Nothing inspires a woodworker like working with a fine, easy to work with timber that polishes up to a gorgeous piece of furniture. And, high on that list of most desirable woods is mahogany.

Its popularity was its undoing, as overharvesting of true mahoganies has lead to the search for a replacement for this very popular wood. Sapele is one species which has stepped in as a mahogany substitute, as has Philippine mahogany.

Another awesome substitute not to be overlooked is santos mahogany. This species - Myroxylon balsamum – is a very tall tree which can reach to heights of up to 100’ feet tall, with a wide trunk of up to 3’ feet wide. Santos Mahogany is a native tree to the Central America and South America areas in such countries as Peru, Brazil, Mexico and Guatemala.

The tree’s wood gives a very sweet and spicy aroma when cut due to the large amount of resin – known as balsam of Peru – which it contains. This is used in perfumes and natural medicines.

The wood is dark brown with a deep red heartwood. It has a very fine grain – just like other mahoganies, making it great for woodworking projects that need to be polished to a very lustrous finish. The one word of caution is that – like sapele – the grain is interlocked, which could lead to issues when planing and surfacing. Very sharp tools with very light passes are the order of the day.

Another thing you will notice about santos mahogany is just how darned hard the stuff is. It’s janka score comes in at 2200… putting it nearly as hard as hickory, and considerably harder than bubinga (1980), purpleheart (1860) and hard maple (1450) – making it a good choice for flooring. Carbide tools should have no issue with santos mahogany, but hand tool edges may need to be honed quite frequently while working with it.

Natural oils grant it excellent decay resistance – so, it could work for some outdoor furniture. As with other tropical woods, these oils have been known to cause allergic reactions. Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, it cause skin and respiratory irritation. So, be sure to use a dust mask and good dust collection when working with it.

The furniture is definitely something to behold. Crisp detail stands out prominently and the strong color and fine grain create a classic, timeless feel to the pieces. You might just find that santos mahogany becomes one of your favorite woods.

I have a friend who – many years ago – used to work for Busch Gardens here in Tampa. He was involved in the transportation of animals between zoos and the theme park, and that involved getting up-close and personal with some very large – and very dangerous – animals.

So, I asked him, what was the scariest animal he ever moved? A lion? A tiger? A bear? Oh my!

Nope. It wasn’t any of those. It was – surprisingly enough – the leopard. Unlike the other big, strong animals that made their presence known, the leopard was always stealthy… moving carefully in its enclosure while the staff would coax it into a vehicle for transportation. My friend told me several times that the leopard’s stealth was so good, he would often lose sight of the big cat while it moved through its habitat…

While the big cat that bears the name leopard can be sneaky and covert, that’s the last thing you could call the wood bearing the same name. Leopardwood grows in carefully managed forests in Brazil. The tree is a magnificent specimen, growing nearly 100 feet tall with trunks as large as 48 inches in diameter.

While it’s gorgeous to look at on the outside, once it is cut into, the real beauty starts to show through. The wood is a reddish-brown with a coarse, straight grain.

But, that’s not where the beauty ends. As with white oak, leopardwood has rays in the grain. Unlike white oak, these rays are numerous and closely packed, giving the wood a lacelike appearance similar to quartersawn sycamore. These rays are similar to figure in maple or other hardwoods, and can make working the wood a bit of a challenge. Using very sharp tools and skewed cuts gives the best results.

As with many tropical hardwoods, leopardwood sawdust can cause skin irritation or respiratory issues with some people, so dust collection, a mask and other precautions would be a good idea.

Leopardwood is readily available, so finding boards shouldn’t be an issue. Its figure is so prized, it also makes outstanding veneer and works well in that application. It also accepts finishes beautifully, so once your project is sanded, planed or scraped to a fine finish, have at it.

So, the next time you are looking to sneak a little exotic wood into your project, why not give leopardwood a shot?

Renaissance. Just the sound of the word conjures up images of people like da Vinci, Michelangelo and Galileo driving the inspiration of the day to expand the arts, science and other pursuits.

In much the same way, areas of cities undergoing an urban renaissance often rely on forward-thinking people to spark the rebirth of a particular neighborhood and create a new and vibrant future.

That’s just what’s happening on Franklin Street in Tampa. Located across the street from two colleges and less than a three minute drive from the city’s bustling downtown, the area was once a set of dilapidated auto dealerships and parts stores. But, no longer.  There you will find the large yet comfortable shop of Franklin Street Fine Woodwork School. I recently had the opportunity to pay the shop a visit and meet a woodworker genuinely excited about the craft.

Co-owner Carl Johnson let me into the shop and gave me the nickel tout of the facility. Large windows restored to the yellow brick facade let the natural daylight flood in to the 2000 square foot shop. We walked up a slight ramp to the shop’s floor. Carl explained that’s because they laid down wooden sleepers and built a double-thickness 3/4 inch plywood floor to make it easier on their feet while standing during a long day, and to provide a raceway for the shop’s dust collection and power supplies.  Work benches, large stationary power tools, stacks of beautiful lumber and complete works of art share space on the shop floor.

Carl and his business partner Alison Swann-Ingram have been working together since 2004. In 2009, they merged their two separate businesses – Swann Woodwork and the Artisan’s Workshop – and relocated to their new facility. “It took nearly a year’s worth of renovation to bring the building to where it is today,” said Carl. “We wanted to preserve the old character of the building while making it function for what we needed. That involved some careful planning and working closely with the city.”

Part of that was preserving parts of the old architecture and building fittings (Carl proudly pointed the shop’s original cast iron wall mounted sink as an item saved during the demolition) while creating new ones that fit the spirit of the building’s timeframe. Carl drew my attention to the fact that he built all of the interior doors for the building out of poplar. “It was funny. I told the painter how I wanted them done, when the painter told me he couldn’t paint over the beautiful wood. Looking back, those simple poplar doors really do make a statement.” A comfortable classroom, glassed off from the shop, gives Alison and Carl the opportunity to hold a class in a less-dusty environment.

Back in the building’s loading dock area, Carl and Alison have kept the original slide-siding loading door and the building’s original brick facade. But, they have also installed a modern, stand-alone spray booth for their finishing work. “We love to spray lacquer. This booth is a semi-custom structure where we can shoot the pieces in the right environment and ensure we get the best possible finish.” The sci-fi looking booth comes complete with two huge filtering stations and a ring of waist-high fluorescent fixtures to give the operator raking light across the project to check their progress.

Since the shop functions as both a custom furniture shop and classroom, it provides students a unique opportunity to both learn and observe during their time at Franklin Street. “Alison is the one who loves to teach. And, she’ll have a class of students going throughout their paces while I’m working in the other half of the shop. During their breaks, the students will always come by and watch or ask questions. In many ways, I’m providing the bonus coursework, and they always walk away learning even more than the bargained for!”

As I left the shop and shook hands with Carl, I noticed some other things going on in the neighborhood. Next door, a computer company was setting up shop, finishing the renovations on their unit in the building. Nearby, the employees of several law offices were moving about.  The pulse is coming back to Franklin Street in Tampa. And, if you are ever in the Tampa Bay area, you owe it to yourself to pay the Franklin Street Fine Woodwork shop a visit and say hi to Carl and Alison.

Yes,  folks, it’s true.  Marc and Nicole Spagnuolo just welcomed the newest member to their household today!  Welcome to the world, Mateo Xavier Spagnuolo.

I’m still trying to get the particulars, but he’s happy, healthy and seven weeks early!

I feel like that extra proud extended family uncle….

In case you were wondering, I am an Italian American. And, I’m from northern New Jersey, just outside of New York City. So, I can say that I lived in one of the premiere centers of Italian cuisine in the United States.

Pizza. Strombolis. Calzones. Zeppole. Man, that stuff is awesome. And, it’s tough to find food like I used to have up in Jersey. (However, if you find yourself in the Tampa Bay area, Sardo’s Pizza on Ulmerton Road in Largo is a welcome taste of home.)

Since this is the case, I often find myself cooking at home. The recipes that my mom and my grandmothers used to cook. I make my own gravy (no, it’s not tomato sauce… it’s GRAVY). I make my own lasagna. Meatballs. Braciola. Cutlets. The works. Heck, I even make my own pasta when the mood strikes me.

While many of these dishes are different, they all seem to have a few basic ingredients in common. Garlic. Tomatoes. And, most important of all – olive oil.

Ahh, olive oil. That magical substance that tastes so darned good… and it’s good for you. It’s high in monounsaturated fats… good ones that don’t clog up the arteries. It was harvested from olives in the Mediterranean basin as far back as 5,000 years ago and helped build empires.

“Oh, I’m a big olive oil fan,” said Eric Poirier of Bell Forest Products. “It’s great on a salad or some fresh Italian bread. But, if you love the oil, you are going to love the wood for your projects.” The wood of the olive tree (related to ash trees) has a greenish brown tint and a very distinct and attractive grain pattern. The wood is exceptionally strong and hard (sharing that trait with its cousin ash), and works very well. It can take an excellent polish, which makes it a natural for pens and other small turned items.

Since the trees are pruned primarily for harvesting their valuable fruit, they typically won’t grow very tall.  This means, of course, that you are very rarely going to find long boards, so if you are looking for a small project, hey, olive may be your wood.

While it’s easy to see why olive is a great wood to work with, it’s the smell that sets it apart. “It has a very sweet, heady scent when you cut into it,“ said Eric. “You just might wish they made an olivewood scented aftershave.”

Since olive trees grow well in the Mediterranean basin, people have known about them for a very long time. This includes the holy lands mentioned in the Bible, Torah and Koran. “Because of this, olivewood is a very popular choice for items with a religious theme.”

Many countries have strict regulations on the harvest of olive trees. However, enough trees are culled to provide hardwood for woodworkers to do their thing.

So, while you are sitting and thinking about how you can incorporate some olivewood into your next woodworking project, slice up a ripe tomato and some fresh mozzarella cheese, hit that with a little salt and pepper, add a few fresh basil leaves and drizzle that with some high quality extra virgin olive oil. It may not help you figure out what to build, but oh, it tastes so good….

Take a quick look through the garden section of your local home improvement center. Check out the handles of the wooden handled tools. Then, drive to the nearest sports supply store and see what kind of wooden baseball bats are in stock. While you are at it, head to a house wares store and take a look at the wooden bowls and cooking utensils.  There’s a very good chance that  you are looking at ash in action.

“Ash is one of those woods you see a lot in your everyday life, but rarely pay attention to,” said Eric Poirier of Bell Forest Products. “That’s a real shame, because it is a very handsome wood, and, when you think about it, it’s the kind of wood you can use extensively in your woodworking.”

Different species of the genus Fraxinus can be found in Europe, Africa and Asia. They  are closely related to olive trees, and Norse mythology often referred to the European species of ash as the mighty tree that supports the heavens, while its roots reached down to hell. One of the more common woodworking varieties is the white ash – also known as the Fraxinus Americana.  These trees grow extensively in the central and eastern United States, as well as the southern areas of Ontario.  Individual trees can grow as tall as 100 feet with a trunk diameter of two to five feet.

The wood itself looks almost like a very light red oak. The grain pattern is quite visible, creating cathedrals in plain-sliced boards. It works similarly to oak, and can be sanded or planed to a very smooth surface for finishing.

One of ash’s real strengths is its shock resistance.  “Louisville Slugger – the famous baseball bat company – mostly uses ash in its famous bats. This is mostly because it is flexible enough to take a great deal of shock from hitting baseballs, and its high strength-to-weight ratio. A strong, light bat helps the hitter get the bat on the ball faster, possibly turning a foul ball into a good hit.”  This property would be great if you were building children’s toys that were going to have a lot of loving abuse thrown their way.

Another great characteristic of ash is its ability to bend. Before modern aluminum and composite materials, most tennis rackets were made of steamed and bent ash. Add to that wooden frames for fishing nets and wooden snowshoe frames. The flexibility of the boards makes the easy to bend from a steamer, and an outstanding choice for bent laminations.

While ash is one of the most commonly planted and managed hardwoods in the United States, danger looms on the horizon for this popular tree. A pest from Asia, the Emerald Ash Borer – was accidentally imported in the 1990s. This insidious beetle lays its larvae inside the bark of ash trees of all species in the genus. While the larvae grow, they tunnel through the sensitive xylem and phloem of the tree, preventing these tissues from transporting water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves and vice versa.

So far, this pest has killed between 50 and 100 million ash trees in the United States and Canada, and poses a clear and immediate threat to the nearly 7.5 billion remaining trees. “The potential impact to the ashes in North America rivals that of the Dutch elm disease and the Chestnut blight that felled so many of those species,” said Eric. “I hope that the horticulturists find an effective way to control these things before they do too much more damage. It would be a shame to lose another classic North American hardwood for future generations.”

While the future does look cloudy for this species, you can bet your ash that it’s one wood you should be working with.

This past weekend, my oldest son came up to me while I was drinking my morning coffee. “Dad, would you like French toast for breakfast?”

Who was I to turn down this offer? The young man is becoming quite accomplished in the kitchen, and, shortly after I said ‘yes’, he was hard at work, mixing up the eggwash, stacking slices of bread and preparing a pan for the cooking to come. And, in very short order, a stack of steaming hot slices of goodness appeared at my place at the table. The only thing left to do was reach for the bottle of maple syrup to make the goodness complete.

“That is one way to enjoy maple,” said Eric Poirier of Bell Forest Products. “And, I can’t get enough of the stuff on my pancakes in the morning. But, woodworkers also have other reasons to love maple.”

Hard maple is one of the classic North American hardwoods used since early colonial times, and is found most typically in the northeast and upper Midwest United States well into Canada. It’s so representative of Canada, a red maple leaf was selected to adorn the country’s flag.

Mature trees grow from 80 to 100 feet tall, with some specimens growing taller still. One of the most striking features of the tree are the vibrant orange, yellow and red colors the leaves turn during autumn. “A hillside of maples with their autumn leaves is a sight to behold. No wonder the roads are crowded with leaf-peepers every fall.”

Maple was a popular choice for the Shakers. Those communities further north used the wood extensively in their chairs, tables and cabinets.

The wood itself is a very light creamy color with a subtle grain pattern and occasional darker mineral streaks. It’s also a very hard wood. “Hard maple is one of the hardest domestic hardwoods being harvested today, with a Janka test score of nearly 1,500 pounds. That’s why it’s a popular choice for hardwood floors and other high-wear items.”

While at first glance maple may seem kind of pale and plain Jane – you may want to look for some special eye-popping pieces. “One thing that we specialize in here at Bell Forest Products is figured maple. We love the stuff – and so do our customers.” Figure in maple can range from lazy waves to intense bird’s-eye features throughout the board. Some boards can exhibit several different types of figure, such as the board I used to top off my Nakashima-inspired bench.

Maple also has a very tight, closed pore structure. When combined with its legendary hardness, maple becomes an ideal material for building cutting boards. “If you build a cutting board out of an open-pored wood like oak, the liquids in the food will be drawn into the board by capillary action. That’s not good if you are cutting something like raw chicken on your board. Maple’s tight grain significantly reduces that process, making for a more sanitary surface to work on.” The edge grain of maple is fine for a cutting board, but nothing beats an end-grain butcher block board for durability and appearance. “The cutting board kits we sell all feature hard maple and another contrasting hardwood to make a plain kitchen tool a stunning highlight in your home.”

While cutting into my French toast, my son disappeared back in to the kitchen and came out with some fruit he had just cut up on the maple and walnut cutting board I had built for our kitchen. Even after several years of service, it still looks great and is holding up to daily wear. Who knows, my son may even try to take it with him when he leaves to start his own household.

That would be pretty sweet.