Fine wood or Fire wood?

I have a request for a kist (blanket chest) for our family room to double as storage and a place to rest a coffee cup. I have an interesting design in mind, something a little different ... but that is for another time.

I had three rough sawn boards about 14" x 10' by 1 1/4" thick in Curly Marri ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psf3e378bd.jpg

They all had significant cup and twist, and to retain the maximum thickness the boards were sawn into shorter and narrower lengths, jointed on one side, and then resawn and thicknessed to 3/4" (what is saved from this process runs from 1/4" - 1/2" and will be used for the lower shelf and, possibly, drawers).

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ps1bc96c7d.jpg

This all sounds quite standard, and indeed it was done on machinery, however it was not so straight forward. Curly Marri is very hard and the grain is extensively interlocked. My 8" jointer struggled, and stalled at times. The lunchbox thicknesser left noticeable tearout. And I began to ask myself whether I should just burn the boards instead of building with them.

Marri is not as hard as Jarrah, and it is not as abrasive. However the colour can vary quite a bit, and there are pockets of resin that dry and fall out leaving voids. This is Curly Marri. It is harder to match boards. Not only does one need to match for colour, but for figure and for curl direction.

The sawing and jointing took one weekend. This past weekend I glued up panels on Saturday, and then began planing then to final thickness on Sunday. Here are a few photos ...

Traversing ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psb2d0e238.jpg

Checking for twist ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ps8b1de490.jpg

My secret weapon - flattening with a 36" heavy Jarrah jointer with a 3" wide Berg blade ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psda0a3a02.jpg

Smoothing ... aaahhh, that's what all the fuss was about ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psbfe11ee3.jpg

The grain switches back-and-forth. Some tearout is inevitable. Out come the cabinet scrapers ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psae1cb703.jpg

A finished board with a little alcohol to show the grain ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ps6ef7a5e7.jpg

I'm undecided whether this will become the rear or the front panel.

Question for all - in your personal experience, what is your equivalent of this terrible timber?

Regards from Perth

Derek

Really nice work Derek.

The timber didn't look difficult to work at all.
.
.
.
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or you just made it look easy. :)

I'm thinking of having a crack at a blanket chest so I look forward to seeing your finished product Derek.

Cheers, Scott

Lovely figure in that timber! Looking forward to seeing the project develop.

Here's an example of the tearout that occurs with little warning. The only possible (?) tell is that the grain changes direction in this area - but it changes direction like that elsewhere without similar results ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ps9b4fd366.jpg

Here is closer look at some of the curl. Some of it, like this, is quite raised. And it makes it difficult to traverse across the grain as it can still tearout (picture taken after the above tearout was smoothed with a cabinet scraper) ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psb4175fca.jpg

My concern is that the curl creates disjointed sections (the joins between the boards). I am hoping that the curl becomes a feature and takes the eye away from the joins. There will be a raised base in Jarrah, and this should cause the lighter Marri to become a little less foreground. At any rate, the board depicted earlier will be at the rear, and the chest will be placed in an alcove. This is more likely to be the face of the chest ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ps39dec3c9.jpg

Here you can see the a few resin-filled knots that fell out.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Derek,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by derekcohen

Here's an example of the tearout that occurs with little warning. ...

Regards from Perth

Derek

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Did you have to fix the tear out? Or are you able to hide it away?

Thank you and regards,

...behai.

Hi Behai

It was very shallow, so I decided to remove the piece and scrape it flat. If it had been deeper I would have glued it back, but then I would have needed to sand it flat. The trouble is that sanding creates a different surface texture to scraping or planing, and this can be seen when the finish goes on.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Can anybody else see Moby Dick? :think:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ps6ef7a5e7.jpg

Moby dick is a white whale. That one has stripes:D

now that you mention it :)

Derek - just personally I *really* like your first panel. I wonder if some "string inlay" could be let into it to ease the joins.
I tried a simulation, but ended up with fat lines 'cos I carnt draw :rolleyes:
Cheers,
Paul


Attachment 268906

Quote:

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Originally Posted by derekcohen

I have a request for a kist (blanket chest) for our family room to double as storage and a place to rest a coffee cup. I have an interesting design in mind, something a little different ... but that is for another time.

.Question for all - in your personal experience, what is your equivalent of this terrible timber?

Regards from Perth

Derek

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Lovely to aeee the old words Kist

in answer to your question

Angophara (specifically Sydney Apple grown on the sandstone banks of the Hawkesbury River at Cottage Point)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pmcgee

Derek - just personally I *really* like your first panel. I wonder if some "string inlay" could be let into it to ease the joins.
I tried a simulation, but ended up with fat lines 'cos I carnt draw :rolleyes:
Cheers,
Paul


Attachment 268906

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Hi Paul

I think that one must just accept that that is the nature of wood, especially wood like this. You cannot hide the joins. On one level I quite like the effect. At any rate, it is most likely that the first panel will go at the rear of the carcase.

Regards from Perth

Derek

It'd be interesting to see how a spiral head thicky or jointer would handle it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by brontehls

Lovely to aeee the old words Kist

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Yes - I thought of a 'kist burial' that is mentioned on Time Team :)
Paul