at the thought) The log I have is one that was left behind and the fellow I got it from purchased it from the landlord. So the log is old growth, probably been harvested for 60 or more years.
Now back to cutting the log,
It is very dense and hard and it took me quite a while to get a 10″ length cut off off the end. It was too big to put in my band saw which is a 17 with 12 re-saw capacity so I’m having to take segments off and then put them into the band saw. I first attempted to cut it with a sawzall, this worked okay on the sapwood wood but when it hit the heartwood cutting slowed considerably. I then cut a kerf around the log with a circular saw outfitted with a carbide toothed blade. I was still quite a way from severing the section from the log so I tried the sawzall once again with limited success. My next attempt was with a sharp rip saw, the manual operated variety. This worked amazingly better any of the other methods. It took a while of sawing and resting and sawing some more but the progress was steady and much quieter than any of the prior attempts. Once I had worried the 10″ section off the log I did a careful layout across the end of the log section and then went to my band saw and easily cut thru 10″ of this old dried rosewood. As you can see in the pictures of the billets it has an inclusion in one side but there is still plenty of good material left in this section.
Once the billets were cut I checked the moisture content of this material. As I suspected it was quite dry ranging from 6.5 to 8 percent moisture content. I’ll give this material a few days to relax and then it is destined to live with the confines of steel and brass plane bodies.
Ron Brese
If you’re too open minded your brains will fall out.
Edited 5/27/2008 12:17 pm ET by Ronaway
Replies
That's a great story, and the wood -- it's gorgeous!
Ron,
What a great story about some really fine looking wood.
And perhaps the best part is that it'll be in one of your fine planes. Some folks will not only be getting an heirloom plane but also one with a rich and colorful history to boot!
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,I actually have a plane in progress right now that will get this wood as infill. I'm excited to see how it will turn out. The finish samples that I've done thus far on some cut offs have been quite encouraging. The plane I have in progress is a Norris A-13 inspired plane with a sole length of 8.75 inches.(225mm) and will use a 2" wide 1/4" thick iron. The sole material is precision ground steel, the sides are brass and the lever cap will be bronze. The richness of this Picasso Rosewood should set if off nicely. I'm stoked to get this one assembled, polished, tuned and enjoyed. (and possibly sold)Ron Bresehttp://www.breseplane.comIf you're too open minded your brains will fall out.
Ron,
Oh sure, first you get us drooling over the wood then tantalize us with one of your new planes! Have you no mercy!?
:-)
Best Regards to you,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
No Mercy at all Bob! You know I got to do what I can to make life interesting for myself and as many other people as I can entice. Chris I thought about a chain saw but I was afraid of some of the wood soaking up the bar oil and I feel obligated to make this log yield the maximum it can provide.Ron Bresehttp://www.breseplane.comIf you're too open minded your brains will fall out.
"...I was afraid of some of the wood soaking up the bar oil..."
That doesn't seem to happen in practice--most of the oil is carried away in the chips. The only time I've noticed any oil on the wood is when I've set down the (non-running) saw onto a log or plank in such a way that the chain is resting on the wood for a good length of time.
-Steve
Ron,
Great story & beautiful wood! Have you opened up the holly yet? Is it plain or does it have coloured streaks as well?
(Me thinks you could benefit from a chain saw!)
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
Ron,
Excellent stories and beautiful lumber. And a good workout to boot!
You should add a dollar to each plane for the work it took to extract that lumber from that log.
Looking forward to that next plane.
Regards,
-Chuck
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