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  1. #1
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    Default Dice Box - what is the timber?

    Hi all,

    I just made a very quick box as a prototype. Very quick!

    Trouble is, I dont know what timber it is and Im hoping someone can ID it. It was literally on the shelf and I grabbed it as it had too much dust and looked dispensable.

    Its very light, horrible to cut, burns easily, chips like a bastard, leaves fine insidious red dust that stains everything and hates to be edge sanded. Its grain is massive and is prone to cracking.

    The photos show it with WOP which darkened it considerably.

    Please dont pick on the build, its super crappy and everything is horrible. It was literally a rush-job 2 hour thing with 3000 mistakes.

    Dice Box 1.jpg Dice Box 2.jpg Dice Box 3.jpg Dice Box 4.jpg Dice Box 5.jpg

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  3. #2
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    Default

    Looks & sounds like Australian red cedar, or possibly Surian cedar (Kalantis).
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  4. #3
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    Reckon Alex is on the money - ARC if ever I've seen it (only need the first pic for that).

    Quote Originally Posted by woodPixel View Post
    Its very light, horrible to cut, burns easily, chips like a bastard, leaves fine insidious red dust that stains everything and hates to be edge sanded. Its grain is massive and is prone to cracking.
    So really nice to work other than that? Wait until you put one of your new planes on it - then you'll appreciate it.......
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  5. #4
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    I thought Aus Red Cedar was supposed to be favoured for furniture.
    I have some small logs. I had thought to try and use some for boxes. Bad idea for a beginner?

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  6. #5
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    It was diabolical. It sharded, splintered, was evil in its dust, it didn't screw properly and was hard to edge.

    Overall there is only one wood worse in my experience: Cambia. But this ARC is off my list from now on.

    i can honestly say it is a terrible timber.

  7. #6
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    Personally, I quite like ARC. However, it's quite soft, so you have to be careful not to put dings in it while you're making it. Despite this, it can blunt your tools quickly. It does come up very nicely, though, and I'm happy to use it.

    Surian can also look quite nice, but sometimes it's stringy and you can get tear-out. Sometimes it's sold as ARC.
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  8. #7
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    AlexS, I feel shame at showing you this box!

    There are many more much more worthy!

  9. #8
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    I reckon it's a nice looking box, WP. Nothing wrong with simplicity, and if the mitres are tidy & the finish looks good, what more can you want.
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  10. #9
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    Geez i can't see much wrong with the box, from the photos it looks very presentable.

    I would agree with the others in what you have described i have had the exact same problems with Red and Surian Cedar and if you use tape to hold the box together while drying it will tare strips of timber off when you remove it. I have got to the stage now where i won't build with it unless someone specifically asks for it.

  11. #10
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    The box looks good! I like the laminated splines, it's a nice contrast with the ARC. I just finished a box using the same timber and agree it does chip out easily.

    What's the prototype for?

  12. #11
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    A new line of products I'm launching. There are 10 new things, all quite different... I like to get my processes right so when Im asked for 20 I can actually do it

    The splines are dead easy, but I was in a rush to get everything done.... there are errors everywhere.. hinges, splines were a mess and redone, not properly seated, the edges need rounding/breaking, the inserts were rushed.

    I also learned that ARC is an evil timber. I utterly fail to see why anyone ever liked it.

  13. #12
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    Well it was popular enough to be virtually hunted to extinction, so there must be summink good about it. It may be that in this super dry, super low humidity winter we're having that it has dried out too far and become brittle. It also may be that you just had a cruddy piece, who knows. My experience of it is limited to make a couple of laminated panels to line a door, but it was fine for that - well behaved.

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  14. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by woodPixel View Post
    A new line of products I'm launching. There are 10 new things, all quite different... I like to get my processes right so when Im asked for 20 I can actually do it

    The splines are dead easy, but I was in a rush to get everything done.... there are errors everywhere.. hinges, splines were a mess and redone, not properly seated, the edges need rounding/breaking, the inserts were rushed.

    I also learned that ARC is an evil timber. I utterly fail to see why anyone ever liked it.
    Keep us posted on the journey from the prototype to the production of the boxes. I'm interested in the process.

    I've been thinking of doing something similar, albeit only 2 designs in 2 different sizes of boxes.

  15. #14
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    Gak! Not so sure I want to do that. A great deal of what I do is commercial work which puts food on the table.

    The prototyping is fun, recording down all the settings, numbers, making templates, etc, etc. It's a lot of work... but worth it. I can make a table and matching 4 chairs in a day now... all templates and jigs and pre-sets for everything. I think its part of my Black Art! (shhhh, it's all jigs!)

    Well, that and Incra!

    Blessed is the Incra TSLS32 and Incra rules... and my metric lifter and the new 240v motor and speed controller from Professional Woodworker Supplies. Have to admit this new motor is bloody fantastic.

    I just made 4 big cabinets this arvo, all with dovetailed casings. So fast, so smooth, so easy. Spins like crazy and zero razz.

    The splines/feathers are no mystery - in fact its the laziest way I could think to make them! They are just three pieces of veneer glued together in my super-bodgy MDF press. Slice the glued sheet with a sharp clicky-knife into strips then CC-shapes... and presto, 5000 feathers. Just choose the centre colour to match the timber. The grooves are just done with a slot cutter. Its a Yonico set which happens to have its smallest cutter at 2.4mm, exactly three sheets of veneer! Fits perfectly. Easy peasy.

    They are put in place, given a drizzle of Hafele CA glue and a quick pffffttt of their Aktivator.. and done. Sand on the belt sander and el-cheapo super quick splines.

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