SPLINTERS

Tennessee Valley Woodworkers

Vol. 12/ Issue 9 September, 1998 Editor: Tom Gillard

Meeting Notice:

The next meeting of the TN Valley Woodworkers

will be held, September 15th at 7:00PM at the

Duck River Electric Building in Decherd, TN.

All interested woodworkers are invited!

On the Road Again...

Four members of the TVWW club (Doyle McConnell, Henry Davis, Tom Cowan, and Loyd Ackerman)

attended the Tennessee Association of Woodturers Annual Symposium at the Arrowmont Craft school on

August 21, 22, and 23. The symposium included five Presenters: Rude Osolnic presented his famous candle sticks; Willard Baxter presented both natural edge bowls and ornaments; Larry Haisaic showed how to do hollow vessels and ornaments; Al Stirt turned, carved, and painted bowls; and Bob Vaughn did a show on how to tune up bandsaws and lathes. The symposium started Friday night with a roundtable. Saturday and Sunday were filled with presentations, eating, and sitting on the screen porch listening to conversations ranging from the downright interesting to well- er, you know. It was a lot of fun.

WOOD FACTS

American woodworker (Feb 1994)

Mahogany

SPECIES

Primary Species: Swietenia macrophylla mahogany-Central and South America)

(Bigleaf

TRADE NAMES

Some woods traded under the name, “mahogany,” only those belonging to the genus Swietenia are true mahoganies (sometimes sold as “genuine.” “New World”- or “American” mahogany). Of true mahoganies, only big leaf mahogany (S. macrophylla) is still widely available commercially. It is often denominated by its country of origin (Brazilian mahogany, Peruvian, etc.). The common trade name, “Honduras mahogany,” is inaccurate – over harvesting has greatly depleted that country’s supply. The finest mahogany, Santo Dominican (S. mahogany, also called “Cuban” or “Spanish” mahogany), has also been over harvested and is no longer generally available except a windfalls after hurricanes. though similar in color, “African mahogany” (Khaya spp.)

and “Philippine mahogany” or “lauan” (Shorea spp.) are not true mahoganies.

APPEARANCE

Mahogany is usually bright reddish pink when freshly cut, but it turns to a coppery reddish brown with

exposure to light. Denser wood tends to be darker. The sapwood is cream-colored and thin. The large, plentiful pores are often plugged with white or yellow deposits of gun, calcium or sulfur. The grain is primarily straight and plain, though rarer logs of rippled, curly, fiddleback, blistered, striped, mottled or quilted wood occasionally appear. Flats awn planks sometimes display darkly swirled growth rings, while quartered planks are nearly devoid of grain lines.

WORKABILITY

Mahogany is prized for its stability and workability and is ideal for most woodworking applications. It glues well and is easy to work with both machine and hand tools, although its interlocked grain is susceptible to tear-out. Its resiliency helps it resist dents.

TECHNICAL PROPERTIES

With a specific gravity range of 0.54 to 0.64 (34 to 40 lbs/cubic ft.), mahogany is a light- to medium-density hardwood. It dries well, moves very little in service and is durable enough for most outdoor uses. Although the thin sapwood is vulnerable to boring insect attack, the heartwood is fairly resistant. Quartersawn stock is preferred by pattern makers because of its high stability. Mahogany requires pore filler for a smooth finishjhough unfilled oil finishes produce an attractive leathery ‘pigskin’ color and texture. Mahogany takes dark stains beautifully and can be finished to a high luster.

USES

Mahogany is used for fine furniture, paneling, boats, caskets, musical instmments, pattern making, carving and signs. Highly figured logs are especially prized for sliced veneer.

SIZES

mahogany trees can grow more than 100 ft. tall and up to 12 ft. in dia. Typical boards are 6 in. and wider and 8 ft. and longer, and are available in all standard thicknesses from 4/4 through 16/4.

SUSTAINABIL1TY

Mahogany is not currently banned from import or export, though it has been recognized as potentially endangered by the ‘CiTES’ (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Treaty of 1992. Certification, restrictions and boycotts are currently under discussion.

AVAILABILITY

Mahogany is readily available in several grades, mostly “FAS” and” select and better” though larger lumber dealers and wholesale mahogany specialty companies.

COST

Though prices for mahogany vary greatly, the wholesale price range (100 bd. ft. and up) of 4/4 FAS grade is $2.25 to $3.00 per bd.ft., with premiums for longer, thicker and wider stock. Quartersawn wood and figured wood are also priced substantially higher.

A MINUTE with John Green:

VWW August 1~, 1998

Meeting called to order by President Harold Hewgley. Guests welcomed were John and Melissa Hinson. Also, Kathryn and Benjamin Mills, the and infant son of Will Mills. New member Gary was introduced. Welcome Gary.

Old business - Falls Mill is scheduled for September 12, 1998. Hours are 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM with set-up after 7:00 AM. Janie Lovett reported that Sean Metric will be making chairs.

Carving seminar-Date changed to October 17, 1998, because of a schedule conflict. Schedule and sign up sheet will be available next month.

Picnic - September 12, 1998 at Duck River Richard Gulley and Tom Church co-chairs.

New business - Tennessee Wood Turners symposium will be held August 21-22 -23, 1998, at Arrowmont. Loyd Ackerman, Tom Cowan, Henry Davis and Doyle McConnell will be attending.

Randy Walker a wood carver from Columbia will be the program presenter at fife September meeting. A program on sanding will be either October or November.

Show and Tell -

J. Van Cleave - a clock made by Jack Townsend,

H. Davis - two turned bowls. All Atlas cedar and a footed bowl.

T. Gillard - Two portable bowsaws used in Scouting, a polyurethane glue demonstration and spruce models used for testing in wind tunnels.

After a short recess Loyd Ackerman introduced Jim Van Cleave who presented a program on old tools. Jim was aided and abetted by Richard Gulley, Phil Bishop, and Henry Davis. Meeting adjourned at 8:48 PM.

Respectfully submitted, John Green.

NEW MEMBERS

Welcome new members, Ken Burgess, who joined in

July and Tommy Thomas, who joined in Aug.

FINISHING FRETWORK

Here are a couple of tricks you can use to put the finishing touches on fretwork panels.

Tiny ridges, kerfs, and bums marks are common problems. Traditionally, small files (rifflers) are used for getting into the fretwork openings. But we found that a inexpensive modern diamond file works just as well, in some instances better, see photo below left.

As for applying a finish, we get into the tiny openings by dipping the panel in an oil finish, see photo below

right. To remove the excess finish, you can blot the panel dry with a cloth or blow it out with compressed air.

For final touch-ups. use a half-round diamond file. It has a round side and a flat side for both curved and flat edges.

When dipping a fretwork panel, aluminum foil shaped into a tray acts as a reservoir for the oil finish.

PUSH BLOCK for CUTTNG THIN STRIPS

Typically when ripping thin stock, I use a thin push stick, see Pig. 1. But I’ve noticed a problem with this technique. As the push stick moves the work piece past the blade, the waste side of The work piece can split off just before the cut is completed. This leaves a little triangular splinter of wood on the waste piece, see Fig. 1a.

If you’re making a Series of thin strips, that splinter can keep the work piece from going tight against the fence on the next pass. (Or sitting flat on a jointer table, if you’re jointing between passes.)

Though the splinter can be trimmed off with a pocketknife or chisel, here’s a solution that prevents the splinter in the first place.

Use a push black made from an 11” long piece of 2x4, see Fig.2. Cut out or glue on a 1/4” “heel” on the bottom of the block. This pushes both the work piece and the waste through the blade, eliminating the little splinter.

By adding a heel on top of the block, too, you can just turn the block over when the first heel gets too torn up.