The Worst Wood

Sometimes using wood that I would normally reject and use for heating my home can offer dramatic effects that can't be ignored. I never rush to use it, the right project with the right opportunity has to present itself. A recent project was one of those times.

I had some boards of Olive Ash from a tree that was never that intended for conversion. For sometime that twisted, bowed, cupped and interlocked wood sat there gathering dust. It was going to be hardwork, with the additional risk that I only had a few pieces of this unique wood

So how to deal with this? Eventually I knew that a very simple and clean design would be needed to balance the swirling interlocked grain. An opportunity to make a low cabinet that would work under a television came along. It allowed the wood to wrap around the cabinet giving a consistent and natural flow.

I was open to this process going south right at the start. Would it even convert without exploding in the planer? It did survive, aside from the odd chunk being torn out, but fortunately these were not on show surfaces.

The joinery for the carcass was all simple, dovetails and housings and it all came together well. It was amazing how soft the white wood was compared to the dark heart, but both created sharp joinery.

When it came to finishing the piece everything would need to smoothed and properly prepared. If I was to work through this with success, a plane prepared for normal work would destroy the my newly made piece of furniture. Luckily a normal Bailey pattern plane (by that I mean anything resembling the classic Stanley format) does the job. Only two things matter, a flat sole, a sharp iron and a properly placed cap iron (chipbreaker if you must). Lastly the size, a No.3 is perfect. In my hands, anything wider risks stalling as it hits the grain and it tries to level things to much. I'll rely on my eyes and touch to guide me.

As you can see, it came out well. Once it was planed I still sanded it with 240grit. Why if I was able to plane it so successfully? Well, this isn't a Japanese planing competition or an infomercial for a plane. The wood cut cleanly but reacted diffently in the light. I didn't want to risk having the finish take differently, the abrasive gave me certainty.

Challenging myself to use a board with reversing grain, huge variations between soft and hard areas and swirls around “defects” meant I got something unique.

Once you choose to not do a copy and paste design and look to satisfy your own needs, unique wood can present real opportunities.