Replies

1. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Jul 16, 2009 05:27am | #1

   Gary,

   Googled Zapote Chico and found this.

   Regards,

   Bob @ Kidderville Acres

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

1. 
   Eef | Jul 16, 2009 05:35am | #2

   hey bob,
   them zapotes grow real nice hereabouts and the fruit is custardy and delicious. although not a reason to move to los angeles, it is one of the perks of living here, the various and many fruit trees, i mean.
   i have, from time to time, been in the company of my mexican brethren near a zapote and they become very happy when spotting one.
   eef Edited 7/15/2009 10:35 pm ET by Eef

   Edited 7/15/2009 10:39 pm ET by Eef

1. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Jul 16, 2009 05:54am | #3

   Eef,

   I've traveled to L.A. many times but very rarely had a chance to really get to know what it's like to live there.  Staying in a hotel you never really get to know a place.  I did spend a lot of time in San Diego and came sooooooooo close to moving there.  Have kicked myself many times for not doing it.

   Guess I was influenced at an early age watching Adventures in Paradise.  To this day I would very much like to travel around the South Pacific on a big sailboat.  Sounds korny but it's true.

   Oh, and I llllooooooovvvvveeeee fresh fruit.  Can't imagine picking it off a tree and eating it, except for apples of course. 

   Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

2. 
   katiedobe | Nov 05, 2009 11:59pm | #4

   I live down here in the Yucatan where Zapote trees are all over the place.

   It is the wood that Chicle comes from and has a rubbery sap, don't eat too many of the fruit at one time as it can block you up. 

    

   The wood is very dense and machines in an odd way.  When I joint it on my SCMI 12" jointer I would swear that all I am getting is massive chatter abased on the noise and sound, but when done the surface is perfect.

    

   We use it all over the place here for dock posts, exterior decking on the lake, and as palapa posts in the ground, as it is extremely water resistant and rot resistant.

    

   It is very, very heavy so be careful not to drop it on your foot.

    

   It is so dense that it has thrown sparks off of my sawblade.  And older mexican woodworkers warn me about fires that have begun in the sawdust pile under the table/band saws from these embers.  So be careful.  I feed it slowly and that seems to help.

    

   I built a small table out of the left overs from my neighbors dock that he had built.  I plan to build my workbench out of it.  I went and cut down the posts from an abandoned palapa out on the island in the lake.  The exterior 1/16" was ugly and covered in Lichens but the inside was sound and hard.  It dulled my chainsaw.

    

   It can splinter wickedly so be careful and get that splinter out ASAP so no infection sets in.  It is prone to having hidden shakes in the interiors so be careful when turning it.  I have never tried to turn it as I figure it will be very splintery and will dull my tools as quick as you can look at it. 

    

   I have noticed that the fine dust did irritate my nose a bit, as it is so dense it makes extremely fine dust when sawing and jointing.  So now I wear a 3M respirator with the pink discs.

    

   Oil finish and wax are the way to go on this.  Although it takes varnish wonderfully also.  My door jambs are made out of it and it goes well with the Mahogany doors.

   Jimmy

   Loving living on Lake Bacalar

    

   I have not tried

    

1. 
   Eef | Nov 06, 2009 12:07am | #5

   jimmy,
   sounds like a love/hate kind of thing...it grow avidly here in los angeles also. the fruit is, of course, delicious and i will take your advice about one contracting constipation should one over-eat it. i wish i lived on an island.
   eef

2. 
   katiedobe | Nov 25, 2009 07:05pm | #6

   Well iwnet and turned a piece of Zapote last night. It is a great wood for turning. Great finis from just riding the bevel.

   A few notes from my experiment. I started at a slow speed and it chipped something awful but when I put it at my highest pully speed it turned great, shavings just peeled off. I could take a small skim cut or a big roughing cut. Once done I rode the bevel on my roughing gouge and took a planing cut and it came out like glass.
   The dust was not too irritating, not like when I saw it on the table saw. I did not sand it.

   Give it a try you will like it. Think maple but even harder and heavier.