Mango wood

[Rum Pig]

HI all you knowlaedge people I have a friend about to chop down some old mango trees.
I was wondering if it worth the effort to save the wood for turning some of the trunks are that big you cannot get your arms around ( apparently) any advice would be great:D

If you have pics of something turned out mango I would love to see them:U

Cheers Justin:drink2:

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Check out some of Cliff Roger's posts... he's had a bit to say on the subject in the past. :D (ie do an advanced search on mango with author=Cliff Rogers)

One such thread that I remember off the top of my head is a big gloat and a question (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=38413) which has quite a bit of info, despite all the verbal maunderings. :rolleyes:

[Rum Pig]

Thanks Skew there is a bit of info out there but I still have one question. When Cliff talks about soaking the timber in water do you still paint the end grains or leave them unpainted to let the sap out :?

Cheers Justin:drink2:

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I shouldn't think so.

The idea behind end-grain sealing is to prevent it from drying out too fast. I hardly think that's a problem when it's sitting in the bottom of a bucket of water, eh wot? :D

[hughie]

Heed Cliffs warnings on fungal growth. It makes great timber in to fire wood :C :U

[Tornatus]

Whatever you do with the wood, chopping down mango trees is the best damn use I have ever heard of for that nasty, smelly, sticky, sick-making, so-called "fruit"!

I know that in this federation of ours, trade across state borders is supposed to be free, but surely there's something we can do to stop those bloody Queenslanders from inflicting the triple pestilence of mango(e)s, cane toads and XXXX on the rest of us!
:ranting2:

[powderpost]

I have worked with a lot of mango. It is easy to work and sometimes has some nice, subtle colourings, but can have a fair bit of silica in the wood. This can blunten chisels. Would recomend you cut it into slabs, paint the ends with a sealer and stack with spacers between the slabs. Thickness of slabs (up to 100mm) is dependant on what you intend to do with it. Does otherwise tend to decay internally, especially in areas of high humidity. It has an open grain which requires grain fillers (sanding sealers). Needs protection from borers etc. , I spray the wood with an lorsban at about three month intervals, hasn't killed me yet.... There is a mango plate I turned some time back.
Jim

[powderpost]

As a matter of interest, I have 55 mango trees growing in my front yard, and love them.
Jim

[Tornatus]

Big disappointment, Jim - your first post seemed to support my case exactly, especially with the photo of that magnificent platter!

Then you had to go and spoil it all with your second post - 55 mango trees in your front yard! Are you running a resort for fruit-bats, or something?

[paul collins]

mango can have fantastic grain patterns.is very easy to work& finishes great.i think it was at last years bwwws that there was a mango dining set that was sold for about $5ooo it was absolutely brilliant. its the only time that i had seen anything other than turning done with mango.here is a platter i made a while back,great grain pattern.

[OGYT]

I don't believe I've seen any more unusual, or beautiful, grain patterns as those in this thread. Nice timber... and both well done!
I've never eaten a mango, but will now, just to see if it makes me sick. :o :brava:

[Rum Pig]

Thanks for all the advice.:thumbup: I think I will give it a go but I will make sure that I'm set up ready to soak them. I might try different techniques and see what results I get.

Thanks again for you pics and info:2tsup:

Cheers Justin:drink2:

[Caveman]

I have 55 mango trees growing in my front yard, and love them.
Jim

Me too! They're in season now for me and there's no way I can keep up with the fruit I get every year. Have early fruiting and some late fruiting varieties - keeps me in mangoes for many months of the year.

Lovely looking pieces guy's. Obviously there's quite a variance in grain.
My trees are way too small so they're safe for a few years!

Al - go for it - though they might be quite dear in your part of the world.

[hughie]

As a matter of interest, I have 55 mango trees growing in my front yard, and love them.



sigh......sob,sob, 55 trees...heaven.

will I ever be free of this addiction?

[Tornatus]

mango can have fantastic grain patterns.is very easy to work& finishes great.i think it was at last years bwwws that there was a mango dining set that was sold for about $5ooo it was absolutely brilliant. its the only time that i had seen anything other than turning done with mango.here is a platter i made a while back,great grain pattern.

Another fantastic example of what mango is really only good for - what superb figure in that platter, Paul.

Al - don't go there, mate! Look what's happened to Hughie - I'd forgotten that the bloody things are addictive, as well as nasty in every other sense. I have actually witnessed one poor addict sitting naked in a bathtub, surrounded by mango skins and seeds, with slimy mango pulp oozing down her front as she chomped and slurped .... fair put you off kinky sex, it would! :yuk:

[Cliff Rogers]

Sorry, been away.
Jim is in a dryer climate than what I am, I have heaps of trouble with mould in a humid climate, both up here in the mountains and down on the coast in Cairns.
I reckon I have had my best results by roughing out as soon as it is cut & then washing as much sap out of the wood as I possibly can.
I also lived in Townsville (dryer climate) for 10 years & didn't have as much problem with the mould there but I did have problems with the pieces cracking in odd places.
It is a balancing act between cracking & mould attack & I found submersing in water & changing the water often helped.

[iron bark]

Whatever you do with the wood, chopping down mango trees is the best damn use I have ever heard of for that nasty, smelly, sticky, sick-making, so-called "fruit"!

I know that in this federation of ours, trade across state borders is supposed to be free, but surely there's something we can do to stop those bloody Queenslanders from inflicting the triple pestilence of mango(e)s, cane toads and XXXX on the rest of us!
:ranting2:

Tornatus,

Pretty strong words there mate:roll: . Have you ever tasted fresh mango or lubricated your tonsils with a XXXX??:2tsup:

As for the toads, well, you will get your chance in the next decade or so.:D

No, I am not a Queenslander by birth, but live here now - it is a tad more bearable than Canberra in most ( no, make that all) respects, let me assure you.:wink:

I will have a go at turning it next time I spot one coming down though.

Cheers,

Ned

[tashammer]

I don't believe I've seen any more unusual, or beautiful, grain patterns as those in this thread. Nice timber... and both well done!
I've never eaten a mango, but will now, just to see if it makes me sick. :o :brava:

Umm, one doesn't really eat a mango as that suggests a certain solidity to the fruit that it doesn't have. It's more like like one washes in a mango and ingests it at the same time.

Best way is to jump in boots and all and eat it quickly else you will drown in your own dribble - lovely fruit. I think i will come back as a fruit bat and poop on someone. Tummm tee da deee dayyy.

Fruit bats have lovely faces, pity about the poop and the disease.

Oh that a city politician would take looking up at fruit bats as a photo shoot opportunity - instant posterity just like a pigeoned statue. Sigh.

[tashammer]

...I have heaps of trouble with mould in a humid climate, both up here in the mountains and down on the coast in Cairns.


I am sorry to hear that Cliff, still i bet it makes you look like a creature of the forest. Maybe, when you are having a really prolific crop of fungus, you could think about a holiday with "Swamp Thing" of DC Comics?:D:D