Lots of wood for trade - long version

  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #83
Izak said:
Whenever I see cottonwood it looks interesting though I think of it as a soft and little useful wood. I should give it a go sometime...
Click to expand...
I'm trying anything and everything! Some of the woods just aren't made for flutes, but half the fun is still getting them to play.

What do you make? Does it need to be structurally sound or hold air?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #88
First couple of blank machined and routed: laurel oak and pau marfim.
I love the spalting and bug holes in the laurel oak! It's cool seeing all the way through the holes. Better get filling.

Steven routed.webp
 
daveflutes said:
I've updated my spreadsheet with the full list of woods I have or have had. If anyone wants to do swapsies please have a look and help me clear some space!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ouid=105600598488223458219&rtpof=true&sd=true
Click to expand...
What? No pecan? Carya illinoisensis? (I mean, you already have a couple of hickories, and pecan wood's not hugely different, but still. . .) I might have a bit of this, and if I don't, other folks here will.

Next time I visit Louisiana I'm going to try to get you some sinker cypress (Taxodium distichum that's been sitting in the swamp for a long time), and I'm trying to get a line on some Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera; an introduced species that people try to remove, but don't often seem to salvage for timber). It won't be soon, but I'd be honored to contribute to your project if I can.
 
@daveflutes I definitely have pecan if you are interested, put that on your list for our next trade.

@Cloud of Sawdust Farms hi, if you are able to secure some Chinese tallow, I’d love a spindle blank if you can get a piece 18 inches long x 1.5”. I have a friend in Florida that has a Chinese tallow growing in his yard. For a long time it’s fascinated me and I’ve always wanted to experiment with it.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #94
Thanks everyone! @Cloud of Sawdust Farms and @SA-Motors I'd love to try pecan but I've only seen pen blank sizes so far. Do save me some if you can, I really like all of the fruit woods.
I just got crab apple, buddleja and fig, and I've bid on some lilac, so looking forward to all of those.
Chinese tallow is one I haven't even heard of, so now I definitely want some:)
 
@daveflutes is that the real deal Quebracho that tips the hardness scales? I have been looking for that species. I have a number of species that you are in need of if you wanted to trade. I have a number of fruit woods - apple, plum, grapefruit, valencia orange, unknown citrus, peach, mango, red palm, and probably several others that I am forgetting. I also [might] have some fresh/green fig. I have 2 fig trees on my property and just trimmed them this weekend. They had a LOT of dead wood with what I assume is insect damage, but some of it that I removed was still healthy but just an irregular growth. Whatever I can harvest would be very small in size though to be clear.
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #96
@Big Ry the quebracho came from Green Valley. It is extremely hard and dense! But actually not difficult to work, it's one of the hard wax type woods with no particular grain to cause trouble. It makes a very nice flute and it's one of my favourites so far.

Of your fruit woods I haven't done grapefruit, Valencia orange, any citrus (except lime) or peach. I should have a small fig log coming today. The very smallest I can work with would be a log of say 8" long by 2" diameter, but dead straight at that size. I can do glue ups but they get tricky for the very tiddly flutes.

If you get any around that size or bigger do let me know please!
 
daveflutes said:
@Big Ry the quebracho came from Green Valley. It is extremely hard and dense! But actually not difficult to work, it's one of the hard wax type woods with no particular grain to cause trouble. It makes a very nice flute and it's one of my favourites so far.

Of your fruit woods I haven't done grapefruit, Valencia orange, any citrus (except lime) or peach. I should have a small fig log coming today. The very smallest I can work with would be a log of say 8" long by 2" diameter, but dead straight at that size. I can do glue ups but they get tricky for the very tiddly flutes.

If you get any around that size or bigger do let me know please!
Click to expand...
That Quebracho from green valley isn't the same quebracho I'm looking for. I also bought some thinking it was the really hard stuff, only to discover like you did that it's quite easy to work. After a bit of investigation and discussion with people more knowledgeable at wood ID than I, we concluded that it's most likely an unusually heavy goncalo alves. I think part of the confusion is that the term "Quebracho" is used to describe many species, including goncalo alves. But i think green valley has an error in their advertising of this wood, because they absolutely note the botanical name too and they use the botanical name for the really hard quebracho. Some people who actually have some of that stuff showed me pictures, and the two look nothing alike.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #98
Big Ry said:
That Quebracho from green valley isn't the same quebracho I'm looking for. I also bought some thinking it was the really hard stuff, only to discover like you did that it's quite easy to work. After a bit of investigation and discussion with people more knowledgeable at wood ID than I, we concluded that it's most likely an unusually heavy goncalo alves. I think part of the confusion is that the term "Quebracho" is used to describe many species, including goncalo alves. But i think green valley has an error in their advertising of this wood, because they absolutely note the botanical name too and they use the botanical name for the really hard quebracho. Some people who actually have some of that stuff showed me pictures, and the two look nothing alike.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll have another look at the leftover pieces (which happen to be within arm's reach). I'll post a couple of photos later. The texture didn't surprise me as other really hard woods like myall, yarran and African blackwood are similar, and actually really nice to work.
It's a point of having to trust the supplier's ID at some point or you can go crazy second guessing. So good to hear from other woodworkers.
I'll keep an eye out for other sources of quebracho and see if anything comes up.
 
daveflutes said:
Thanks, I'll have another look at the leftover pieces (which happen to be within arm's reach). I'll post a couple of photos later. The texture didn't surprise me as other really hard woods like myall, yarran and African blackwood are similar, and actually really nice to work.
It's a point of having to trust the supplier's ID at some point or you can go crazy second guessing. So good to hear from other woodworkers.
I'll keep an eye out for other sources of quebracho and see if anything comes up.
Click to expand...
Paul Hinds summarized the issues associated with the common name in this article, and as you can see there are a LOT of species that use that common name.

 
Thanks for the article. Like all the descriptive names they cover a lot of ground. I notice Green Valley have a range of appearances in their quebracho, which could cover a few of these.

I've found a source in Europe and queried them about the species, I'll keep you posted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top