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Wood

Species Spotlight: Mayan Walnut

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The Mayan culture was exceptionally advanced for when it existed from 2000 BC until the Spanish Conquistadors in the 15th century. They had a fully developed alphabet, were outstanding civil engineers and created this whole calendar thing that seems to have some of us concerned about this coming December.

They also were big into art. Artists in the civilization also liked to etch their names into the work they created, helping archaeologists get an idea of who created which works. Of course, in the very warm and wet tropical atmosphere, any wooden works they may have created have long since been lost to the ravages of time.

But, if we could see some of their works, they may have been using today’s spotlighted species. Mayan walnut, a member of the Lysiloma genus, is a spreading tree found in central America and Mexico, about the same range as the Mayan civilization. The tree grows to between 40 and 60 feet in height, with a diameter of two to three feet. The trunks of the trees can be free of branches for up to 25 feet above the ground, making it excellent for cutting into slabs.

When you order Mayan Walnut, you should know that it is often known by other names, including T’zalam (Mexico), Frijolillo, Jigue, Sabicu (Cuba), Tabernau, Tavernon (Haiti), Caribbean walnut or Aztec walnut.

Regardless what you call it, the wood is reminiscent of walnut, a deep, lustrous brown with purple or coppery tones and faint striping. It’s a straight grained wood with a medium texture. It has excellent working properties, making it a good choice for turning, furniture making and other applications. It is just about as hard as hard maple, so if you are familiar with that wood, you should expect similar working properties.

Mayan walnut is a great tonewood, so if your are into building instruments, it’s not a bad choice at all.

This is the kind of wood you’ll want to get your hands on… probably sooner than later. Just in case the Mayans were right about December and all…

 

Tools

Happy Father’s Day to me!

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I love my family. What a great bunch of folks… My wife, Rhonda and my two sons Dominic and Steven. Not only are they a bunch of fun, but they treat me right!

For instance, yesterday I had probably the best Father’s Day I have ever celebrated. It started off with a simple breakfast and a few presents. The best one was this carving kit from Flexcut. It came with three separate blades, a handle for them to insert into, the instruction book and  a boot shaped block of basswood to try my first project. Sure, I’ll mess with it, but I’m looking forward to doing a little letter carving for  a sign for our house.

Of course, after the bathroom is done.

It’s funny, but the instructions warn me off from using a sharpening stone on the blades – just a strop. Going to have to see how well that works.

From there, it was off to Tampa to Centro Ybor. This is in the heart of the old cigar rolling district, and the place just oozes history. Many of the old cigar factories and warehouses have been converted into night clubs, special stores and restaurants, and I had to pay a visit to the Tampa Bay Brewing Company. The visit was totally unplanned until Friday night, when we saw the restaurant featured on the show Diners, Drive ins and Dives. The beer was awesome, but no where near as great as the food. WOW! It was there I also discovered something very important… Beer is my friend.

While the day was going well, my wife and I started talking about going and doing a little bit of shopping. At a place. I’m not sure I can mention its name…

Gulp.

Ikea.

Hey, Iggy put me up to it. Bad Monkey…

We went to the Swedish smorgasbord of furniture just looking to walk around for a bit, but we saw something that my wife had been asking me about for years – a comfortable chair to fit in our bedroom.  At only $69 for the chair and cushion.. and she could have it immediately… well, I swallowed my pride a bit and went for it. It was too good a deal, and mama is happy.

The rest of the day involved a trip to the city’s pool for a swim and some Argentine-style steaks on the grill.  That Chimichurri sauce is some REALLY good stuff.

As I put the boys to bed tonight, I gave them an extra hug. While the stuff we did was fun, the best part is that I got to spend the day with my two sons and my wife. That’s the good stuff that makes all this worthwhile.

 

Quick Polls

Quick Poll

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Today in the United States, we are celebrating Father’s Day. I am writing this poll in the wee hours of the morning because I know the rest of my day is going to be filled with lots of fun and relaxation, so I wanted to get this done early.

With today being Father’s Day, it’s only natural that the poll touch on an important topic – how much of an influence was your dad on your woodworking?  My dad wasn’t necessarily a fine woodworker, but he was a VERY handy DIY kind of guy who showed me the ropes when it came to working with tools. And, during one big home improvement project – the finishing of our basement in our home – I caught the bug. Sure, the bug took about another 15 years to really kick in when it came to woodworking, but hey, it was a time delayed bug!

Thanks, Dad.

(Oh, while I’m at it, happy Father’s Day to everyone out there, especially Marc Spagnuolo and Aaron Marshall, celebrating their first Father’s Day today!)

So, this week, tell us how much of an influence your dad was on your woodworking.


Link of the week

Link of the week

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Yaffe May’s Process

This one came to me from Linda Rosengarten, the silent partner behind the Ron Hock empire. Thanks, Linda for the link!

When you think about it, woodworking design is part science, part art and pure magic. This site, run by woodworkers Rebecca Yaffe and Laura Mays, details the entire life cycle of a chair. The process runs from the first ideas of a sketch through CAD design, prototyping, wood selection, joinery and the other fine details of construction.

Even if you have no desire to design a piece of furniture on your own, this site is definitely worth a look.  You will come away inspired…

Tools

Trust your feeling…

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Who could ever forget the climatic scene in Star Wars when the rebel alliance was pressing their attack on the Death Star? Oh, you may not be a Star Wars fan. If not, you might want to check out this awesome site of wood turnings.

But, if you are still with me, you’ll recall that Luke Skywalker was piloting an X-wing fighter into the trench that led to the thermal exhaust port. After his wingman had to pull out, Luke was all alone with the Imperial fighters right behind him. As he was setting up the shot, the voice of Ben Kenobi came to him and told him to turn off his targeting computer and trust his feelings.

OK, I hope I haven’t given away too much of this 35 year old movie, but old Obi-Wan was on to something – especially when  it comes to woodworking. You see, there are plenty of ways to get precise measurements. We turn to all sorts of rulers, gauges and the like, but, for my money, nothing beats the accuracy  of touch.

Think about it. If you want to see if something is flush, you don’t try to eyeball it or use a micrometer. No, you run your fingers over it. Your touch will let you know – immediately – if something is flush, raised or depressed below the surface. That feeling may change as the seasons change. If the wood swells in the warm, humid summer air, the relationship of the inlay may change as it shrinks in the dry winter air.

That’s why I rely on these babies… a set of set up blocks I picked up from Veritas. I have found these to be as handy as can be because I can use them to rely on my sense of touch to tell how things are set up with incredible accuracy. For instance, if I need a router bit to be a certain height above the router table, I’ll stack up the requisite number of set up blocks and then adjust the bit, feeling to see its relationship to see when things are on the money.

The set I have comes with bars of 1/16, 1/8, 1/4/ 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch. The set also contains a 1-2-3 block – a piece of aluminum which measures – ironically enough – 1 inch by 2 inches by 3 inches. Incredible!  So, by combining these babies, I can go from 1/16 of an inch to 4 and 11/16 of an inch, feeling for accuracy all the way.

I also rely on these suckers to set the rip fence on my table saw for accurate rips or to set plunge depth for routing. Sure, you can rely on the measuring tape that comes on the tool, but  when you want to make extra sure you nail the measurement, it’s always good to rely on at least two forms of measurement to enure that everything adds up.

The challenge, as you might imagine, is to keep the entire set together. After all, in the heat of battle, these little suckers tend to go flying. That’s why I like that this set comes in an organization case.

Just so they don’t get lost.  Or stolen by the Sith Lord and carted off to some space station fortress that needs to be destroyed.

Just sayin’.

 

Experiences

Misdirected by mold

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This was a perfect weekend for woodworking. The sun was shining, there wasn’t a lot of rain and there was just enough of a breeze in the balmy late spring Florida air to make things passable … especially in the shade.

That wasn’t what I was doing. Nope. Let’s say that a simple tile repair in our guest bathroom discovered a few ‘issues’. How many?  A bunch. I pried off the soap dish, and it came off way too easily. Of course, the wall was wet. The green water-resistant drywall was soaked and black with mold. The more tiles I pried off, the wider I could see that the mold had spread.  Basically, the drywall was black with mold from the edge of the tub to a point about four feet above. Since my son Dominic is an asthmatic, and he is allergic to mold, it all had to be stripped out. All the way back to the studs.

The tub, installed when the house was built in 1979, was a cheap, crappy contractor model with a severe rust issue. We had a company come in about a decade ago to clad it with an acrylic shell, but it was still the same old rusty model underneath.  So, my friend Chris and I got some two-man bathtub bobsled practice as we removed it and hauled it to the curb. I also had my friend Bob in to remove the old valve and solder in a new modern single handle one.

So, I spent most of my weekend in the bathroom, filling two gigantic residential trash bins to the rim with debris and sanitizing everything I came in contact with.

Oh, and I’m going to be installing the new tub, backerboard and tile.  Eventually.

But, I did have a chance to do some woodworking activity this weekend. On Friday, I opened a package from my new sponsors Bora Tools. Some really sweet stuff – a few new tri-squares, T-bevels and a combination square. A nifty attachment for my Tormek sharpening station and some awesome folding saw horses.  I will be sure to post a review of these products…

One of these days.  Until then, does anyone have an good tips on how to make a watertight cement backerboard shower surround?  🙂

 

Quick Polls

Quick Poll

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I will be the first person to admit that I have not built everything that I have wanted to. I guess that’s a good thing, otherwise, you might be looking in the classified ads for Tom’s Big Tool Sale.

Some of the project I have yet to build because the time isn’t right ( a pendulum cradle for my grandchildren – with my boys both 14 and 11 – might be a bit premature). Some projects haven’t been built because space is an issue (I would really love to build a 16-person dining room table, but come on…).

And, some projects I haven’t yet tackled because – gosh darnit – I’m just plan intimidated. Yes, I’m afraid that I don’t yet have the necessary skills to build a chair.

No, I’m not talking about your average do-it-yourself Adirondack chair with some screws and pressure-treated lumber. I’m talking about stuff like rocking chairs. Or dining room chairs. Or an easy chair you can sit in at the end of a hard day, kick your feet up and let your cares just drift away. It’s something about the angles. And the joinery. And getting it to sit stable on the floor.

That’s my block, but I’m sure that most of you have other challenging projects you can only dream of building because they intimidate you.  This week, I have put together a brief list of project types. Be sure to tell us which one you think is the most intimidating to try. And, if we didn’t include your most intimidating project type, tell us what it is in the comments.