Demonic wood

[workin for wood]

Do you know your wood character?

This is a piece of maple I had to dig from under a monster pile in the shop..took 2 hours just to get it out and rebuild the stack. It was pretty badly warped and twisted, but after hours of sanding and wedging, I managed to flatten it. It is 15 wide and 36 long and now 1 3/4 thick. I'll be taking it to the lumberyard to have it re-sawn now because this will be the frame and the backer for my next project. It would easily cost me $500 or more to purchase this piece, but lucky me I've had it and many others like it stashed in a pile for years and years, which I bought about 500 board feet for a couple hundred dollars at a piano factory auction.

Anyhow, many of us know of the most common characteristics such as birdseye and curly, as these are the easiest to find. This piece of maple of mine is a combo piece, it is curly, has patches of fiddleback, some small area's of Mottle, lots of area's of peanut shell mixed with area's of quilting. So it's a mixed bag, I consider it demoic as it looks like a firey pit of hell, with scales like a dragon. This is sanded at only 80grit..the more you sand, the more it will pop.

It's just interesting...for those who want to see for themselves and identify their character, pop the link below and be mystefied!

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/person...cs/_figure.htm

[workin for wood]

This was a picture I did a few years ago using another piece almost the same as the one shown above. The maple is even more scaley and out of control!

[Janette]

Love the photo!

I have a $100 board of figured bubinga I bought about a year ago. It has since twisted and warped and bent and who knows what else. Needless to say it ticked me off!!! I figure I'll have to cut off small chunks of it at a time and use it that way. Nice hunk of wood you have there!

[workin for wood]

If the wood has some thickness left, you can cut it in half and face joint it, then run it through a planer. I have no idea the size, but if it is say 6' long, make it 3' then the twist is cut in half as well. for my jointer, the board has to be under 6" wide to be jointed flat. If it is wider, then you can make a planer jig to joint it flat. you need a piece of plywood and two rails mounted to the plywood. The distance between the rails is the same as the width of your board. you drive some screws into the side, through the rails into your wood to secure it. Now you run the entire jig with board through the planer and you will get a flat surface. If you don't use the jig, the board will not untwist because the twist will simply roll as it feeds through the planer. I have saved some great pieces that way. Unfortunately, my maple is too big for the planer, but not too big for the sander. I set it on a flat surface, then make a wedge to fit under the woble corner and CA glue the wedge into place. Then I just keep sanding till that side is flat, flip and sand the other side. Takes about 100 or more times through the sander because the wood is so wide and the sander only is so powerful, but it gets it done.

[Janette]

Great advice! Thanks Jeff. Now all I need is a jointer!! It's on my list.

[PuzzledMoose]

Interesting and informative link there Jeff. Thanks for posting.

[Rolf]

Great link, thanks Jeff

[MikeDingas]

I love that frame! Intaria is impressive, too.

[lucky788scroller]

That photo should have been posted in the thread a while back about cheap frame vs. fancy frame. I still say fancy!!! Dale

[workin for wood]

Nah..fancy is what I call the frame on my 1000 pc intarsia "treasures of the sea". That is a piece of mega fiddleback maple that was 2 1/2 thick, 10" wide and 8' long. It is beveled, compound cut, and molded. There is smaller boards but similar to that quality over at the lumber yard in town with prices up to and over $1000...so after you include the labor and fancy cuts, that's one expensive fancy frame! I think there is a relationship between a frame and the art that is in it. They both need to be of the same quality..so if you have a really great picture that you spent tons of time on and it just looks great, then you sure better put that same effort into a frame.