#figured shedua

[themusiczoo]

Peep this slick Fender Exotic Collection Stratocaster sporting a Figured Shedua Top on a Okoume Body! This beauty is available now in-store and online at The Music Zoo!

[suite116]

Gretsch Custom Shop G6134 '62 Penguin Figured Shedua

[juleswolverton-hyde]

Selflessly golden

Genre: Fluff, Idol AU

Pairing: idol!Jungkook x Reader

Warning: No warnings apply.

Author’s note: Happy twenty-first birthday to the golden maknae, our beloved cinnamon roll whose sweet character is too good for this world: Jungkook!

Even though this shall never be read by the actual lad himself, I nevertheless hope he has a day filled with love and friends. 

Here’s to more years with you.

Masterlist

The scent of burned out candles hangs in the air, the barely noticed homely atmosphere mellowly illuminated by the former Christmas lights now functioning as fairy lights draped over the shedua beams, the tranquillity disturbed by the occasional sniffle or soft snore coming from the man who has finally come home to the palm green sheets after months of touring, just in time for the birthday today: his.

Arms pull the body back once the other presence resting on the collection of pillows in shades of ink black, snow white, stone grey and a forest tone matching the duvet, further igniting the wanting to simply lie down once more and curl up against the figure whose ghost has provided comfort in the period the real persona was away. Fingers clamp around the restriction and endeavour to pry it loose, but the attempt fails as the hold strengthens and arm veins, created over many intense hours in the gym and practice room, pop out. A nose presses itself into the fabric of the stolen shirt smelling of passionfruit with a bitter orange tang that now functions as a sleeping top, drowsily mumbling against the covered skin with the slightest hint of neediness. ‘Y/N, don’t... go. Stay... here. Wanna... cuddle.’

Though the temptation to give in is great, it is nevertheless resisted, even as a second attempt fails and the muzzling of already messy ebony locks whilst smiling affectionately at the barely awake boy clinging on like a koala does not much more in the way of escaping the bed. ‘Kookie, let me go. It’s time for breakfast.’

Evidently felt through the clothing, lips pout and despite not seeing it directly, the hesitant frown portraying being caught in the battle between food and a few more minutes of sleep is undoubtedly formed on the young man’s handsome face. In spite of not being mentally prepared for any sort of meal as of yet, the stomach rumbles with the wish for nourishment, but it does not seem to faze the current company. ‘Come on, I’m hungry.’

A lie, but otherwise, there will not be enough time to set up the first surprise of the day, which will only be beneficial to the both of us.

‘I just... back. Missed... you. Few... min-‘ the rest of the ungrammatical sentence is left unspoken as Jungkook has slipped into unconsciousness again, the aftermath of giving concerts night after night with very little time to rest in the meantime, the precious days off which were, as per usual, spent with phone and Skype calls to home at sometimes foolish hours when not being with the rest of BTS, reclaiming the artist.

The hold weakens enough to achieve the set goal of fleeing the bed for a few moments to quietly slip away to the hallway of which the floor is made of oak, gleaming after yesterday’s bi-daily clean-up session, and an alabaster and grey-striped wallpaper adorning the walls before heading down the white-lacquered stairs and arrive in the small kitchen, furniture and appliances tinted in matte shades of dusk, set against bleak walls on top of a cypress linoleum floor.

Soon the narrow space is filled with the scent of freshly baked bread, that truly stems from the reheated multigrain buns bought at the local bakery, and the clamor of a meal consisting of the dreamer’s favourites in the process of preparation against a backdrop of the playlist composed by him during this tour and sent the moment it was finished. Since it was received, it has been constantly put on replay, so much so that now even the unknown songs are known by heart. It was the only thing directly connecting us beside the contact through screens via texts or calls by blue light.

It is a piece of home continuously away travelling to bring amazing music to those deaf to it and to those who have heard it before and follow it like the Pied Piper.

It is the exclusive loving part of him meant solely for one pair of ears, the way through which to say the three simple words that have ever only been said out loud by myself: “I love you”.

It has never been easy, especially in the beginning when management wanted all boys to focus on their careers as idols, even more so after debut, romantic interests being seen as mere unnecessary interference and a potential distraction from reaching the set goals. After all, the fans would have to be given a chance to explore the personalities of seven handsome young men, maybe even have a shot with them, unlikely as it is. Flirt a bit on stage and during fanmeets, show aegyo that captures the hearts of ARMYs around the globe and never give off the message of being in an established relationship.

The fights with agents and even their own manager have always been inevitable once the subject comes up, Jungkook fiercely refusing to give up on the one thing that feels like a home outside the dorm shared with his best friends, who have tried to talk him into surrender in the past with clenched jaws and heavy hearts, ashamed to be asking the maknae to abandon what gives at least some sense of normalcy in a reality that is constantly getting busier as fame grows. During those days, the phone calls were stained with a hint of sorrow on the end of the man who was a mere boy at the beginning of the journey that has been going on for the past five years, sobs desperately trying to be contained since the gravity of the situation did not have to affect the other party as it did him.

But it did, since a break-up in best interest was frequently thought about as copious factors seemed to be against us, so many people just waiting for the opportunity they pushed to appear and be taken advantage of. Once, the idea was brought to the table during a quiet gaming night in, Jungkook going silent at the inquiry at first only to burst out into an uncharacteristic passionate argumentation without room for commentary as to why the very concept of going our separate ways just so others could gain their right was absurd. Tears began to well at the suggestion of living without one another when the well-reasoned rage had subsided, the memory of the shivering shattered composure of the beloved still imprinted in the arms that held him tight throughout the night with the promise to be there when morning came and all the mornings thereafter.

And that promise has never been broken.

From a small Tupperware box in the lacquered cupboard overhead, is the small cupcake retrieved that was left over from the batch made a week ago, all others given to friends coming randomly over to fill the silent apartment for a few hours when the one it is actually shared with is not around, and specially saved for this occasion, this being emphasized by the silver wrapper and golden-sprayed buttercream on top.

It is placed on the large serving tray fished from the drawer beneath the gas plate on a small saucer beside the two winter white red-rimmed dishes of multigrain buns - one displaying two stuffed with a bacon omelette cut in half to fit the tiny breads and the other plating two filled with a natural omelette on a bed of lettuce - beneath the medium-sized bowl from which two forks protrude filled with a fruit salad and two glasses of banana milk.

Our favourites, unfortunately not showcased in unison enough in the years spent together, but each time they are, the mere sight provides an indescribable comfort that can only be endeavoured to be described as a safe haven in a world that is ruled by the madness of the public eye and even this description does not come anywhere close to the actual feeling.

Upstairs the bed seems to be empty aside from the sleeping blanket burrito that rolls instinctively over at the sound of footsteps heading up the stairs, their creaking loud in the morning hush and making the nose scrunch up in the hope the noise does not wake the dreamer, bare back exposed to the cool September air blowing through the window of which the curtains softly sway on the breeze betraying there is still someone occupying the sheets.

Gently the tray is set down on the basswood nightstand that was formerly a crate used for the transport of goods in the harbour, reticent steps made around the bed to sit down on the edge of the other side and let fingers glide over smooth muscled skin, writing the message that still is showing in everything we do: I love you. Jungkook has never said the three words out loud, but rather shows it by texts checking up on well-being or just to wish a good night or good morning, and if there is time, the conversations held deep into the night, some resulting in dozing off together whilst the Skype call keeps going only to see the “call ended” screen come morn because the internet connection has fallen away during the night. However, there have been fortunate days when the sleepy face of the sweet singer displayed on the screen is the first thing seen at the beginning of the day.

Notwithstanding, it never beats this: being in the same room, able to touch each other instead of endeavouring to do so by holding our hands to the electronic wall separating us, hearing the softest of sniffles and snores which turn into appreciating hums when digits run through silky onyx locks, the colour he always returns to even when the more crazier ventures befit the young man quite well too.

A wavering hand wanders the air for a bit before clamping down on the forearm, giving it a powerful jerk which makes the body fall on the mattress, head resting on the collection of pillows once more. The sleeper turns on his side and wraps strong arms around the waist, pulling us together in a tight embrace, wherein I instinctively curl up into him. A chaste kiss on the forehead is followed by the drowsily mumbled uncharacteristic words that were thought never to be heard directly. ‘I love you too.’ From beneath full lashes of hooded eyes, the dark friendly orbs light up with a slight hint of mischief at the view of surprise etched into my features, a grin reminiscent of a bunny forming on the lips. ‘Good morning, by the way.’

‘It’s your birthday, not mine.’ Once there had been a joke about how it would be a splendid present for growing yet another year older to hear the reciprocated confession out loud instead of it being shown through gestures and although it was laughed off, the serious hint of contemplation in Jungkook’s gaze could not be denied.

‘Not important, doesn’t make me want to say it less because I should do so more often. You always tell me you love me and I never confirm it.’ Long fingers caress the left cheek, push a strand of hair gone astray aside and trace every detail of the face. ‘I really should.’

‘You’re too sweet, but I know you rather show than tell and that’s perfectly alright. Nonetheless, do you know what you really should do now?’ An eyebrow rises in confusion, forehead slightly creasing in wonder as to what requires to be done, making the corners of the mouth curl up in delight at the prepared surprise waiting to be seen. ‘Turn around.’

The warm protection fades, the temperature seeming to drop with a few degrees immediately when the hug is broken off to turn to the bedside table from which the comforting scent of freshly baked, reheated, bread permeates the air. With clear glee, Jungkook hoists himself up and picks up the tray filled with food to place it on our laps after me following suit, back resting against the cushions and nestled into his side, sheets covering our legs. ‘You did this?’

‘Of course, silly. It’s your birthday.’ Briefly, there is a silence as an unsure gaze drifts off to the sheets, staring deeply into the palm green at the sudden realization of a privilege that has been had all this time yet the meaning of it has never fully dawned until now. ‘And I’m glad you share it with me even though the guys can come over to celebrate.’

Every year if the singer is home, even during tour when thousands of ARMY sing “Happy birthday” and organize amazing projects, it is simply us two truly celebrating his birthday either via Skype after the show to talk the night away or in this way with the whole day to ourselves to play “Overwatch” and binge watch anime. The day after is preserved to hold a kind of after-party with the rest of the band and even then, I am there. That is pure happiness for the maknae: having all the ones who are held dear get along and coming together to rejoice in the growing older of one who is loved in return just as much.

The reverie is halted by the swipe of a finger over the nose, leaving behind a dollop of golden buttercream. Surprised by this sudden act, eyes dart to the side where a teasing lopsided grin challenges me to do something in return, before it turns soft and the frosting is nipped off with a tender kiss that changes into a sugary trail of pecks to the lips. 

‘Tomorrow’s another day fit for festivities, but we’re all still knackered from the tour so I don’t think they’d be up for it. Today, I just want to lie in bed with you, relax and eat this. Once a year I can be selfish, so you bet I’ll make use of that chance.’

A shake of the head, denying the statement laced with what can be mistaken for egotism via a reassuring voice nuancing it. ‘You’re still being selfless. I mean, you can easily rest up by finally catching up on all those hours without sleep like the others, energize the way we introverts do by simply being alone and yet you want to spend the day with someone, with me. I can’t call that being selfish because that would entail doing what I just said, even though we would be alone together.’

The singer’s head resting on top of mine, fingers entwine in the temporary hush in which the denial is contemplated whilst stares fix on the bundle of digits, his thumb softly caressing mine, until Jungkook breaks the silence. ‘Is it selfish to want to spend the day with the one I want to keep to myself since you’re a source of energy aside from solitude and I get jealous whenever I notice other men giving you attention, even my own friends, or is it indeed generous to, tired as I still am, spend the little energy I have regained with the girl I always feel like is being neglected during touring despite all that we do to keep in contact?’ A loving kiss on the back of the lifted hand, followed by one on the left temple, a soft chuckle once the joyful grin is noticed and formed by his doing. ‘I don’t know, but what I do know is that I find happiness either way.’

Nevertheless, it is evident the former applies since the young man is all but egocentric.

The maknae is charitable in the colour the artist has made his own, has formed into a title.

He is selflessly golden.

[exotic-wood]

Ovangkol 3/4 lumber - vinu

Buy Ovangkol 3/4 lumber finest quality  / kiln dried  Dimensions: Length : 24" , 36" and 48 " / Width : 6" / thickness: 1"  .the botanical name :Gubourtia ehie, Amazique, Amazoué, Hyedua, Black Hyedua,Mozambique, ovangkol, and Shedua are some of their common names. mainly flourish in West Africa. primarily in rain forests. Caribbean hardwood widely utilised in the construction of cabinets and musical instruments. We provide California exotic hardwoods. Curly figured ovangkol was special. We dry all of our ovangkol in a kiln. use primarily on the sides and backs of the guitar. Consider Ovangkol or Shedua as alternatives to Indian rosewood. Additionally, Ovangkol used guitar fingerboards. Mostly yellowing and reddish brown in appearance. Also available is a darker brown with numerous lines of grey and black stripes. California Exotic Hardwoods selects and processes only the highest-quality logs available. Buy Ovangkol 4/4 cutting board from California Exotic hardwoods.Always get lumber that is a unique colour. Not yet included in the CITIES APPENDICES. Really unusual In accordance with confirmed orders, California Exotic Hardwoods is able to produce custom veneers. .   Read the full article

[exoticwoodzone]

This Binding Woods for Guitars is supplied by the Exotic Wood Zone which has a collection of some of the finest and high quality Luthier Tonewoods & exotic wood products. Our products are defect-free and we guarantee 100% product satisfaction. We are happy to answer your queries to serve you better.

If for any reason you are not happy with your selection we offer a 100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!

We Are Selling Different Species Of Bindings:

Acacia:

Common Names: Australian blackwood, Acacia blackwood. Botanical Name: Acacia melanoxylon Australian Blackwood/Acacia is easily worked with both hand and machine tools, though figured wood and pieces with interlocked grain can cause tearout. Australian Blackwood turns, glues, stains, and finishes well. Responds well to steam bending.

African Blackwood:

Common Names: African blackwood, Mpingo (Swahili) Botanical Name: Dalbergia melanoxylon African blackwood is very expensive, on par with true ebonies such as Gaboon Ebony in the Diospyros genus. Excellent for musical instruments. Color: completely black, with little or no discernible grain. Occasionally slightly lighter, with a dark brown or purplish hue.

Black Limba:

Common Names: Limba, Black Limba, White Limba, Korina, Afara Botanical Name: Terminalia superba Distribution: Tropical western Africa Easy to work with both hand and machine tools. Contains a small amount of silica, but blunting effect on cutters is usually small. Glues and finishes well. straight to slightly interlocked Grain

Bocote:

Botanical Name: Cordia spp. Distribution: Mexico and Central/South America Bocote is easily worked and machined with good results. The wood has a natural luster which adds beauty to its visual appeal. Likely to be somewhat expensive, close to other mid-to-high priced exotic hardwoods.

Bubinga:

Common Names: Bubinga, Kevazingo Botanical Name: Guibourtia spp. (G. demeusei, G. pellegriniana, G. tessmannii). Distribution: Equatorial Africa Bubinga may be loved as much for its quirky name as it is for its strength and beauty. Easy to work, Turns and finishes well.

Chakte Viga:

Common Names: Chakte Viga, Paela, Aripin Botanical Name: Coulteria platyloba (=Caesalpinia) Distribution: Mexico and Central America Despite its high density, Chakte Viga generally responds well to most machining operations, though interlocked grain can result in tearout. Turns, glues, and finishes well. Perhaps the closest relative to the more-famous Brazilwood (used for violin bows), Chakte Viga shares many of the same excellent acoustic properties.

Chechen:

Common Names: Chechen, Chechem, Caribbean Rosewood. Botanical Name: Metopium brownei. Chechen is also hard and dense, which allows the wood to polish to a high sheen without effort. Glues and finishes well, though because of its density and tendency to split, nails and screws should be pre-bored. Fairly easy to work.

Cherry:

Common Names: Black Cherry, Cherry, American Cherry. Botanical Name: Prunus serotina. Distribution: Eastern North America. Cherry is known as being one of the best all-around woods for workability. It is stable, straight-grained, and machines well.

Cocobolo:

Common Names: Cocobolo, Cocobola, Cocabola. Botanical Name: Dalbergia retusa. Distribution: Central America The wood is very durable and strong, with a fine texture. super beautiful, ranging in color from dark red to reddish brown, with straight to interlocked grain pattern. The hardness and density of wood produce a clear musical tone. Cocobolo Turning Blanks has a huge application in manufacturing musical instruments especially the guitar. Cocobolo works well in the production of guitar fingerboards, backs & sides, and employed in bass guitars too.

East Indian Rosewood:

Common Names: East Indian Rosewood, Indian Rosewood, sonokeling Botanical Name: Dalbergia latifolia. East Indian Rosewood is native to the South Indian Peninsular region. The wood glues and finishes well as the final product. Hence, it’s essential to take care of during the working process. East Indian Rosewood has been used extensively on acoustic guitars. Also we have a huge collection of East Indian Rosewood Classical and Dreadnought Guitar Back and Side Sets.

Flame Maple:

Common Names: maple, tiger maple, flamed maple, rippled maple. Botanical Name: Acer spp Flame Maple produces bright and beaming sound when the rigid wood reflects against sound waves. The sounding quality is noticeable in acoustic flame maple guitars. Flame Maple is a popular choice as guitar drop tops. The wood had been used in guitar body and necks for long years.

Gaboon Ebony:

Common Names: Gaboon Ebony, African Ebony, Nigerian Ebony, Cameroon Ebony. Botanical Name: Diospyros crassiflora. Distribution: West Africa It’s a high-quality wood which is very hard and strong. This makes ebony as one of the highly demanded woods in the market. Ebony is rated as being very durable, with good resistance to termites and other insects. Finishes well, and polishes to a high luster. Responds well to steam bending. Check our amazing Gaboon Ebony Figured Guitar Sets and Fingerboard Blanks

Granadillo:

Botanical Name:  PLATYMISCIUM YUCATANUM ORIGIN: CENTRAL AMERICA Granadillo is an exotic wood that is bright red to reddish or purplish brown, with rather distinct stripes. The sapwood is clearly distinct from the heartwood, and is almost white in color. It is hard and superior to Teak and probably Mahogany. The wood is exceptionally heavy. It weighs much more than Hard maple or Teak in the green or seasoned condition. The density of the wood is very high.

Hard Maple:

Common Names: Hard maple, sugar maple, rock maple. Botanical Name: Acer saccharum Distribution: Northeastern North America Hard maple ought to be considered the king of the Acer genus. Its wood is stronger, stiffer, harder, and denser than all of the other species of maple commercially available in lumber form. Fairly easy to work with both hand and machine tools, though slightly more difficult than soft maple due to hard maple’s higher density. Hard Maple turns, glues, and finishes well. In tree form, hard maple is usually referred to as sugar maple, and is the tree most often tapped for maple syrup.

Honduran Mahogany:

Common Names: Honduran Mahogany, Honduras Mahogany, American Mahogany, Genuine Mahogany, Big-Leaf Mahogany, Brazilian Mahogany. Botanical Name: Swietenia macrophylla. Distribution: From Mexico to central South America Honduran Mahogany goes by many names, yet perhaps its most accurate and telling name is Genuine Mahogany. Not to be confused with cheaper imitations, such as Philippine Mahogany, Swietenia macrophylla is what most consider to be the real and true species when referring to “Mahogany.” Mahogany is the most commonly used tonewood in guitar production. Easy to work with tools and glues well. We have a huge collection of genuine Honduran Mahogany Guitar Back & Sides with affordable prices, Visit here for Classical Sets and Dreadnought Sets

Indian Laurel:

Botanical Name: Terminalia elliptica (syn. T. tomentosa) Distribution: Southern Asia (primarily India) Laurel is a wonderful species that is found throughout the Americas. The California variety is particularly beautiful. It possesses a tremendous tap tone and always produces top of the line guitars. Rich overtones, brilliant trebles, lively and vibrant. It is relatively cheap when compared to woods that deliver similar sound at much higher costs like Blackwood or Brazilian rosewood. Generally easy to work, though sections with interlocked or irregular grain are more problematic. Turns and finishes well.

Leopardwood:

Botanical Name: Roupala montana (syn. R. brasiliense) Distribution: Central and South America. Has a very conspicuous flecking that gives this wood its namesake. The wood itself is a medium to dark reddish brown with grey or light brown rays, which resemble the spots of a leopard. Like other woods that exhibit the strongest figure in quartersawn pieces. Leopardwood glues and finishes well.

Ovangkol:

Common Names: Amazique, Amazoue, Mozambique, Ovangkol, Shedua Botanical Name: Guibourtia ehie Distribution: Tropical west Africa Overall a fairly easy wood to work, Turns, glues and finishes well. This wood wins the award for the most commonly-used aliases, with no single name being predominant. When used in guitars, it’s most commonly referred to as Ovangkol. Most other woodworkers favor either Shedua or Amazique, while veneer is sometimes sold under the name Mozambique. Also luthierworkes, guitar makers loves ovangkol, here is the ovangkol guitar back & side sets we have:

Classical/OM Guitar Sets

Dreadnought Guitar Sets

Purpleheart:

Common Names: Purpleheart, Amaranth Botanical Name: Peltogyne spp. Distribution: Central and South America. Purpleheart has excellent strength properties, and can be used in applications where strength is important. Purpleheart is rated as being very durable, and resists both decay and most insect attacks.

Soft Maple:

Distribution: North America.

Walnut:

Common Names: Black Walnut, Walnut Botanical Name: Juglans nigra Distribution: Eastern United States Black Walnut is rated as very durable in terms of decay resistance, though it is susceptible to insect attack. Typically easy to work provided the grain is straight and regular. Very popular and widely available, though board widths can sometimes be narrow. Considered a premium domestic hardwood, prices are in the high range for a domestic species. It would be hard to overstate Black Walnut’s popularity among woodworkers in the United States. We have huge collections of Walnut Lumbers, Turning Blanks, Guitar Back & Side Sets, Body Blanks.

Ziricote:Botanical Name: Cordia dodecandra

Distribution: Central America and Mexico.

A truly unique-looking wood, Ziricote is a popular and visually stunning exotic wood which belongs to the Central American countries. Ziricote is fairly easy to work considering its high density. turns and finishes well, and in most instances, it can also be glued with no problems.

Visit Exoticwoodzone for more info 

[davidpires578]

Dark Chocolate and Sponge Cake (2)

I was planning to start talking about the design of the cabinet, however there's another issue occupying my attention at present. Designing and building is an interesting process, and you can never predict everything, despite making all efforts to do so, when it comes to solid wood. This is especially true when you are buying wood at a distance and relying upon photos and descriptions of others. When I designed the cabinet which forms the focus of this build, I drew it with a frame and panel system, and did so employing quite wide panels. Wide panels, after all, offer a clean and uncluttered look, and typically make for stronger construction as compared to using divided frames with multiple panels. Initially, my thought was to use curly shedua for the panels and mahogany for the frame, however it proves impossible to obtain shedua wide enough, and I avoid glue ups generally, so that plan hit a snag. Shedua may yet feature in this build however. Then I found some exceptionally wide 5/4 (1.25" / 31.75mm) slabs of Honduran Mahogany, at a nearly unheard-of 48" (1219mm) width. These appeared to provide all my panel requirements, and were thick enough that the prospect of re-sawing the material became within the realm of consideration. Since the alternative to re-sawing is to plane the material down, thus putting more than half of the stock up the chip collection system, I was keen to see if I could obtain as much as possible of what I wanted by re-sawing. As mentioned in the previous post, the risk to re-sawing is that material un-evenness and movement after cutting may mean that you cut a precious board in half along it's thickness only to end up with nothing usable. I realized that, for certain panels on this cabinet, namely the top panel, a board with a small centered band of flatsawn 'cathedral' in the middle would be the most ideal aesthetically, given the options. The required top panel was too wide for it to come from a quartersawn cut off of a 48" slab . That cut would, to have enough width, include a portion of flatsawn at one edge, and that pattern of figure would look visually unbalanced. The alternative to that approach was to cut off a chunk of 48" wide material to the required length and then slice off  10" from each edge, thereby leaving the middle portion with centered middle cathedral of flat grain. That could then be planed down to produce the panel. Since every slab of wood has certain potentials, which diminish with every cut made, I figured it made more sense to obtain a narrower board of equivalent board footage to the slab remnant and use it instead of the 48" wide slab remnant. I looked first to a local hardwood yard that has been holding onto a pile of about 2000 board feet of Honduras Mahogany, all 4/4 (25.4mm) thick, and in various wider widths. They've had this stuff for at least 20 years, and it hasn't sold to any significant extent because they have kept the price on the high side, unchanged at $25/bd.ft for the last 10 years now. They know their business best I guess, but the last half dozen times I have popped by that yard in the past year or three I have been the only (prospective) customer, so I'm not so sure their business strategy is working all that well. I would have thought the idea of a wood yard was to bring wood in and then sell it, not warehouse it. Wood that sits in stock for extended periods is just going to cost them money, for the most part. Anyway, they happened to have 4 boards in their pile, boards which were 29~30" wide, and being 4/4, the only recourse with that stock would be to plane it down to obtain panels, which was easier to consider since it involved significantly less waste than doing so with 5/4 slabs. They got the forklift out and we broke the pile of boards apart, mouse turds and mouse nest building material flying everywhere (the wood pile has been sitting undisturbed for quite a while it would appear), until I could get a look at the 4 boards. Unfortunately, not one of them was suitable. They all had too much flatsawn grain, a result of being through-and-through cut pieces a few slices too far up from the center of the tree. I was looking for a board which was one of those slices just above the heart center, which would keep flat grain to a minimum, and quartersawn grain to a maximum. I had hoped that yard would be the convenient answer to my problem, but it was not. Then I looked over Irion Lumber's website again, and found some suitable material, with the aid of a bit of phone consultation with the salesperson there. I decided to buy two more slabs from Irion, one being the last of the 48" slabs they had on hand, and the other a 36" wide slab which, from the photos, has a minimum of flatsawn and a maximum of quartersawn grain. My thought with the 48" wide, 10' long piece was purely, "ain't gonna see that again so buy it now and hold on to it", while with the 36" wide piece I saw it as a perfect swap-in for the 48" x 88" remnant I had from one of the client's slabs, in fact it was a near-perfect swap on a board foot basis. The 36" wide piece was 14' (4.2m) long, and in order to save on trucking costs, I had them lop off a 4' length from it, to keep the remnant board the same 10' length as the 48" wide one. This wood made it, via Fedex Freight, from PA to my shop in under 24 hours, somewhat astonishingly. When I got a closer look at the 36" wide board I found it was not quite what I expected. I had been thinking that, as it was a slice of a 36~38" diameter tree trunk, it would have the center of the flatsawn grain portion more or less in the middle of the width. Instead, it was at the 3/4 mark, 27" in from one edge, 9" from the other. Possibly this board came from the bottom of the trunk where the buttressing is located. So...my idea to obtain a piece for the cabinet top which had the centered cathedral was not to be, at least in terms of getting it from the newly-acquired 36" wide material. But...the configuration of grain did offer an exceptionally wide band of quartersawn material. I thought I could look to make use of that feature. I felt that for one of the interior panels, the cabinet floor or the middle shelf, I could be fine with using 2-piece panels. These could be edge joined in various ways, with glue or without. They don't have a significant structural function, they just divide or enclose space and are a surface for beddings to sit upon. I took the 4' long, 36" wide piece and cut out an 18" wide chunk of the quartersawn portion. I jointed one face and edge, then ran the stock though the planer to clean off 95% of the opposing face. From there, I could examine the run of the grain more carefully. After lining out the board to obtain the best grain alignment, and trimming with a saw, then re-jointing an edge, I obtained a 15.5" (393mm) chunk, this being close to the tallest thing I could stuff through my Hitachi re-saw. It was a hair under 1.25" thick, and I gauged off a pair of lines 9/16" (14.2mm) in from each face along the edge, leaving a space for the saw kerf. The boards did not move too much in the cut, and I was happy with the results at this stage:

The pieces are weighted as a precaution, not because they are warped or bowed. As it turned out, the saw-cut I took was a hair fatter on one side than the other, and after dressing off the surfaces of both pieces in the planer, I obtained just two 3/8" (9.5mm) panels - on one piece, I was lucky to do so, with the final pass to dimension taking off the last bit of rough sawn face. These will be fine at this thickness for the middle shelf of the cabinet, sitting in a frame about twice as thick as the panel. However, I realized that the likelihood of obtaining two 1/2" panels from this process was looking decidedly unlikely, especially when factoring wider boards, where I am wanting to obtain single-piece panels (like for the front doors, rear panels, and the top of the cabinet). And with wider material, I was faced with a greater likelihood that flattening out from any irregularities in the wood surface to begin with, and the potential effects of wood movement after the cut, were decreasing the chances I could get the material out from re-sawing that I wanted. And even more to the point here was that wider boards meant no use of my Hitachi re-saw, which has 5 horsepower and stellite teeth giving just a slim 1.6mm kerf  - the other saw options, either powered or manual, would likely associate to a wider kerf and therefore less chance of obtaining the results I was after. Speaking of re-saw options, after my last post a reader wrote me from Denmark and, in a long detailed message, described his experiences with both French frame saws and old Japanese mae-biki oga type saws, the 'Whaleback' form of single-man rip saw, and advocated strongly for me to use the maebiki oga. He was so confident that it was the best choice, and that the French saw was a lousy choice for the application, that he offered to send me one of his saws if I paid the shipping, on a 'give it a try and see how you like it basis'. Incredibly kind! It's on it's way now, and I should have it in hand in the next day or two. I cancelled my order for the French frame saw blade and got my money back no problem. However, to continue, after my experience with re-sawing that first plank, I was thinking I needed to look at plan 'b'. However, the prospect of planing the stock down still caused me to hesitate. Was there another way? Maslow talked about a Hierarchy of Needs. perhaps rather less formalized, I have my own, as applies to my work in wood, and here are a few worth mention, in no particular order:

that I use wood wisely, both in how I select it, process and in how the design is to maximize lifespan

that I design so as to limit wood movement via care in selecting material for purchase, and to cut, and in orienting grain in the piece

that I employ joinery primarily, with reluctant recourse to fasteners and/or glue

that I design to maximize the strengths of solid wood

that I use the tools at hand preferably over taking pieces to other shops to have tasks done

In the last post I joked about how I wished to employ solid single piece panels, and wanted to avoid having to do any glue ups with panels. I also wanted to avoid planing the wood down from full thickness if I could help it, while recognizing that it was the surest path to obtaining the desired stock.

Driving home from the shop, I reconsidered the situation in light of the re-sawing reality. and in light of the collection of material I had to work with, which was generous by most standards. An idea came to me, which I later sketched out on a scrap of paper, finding a way to use the boards as ideally as I could:

In a hierarchy of needs for this project, something had to give. I couldn't obtain exactly what I had wanted in the design, like the one-piece door panels on the front so as to present a view of the entire tree trunk via the two front panels, without getting into planing material down. I didn't want to revise the design into doors which have two panels each, and I didn't want to do a glue up to make panels if I could help it, not on the most exposed panels in the cabinet, namely the front doors and top panel.

The things about these conflicting needs is that one can reflect and figure out which needs are more important than others. Given a choice between planing a piece of slab down and wasting 70% of it in chips, or making a panel out of two pieces edge joined, I generally would have to prefer the latter option unless I am sure that re-sawing will not work. Making wise use of material generally trumps the situation if the wood allows some design change options. However, if it were the case that minority of panels out of the set were to be planed down, rather than all of them, that was an acceptable trade-off if the reward was there.

So, I have forged a new battle plan, as it were. This plan results in the following:

I take advantage of the fact that the 10' long 36" wide board has such a severely offset flat grain portion, and chop out a pair of 46" long pieces to obtain the two door panels, purely from the wide portions of quartersawn available on that stick. To me, the benefits of the quartersawn wood outweigh the aesthetic of having the front doors display a tree trunk across the two panels. These two door panels will be planed down from full thickness.

The 48" wide slabs I have which are still full length, at 10' (personal stock) and 11' (the client's piece) respectively, were not sawn by the most sophisticated equipment originally and if one tried to obtain a single piece, like a conference table, from the full length, then one would remove a huge amount of stock and be left with something like a 5/8" thick top or worse, and that is if there were no movement after stock removal, which is unlikely. A wide top that thin would perhaps be a bit unstable too. These slabs therefore are not ideally suited to becoming giant tables or desks, and in order to make the best use of them I think they need to be cross-cut, initially into a 1/3~2/3 format. This will provide, with the 1/3 sections, material for the remaining panels, and leave, with the 2/3 sections, a comparatively less bowed/kinked plank, which, if it were to become a large table or desk, would be a thicker piece after dressing than if the piece were not crosscut.

I will accept the use of 2-piece construction for the remaining panels, by cutting slab remnants so as to obtain pieces that are entirely quartersawn. If you consider the choice between taking a 48" wide slab and cutting the 10" flanks of quartersawn off, and then planing down the middle portion, which is about 50% flatsawn, to obtain a one-piece cabinet top panel, versus cutting 14" bands of rift~quartersawn off both sides, and then re-sawing those into a pair of panels each, and accepting the 2-piece construction, I have to go with the latter option. It will move less and not be prone to developing splits over time as flatsawn panels can.

In step (3) I am resawing slabs to obtain pairs of panels, and one set of these is to be 1/2" thick, and I can't get two of those from one blank. However, I could re-saw each of the two blanks slightly off the centerline, so as to be able to produce one 1/2" board, and one 3/8" board, from each slab. Then I simply pair the 1/2" pieces together and the 3/8" pieces together afterwards. Maximizes the use of these two pieces of quartersawn slab.

The two 46" long half-slab sections already trimmed from one of the slabs (see the previous post) were intended to become the front and rear door panels via re-sawing. One of those pieces however has a few bug holes and these holes go right through the plank, visible on front and back faces. I cannot use these for the front panels (and have a better option anyway in (1) above), however they could be employed for the back panels, and there is an option to either plane them down, manually re-saw, or trim to maximize the quartersawn portions, and then re-saw those to make a pair of 2-piece back panels. I'll decide once I get into them further.

The above approach to cutting the various panels will hopefully leave the greatest amount of full width slab stock untouched, give me the nice 1-piece doors I wanted, and then 2-piece panels elsewhere, all quartersawn. I could choose a variety of ways of connecting the two piece panels together, including glue if desired.

Onto the battlefield to see what eventuates - hopefully the distance between plan and realization will not be too great. Here is the weapon of choice for the slab sectioning, all 190mm of it:

It's a great saw that makes a very thin kerf. Here's the 36" slab undergoing the first cross-cut:

After cross-cutting with a 96T blade, I swapped in a 24T blade for the rips:

After snapping a line, I let 'er rip:

That was followed by more cross-cutting to produce the two front door panel blanks:

I then dressed the blanks down on the planer to see what I had with clean faces to look at, and this is the result:

As you can see, the right hand board has a curious bit of grain, which looks slightly like a bark inclusion but it isn't, just a sort of darker oxidized piece of folded/distorted grain:

I think I am fine with the panels not looking perfectly identical or having perfect runs of grain- this is a natural material after all, and I think that the grain 'curiosity' adds something nice. Then I took the two previously-sectioned slabs, f

[exotic-wood]

Ovangkol 3/4 lumber - vinu

Buy Ovangkol 3/4 lumber finest quality  / kiln dried  Dimensions: Length : 24" , 36" and 48 " / Width : 6" / thickness: 1"  .the botanical name :Gubourtia ehie, Amazique, Amazoué, Hyedua, Black Hyedua,Mozambique, ovangkol, and Shedua are some of their common names. mainly flourish in West Africa. primarily in rain forests. Caribbean hardwood widely utilised in the construction of cabinets and musical instruments. We provide California exotic hardwoods. Curly figured ovangkol was special. We dry all of our ovangkol in a kiln. use primarily on the sides and backs of the guitar. Consider Ovangkol or Shedua as alternatives to Indian rosewood. Additionally, Ovangkol used guitar fingerboards. Mostly yellowing and reddish brown in appearance. Also available is a darker brown with numerous lines of grey and black stripes. California Exotic Hardwoods selects and processes only the highest-quality logs available. Buy Ovangkol 4/4 cutting board from California Exotic hardwoods.Always get lumber that is a unique colour. Not yet included in the CITIES APPENDICES. Really unusual In accordance with confirmed orders, California Exotic Hardwoods is able to produce custom veneers. .   Read the full article

[davidpires578]

Does Uber give a Lift?

The other portion of wood arrived in my shop today, wood which I described in an earlier post as 'uber special'. Here it is, fresh off the boat, er, semi:

Doesn't look like much, does it? This motley set of 6 boards cost as much as the two super-wide pieces of Honduran Mahogany I acquired a week or two back. What am I, nuts? (please hold off on answering that until you have read further...) Another view:

What is this stuff, you might ask? It isn't Honduran mahogany, which goes by the Latin name of swietenia macrophylla, the word macrophylla meaning 'large leaf'. The genus name, the word 'swietenia', was named after Gerard von Swieten, a Dutch-Austrian physician who lived between 1700 and 1772, by a fellow named Nikolaus von Jacquin. Between 1755 and 1759, Nikolaus von Jacquin was sent to the West Indies and Central America by Francis I to collect plants for the Schönbrunn Palace, and amassed a large collection of animal, plant and mineral samples. There are three species comprising the genus Swietenia, namely:

Swietenia macrophylla, or Big leaf Mahogany

Swietenia mahagoni, referred to as West Indian, Santo Domingo, or Cuban Mahogany - it might also be called 'small leaf' mahogany (though accurate, that term is not used)

Swietenia humilis, a small and often twisted mahogany tree limited to seasonally dry forests in Pacific Central America that is of limited commercial utility.

S. humilis doesn't really count in the woodworking world as you'll never see timber from it. S. mahagoni - notice how the word 'mahagoni' is spelled with an 'a' there in the middle instead of an 'o' - was commercially extinct by 1900 or so, and commercial trade in the species pretty much ceased by WWII. I've noticed in a lot of books and articles, even scholarly ones, that the Latin name gets misspelled as 'mahogani'. Tut, tut, tsk, tsk...

Today, Big Leaf Mahogany is sold as 'Genuine Mahogany', in contradistinction to many species which are commercially termed 'mahogany' due to some physical resemblance to true mahoganies of the genus swietenia, namely:

Khaya spp., aka African Mahogany

Entandrophragma utile, or 'Utile' 

Entandrophragma cylindricum, or Sapele

There are others of course, including the dreaded 'Phillipine Mahogany' - a good article on the topic can be found here.

Back in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when both species of real mahogany were exploited/pillaged, what-have-you, Great Britain was the champion consumer, importing some 85,000 tons of the wood, primarily from Jamaica, in peak importation year of 1875. As early as 1846, when mahogany was chiefly used in shipbuilding, Britain imported 85,000,000 board feet of the wood. By comparison, the US was a lightweight, and the peak consumption year of 1899 saw 21,149,750 board feet imported. I take the above facts and figures from Clayton Dissinger Mell, in his seminal work on the topic, published in 1911 as monograph #474 from the USDA, titled True Mahogany. 'Genuine mahogany' is all we have left these days it seems, though in the days when mahogany was used heavily, the term 'genuine' would have perhaps been laughed at. The esteemed species of the two actually genuine mahoganies, was in fact the Santo Domingo Mahogany (s. mahagoni), as is noted by Mell, and Big Leaf Mahogany was considered inferior:

Though "soft" and "spongy" the apparently inferior Big Leaf Mahogany may be, I personally find it an awesome species, as it is easily worked, suited to indoor or outdoor use, and incredibly stable in service, hardly warping and never checking. I haven't been able to compare it though to the other variety of course, so I am impoverished in that regard and lacking in perspective. Those guys - well, a few of them - in the 1800's had access to materials which I can only imagine. The 'Age of Mahogany', as far as furniture is concerned, was the period between the reigns of George II and George III, roughly 1727 to 1820. Mahogany, extolled by Chippendale, caused the pre-eminent wood of the time, namely walnut, to pass completely out of fashion. In the work Good Furniture, Vol. 4, by the Dean Hicks company (1914), they even wonder if the success of English cabinet makers of the period could have been attained without access to mahogany:

As they note in that text, and as cabinetmaker's of the period following about 1720 found through direct experience, that mahogany was a wood less liable to chip or check than oak, less likely to become worm-eaten than walnut, sound, tough, of uniform grain, procurable in large planks, rich in figure and color, and hence unrivaled for the purposes of cabinet making. Again, the mahogany they were talking about is not Honduras Mahogany, but 'Cuban' Mahogany. Reading about Cuban Mahogany and learning that it was THE mahogany in the time in which lots of mahogany furniture and ships were built on a large scale, has lead me to a strong desire to get a chance to work the s. mahagoni material. Obtaining it however, has been a bit like chasing a unicorn. I've seen it for sale sporadically over the years by private sellers here and there, and there has been someone on ebay trying to sell some of late at quite high prices. Not sure how successful he has been. And, like they say on the Hobbit house website,

A note on Cuban mahogany: this species is basically not available in lumber form these days. I think the best expression of this is (this is a slight paraphrase of a comment by Eric Meier of The Wood Database in an email to me): I just tell people that unless they actually live in Cuba, it's not Cuban mahogany and you're being delusionally optimistic to think otherwise.

So, when a few months back an ad appeared from a fellow offering to sell some Cuban Mahogany, I was interested but skeptical. I emailed him to ask his pricing, which was quoted as "$24~$28 per board foot". I didn't have the funds at the time to pursue it further, so I put the matter on the back burner, and besides, it was probably anything but the real thing. When the new cabinet project was in discussion with my client on the west coast, there came the point where he asked me which woods I recommended, and I said that I thought it would be great to carry the use of Shedua from the other cabinet I had built forward, and then pair it with mahogany. I was thinking exclusively of Honduran Mahogany, which is as likely as not to come from Peru these days, as that was what one would normally think of in respect to mahogany. When the client came back in approval of the plan to use those woods, I got to thinking about it more, and then remembered the ad from a few months back. I looked through my email and found the conversation and emailed the fellow again to see if he still had any stock. It turned out he still did have a fair amount. I then asked him how he knew it was Cuban Mahogany, given how rare a material that is. He replied that it was 'obvious' as the wood had a deeper purple tone, and was considerably denser and heavier than the Big Leaf Mahogany. That sounded good, however, I was still skeptical and asked him if he would provide me with a sample or two, thinking that I could take it to a wood lab near me for analysis. He said he would do that, and if I declined to buy any wood I could pay him for the postage, otherwise, if I did buy some wood, he would absorb the cost. Fair enough. A week or so later and two samples arrived, each about 8" square and 5/8" thick or so. Pulling them out of the package, I could immediately discern that the pieces were heaver than I would expect with Honduran Mahogany. I put in a call to the recently-retired UMass professor Bruce Hoadley, author of Identifying Wood and Understanding Wood, and left a message in regards to testing the samples I had. In the meantime, I did some further research, and learned that, by the conventional method of wood species identification, namely examining a cleaned portion of end grain under 10x~20x magnification and comparing physical features, swietenia mahagoni and swietenia macrophylla could not be distinguished. Hmm, a wrinkle in my plan.... I never did reach Professor Hoadley, though we had a fine game of phone tag for a while. I did manage to make contact with a Michael Wiemann, a botanist at the US Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory in  Madison Wisconsin though. He confirmed just what I had read, that one cannot distinguish between the two mahoganies by the usual method. I was thinking he would point me to some modern high tech method that I imagined existed, something involving DNA analysis or near-infrared spectrographic methods, however he said that distinguishing between closely-related species remains a challenging task in his field. He then said that what he would do, if presented with my sample, is refer to some notes from a British text on the topic. He said he could send me a .pdf of the relevant section if I was interested (?). You bet I was! Reading that document, it turns out that the two mahoganies have a slight overlap in characteristics, looking at density, color, growth ring count, and so forth, so if you have a sample that sits in the zone of overlap, it is quite difficult to distinguish one from another. However if your sample is clearly sitting outside of that overlap zone, you can be reasonably sure of what you have. For color and density, I was quite clear on the fact that the samples I had were unlike Honduran Mahogany, at least in my experience. The key point came down to growth ring count, which, for s. macrophylla is 4~8 per inch, and for s. mahagoni 10~25 per inch. The samples were happily very clear in that regard, as the growth ring count I saw on both pieces was around 20 per inch. I was starting to feel fairly certain that I had stumbled upon some actual 'Cuban' Mahogany. I asked the seller for some more background on the material. I learned that it had been cut something like 40 years ago, and was from a wind-downed tree in the Florida Keys. He'd had it for about 20 years and had purchased it from another fellow, the person who obtained the wood from the trees originally, who had also squirreled it away for some 20 years. Some further reading from Mull's work True Mahogany revealed some other distinguishing characteristics in regards to mahogany from the Florida Keys:

Cool. The mahogany growing in the Florida Keys, at the northern end of the plant's growth range, proves to be the densest. And then:

It also seems to be the case that the mahogany from Florida has the shortest wood fibers of any mahogany in the New World. I decided that even if this material was not actually s. mahagoni, but just some really nice s. macrophylla, it was worth it at the price regardless. I bought all the seller's 8/4 material, and that is what arrived at my shop today. I'm excited to have captured a unicorn at last! After dragging the wood into my shop, I immediately trimmed off the bug-eaten portions where the sapwood had once been:

The above board was one of the worst in that regard. Did I mention 'bug-eaten'?:

I also did some jointing and planing. Here's a closer look at the surface of one board, where you can see the numerous white flecks on the face:

Those white flecks are called tyloses. I take them to be a sign of good material - at least when it came to Honduran Mahogany, where they are a rare occurrance, they had proved to be a sign of nice wood to work, and I'm thinking the same goes here. Cutting this material was relatively easy, and the sawdust has a smell similar to Honduran Mahogany. The wood though is significantly heavier than any Honduran Mahogany I have had my hands on. I'm 99% sure I have that unicorn. This is up there, for me, with finding Huanghuali or Zitan (that is, seriously unlikely to happen in my lifetime). Sometimes you get lucky I guess. The tree was on the order of 20" in diameter I would guess, with the widest board in my pile of 6 being 19" wide:

Edge-jointing after ripping the edge off:

I mentioned the growth ring detail - here's a close up of what swietenia mahagoni  - the stuff I have -looks like:

I cleaned up, more or less, 5 of the 6 boards, and left the largest for the time being. Here's a 'family reunion' sort of photo, with the recently-acquired Honduran forming the backdrop:

Welcome to 'Mahogany World'. The one large plank of Honduran was trimmed last week, giving me these pieces of stock for the front door panels and the drawer floors of the cabinet:

I need

[davidpires578]

Widely Admired Stuff

Some new wood showed up yesterday, 'beamed up' from Pennsylvania:

The white columns you see behind are 8' (244cm) apart. There are actually two boards parked here:

There's a little waviness to the resaw lines, but the pieces are pretty good otherwise, and not cupped. The front one comes in at nearly 13' (actual it is 155" or 394cm) in length, though what I in fact paid for was a 10' piece:

The board has a couple of splits in it, so they don't count those portions in the tally. The board in behind the front one has no splits and is over 11' long.

And the width of these boards averages about 48", being tapered from nearly 49" at the butt end to 47" at the 'narrow' end on one:

And thickness, though advertised as 5/4 stock, was closer to 1.375". Nice! I find it a bit mesmerizing to be in front of a piece of wood like this:

I needed help from 3 other folks to get these into the building from the parking lot. And then i sat there for the better part of half an hour just staring, slack-jawed in incredulity. Yes, many would testify that this is one of my more normal facial expressions, but here it was more pronounced than usual. What is it? Would you believe this is Honduran Mahogany? It's way old stock material, dredged out of some defunct warehouse, and was likely milled up into slabs 20 years ago or more. There's no more genuine mahogany like this coming down the pike. There no chance of mahogany like this ever being imported again to the US, as far as I can tell. I remember when doing an early furniture project, my first paid furniture commission in fact (see here) around 2002 or 2003, and I had obtained several 8/4 planks of Honduran. One of those planks turned out to have a significantly darker purple cast to it, featured more white flecks on the board surface, and had a far richer, more delicious feel to it when pushing a chisel through a paring cut. The other boards were fine, but that purple-toned one was special. I've talked to other woodworkers and they remember the same sort of thing. But those boards are a thing of the past. When I went back to that same hardwood dealer to obtain more Honduran for a follow on project, the 'new' shipment was in, and it paled in comparison to the one I had encountered but a few months earlier - almost like they had reached the end of the logging road. I had to change plans and that turned into my first meeting with a wood which remains a favorite: bubinga. Later in 2003 Honduran Mahogany went on CITIES Appendix II. Since then the supply has been gradually drying up. Most of that species now comes out of plantations, Peru being the biggest supplier otherwise, and it is an inferior product in most respects, at least in comparison to the 'glory days' (which I only barely experienced). They've been cutting mahogany for a long time, and most of the good stuff has been gotten. I greatly respect Honduran Mahogany as a wood, thinking it a superior choice for interior or exterior use. The Japanese lantern in my front yard (described in a series starting here) is constructed of this wood, and in 5 years of sun, wind, rain and snow, it has nary a check in any of the exposed portions of end grain, and next to no degrade otherwise. It takes aging gracefully to a whole new level. The mahogany frame of the tsuitate I built  in 2010 (see the first post in that thread here) in my living room similarly has aged to a fine dark chocolate color and is very well behaved through seasonal RH swings. As a result of my deep respect for this wood, I've been hunting for nice boards for a while now, and pick them up when that serendipitous intersection of [right price] and [money in hand] occurs, which is not near as often as I might like. The boards shown above however were a chance discovery while looking for something else, and caused me to change materials for the upcoming cabinet build. I had been planning to make the frame of the cabinet in mahogany, and was thinking figured shedua would look really nice for panels; trouble was, I couldn't find figured shedua, which is quartersawn, any wider than about 13", so forming a front door panel out of that stock would necessitate a glue-up, which I tend to avoid where possible. I really wanted to find some nice wide (@22") panels of a wood which would go well with the mahogany frame, and if I couldn't find something suitable, I was considering redesigning so as to not need wide panels. One wood I was considering strongly was gonçalo alves, a wood from Brazil (mostly), however when I looked around the results were not scintillating. There were wide boards, and there were nicely figured boards, but a board combining both characteristics did not seem easy to find. And gonçalo alves is super hard and dense, much more so than bubinga, and the prospect of working it into panels did not intrigue me too much, other than perhaps as a masochistic challenge. I looked and look and then I stumbled upon one of the above boards on Irion Lumber's site. After rubbing my eyes a few times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating upon seeing such an enormous piece of mahogany, I sent my client an email suggesting that we go the monochrome route and make the cabinet out of mahogany for both frame and panels. he wrote back shortly thereafter and agreed that the board was magnificent and that I should proceed to acquire it. A slab as wide as this one confers a beautiful visual in that the pair of front door panels present a view of a wide tree trunk, but as important to me is that a wide slab cut just above the pith of the trunk is a slab in which most of the width is composed of quartersawn material. Obtaining wide quartersawn mahogany otherwise seems a bit of a tough ask at this time. Generally this species seems to be cut through and through rather than for quartersawn grain. Later that night, around 3:00 am, I couldn't sleep just thinking about the crazy mahogany board and got back on the computer to have a look at the piece I had purchased one more time. Sometimes the interval between seeing and believing is not instantaneous, if you know what I mean. While drooling over the pictures once again, I noticed that they had a couple of other boards of similar size listed. After thinking it over a while, I sent another email to the client suggesting it would be wise to obtain a second board. While the first board was sufficient to the build, if anything went wrong with cut out, or the board had defects which added up to greater than anticipated losses, it would be really good to have some back up, and for all I know the stock could be sold out the next day. I suggested that any left overs from the project could be resold, or purchased by me, or utilized in a follow-on project. Once again, the client agreed with my thinking and that's how I have ended up with two awesome boards of Honduran Mahogany. And added bonus is that the shipping for two boards turned out to be exactly the same as for one board, so a minor economy was realized too. So, are these two mega slabs of Honduran mahogany the "uber special wood" I alluded to in the previous post? Uh, nope. Of course, they're totally incredible pieces, but the 'uber' stuff, well that goes to another level of 'special'. That material should be coming my way in about a week, and I'll tell you that story when it gets here - let your imagination run wild in the meantime, if you like. Thanks for visiting The Carpentry Way, and don't be shy about saying hello if you feel so inclined.