Designing a Plinth

I find it interesting the fact that it is more costly to use acrylic than certain exotic woods...if there is a method to the madness of using acrylic, perhaps there is a madness to the method of using wood.

I certainly like the look of wood.

Jimbo,

I'm curious about the design of the plinth. Are you trying to model it after the WT table or come up with a different design? Also, do you have a jointer, planer to work down raw wood and also be able to glue joint smaller widths? If so, your possibilities could be real interesting. I was thinking of an Ebony Top, Rosewood middle and a Ebony bottom. I would also consider using the WT feet.

Quite a few years ago, the square motor days, a guy in the Chicago area was custom painting the tables & some looked very sharp.

Steve

4yanx,

I buy wood regularly from about 6 different suppliers on line and two local suppliers and they all sell tropical lignum vitae by the pound because it is so rare. One local supplier charges $95.00 a foot for 1" dowels! However, I did find one supplier that was selling Argentine lignum vitae for $15.00/ft.

Mara is not very stable, although it is very beautiful. Looks similair to chestnut.

DESCRIPTION: Heartwood is light brown in color, soft, easily worked, but not durable. Member of the rubbertree family. Typically used for crating or as a secondary wood in cabinet making.

Cebil looks like a winner, but I've never worked with it.

Quina has a spicy scent that is used in perfume making. It tends to burn and tear out like purple heart. I made a jewelry box one time from Quina and I swore I would never work with it again.

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I have a passion for rare and exotic woods. I have a little 6'x6'x7' wood shed that has about $10,000 worth of exotic and rare woods in it. Although, it's probaly less then 300 boardfoot of wood. Some of the species include amboyna burl(extinct), fiddleback japanese peanut wood, pomelle cherry, pomelle white oak, curly avodire, quilted bigleaf maple, beeswing satinwood, quilted and pomelle bubinga, fiddleback koa, madrone burl, turleback koa, quilted sapele pomelle, quilted douka, quilted makore and sequoia burl. BTW, I keep the "common" wood in a different shed.

It's an obsession for me. Sometimes I spend days tracking down a rare species of wood. It takes a lot of time to decide what to make. Somtimes I only have enough material to make a small jewelry box, or a clock, or maybe a book rest. Somtimes I have enough to make a stunning occasional table. I usually end up giving away about half of these items to family members as gifts. And, I never throw away the scraps. You never know when you'll need them to make a knob or for inlay.

Hey, some people collect art. Some people collect audio gear. I collect wood.

Now, if you will excuse me, I just found some gorgeous Quartersawn Curly Shedua that I need to purchase before I go back to bed.

BTW, hickory is one of the the strongest woods on the planet. Incredible high shock resistance and stiffness. Hear's an idea, make the plinth from hickory (no sap wood) and cover it with 1/4" or 3/16" exotic veneers.

Good luck,

Guess I have been lucky in that all five of my sources for wood still sell by the board foot (veneers excepted), even exotics. Of course, I have known three of them for over 40 years and my grandfather knew their father's before that. Most I find in 4/4 but sometimes 6/4. It has been a long while since I priced tropical LV, but the Argentinian is much less than what you all are paying for the tropical. I am paying $9.00 a foot.

I am not sure where you got the description for Mara but it is used in furniture in South America extensively. It is beautiful and I'd still be willing to give it a try for a plinth. This is a description I looked up. I was basing my description earlier on my recollections of working with the wood:

"Mara - golden-brown wood with dark streaks. Grain is highly variable. Works well and is very stable. Rare, but used for fine furniture building when a highly-figured wood is desired."

I, too, have used Quina but did not have the unfortunate experience with it that you did with the jewlery box. I understand what you are saying with respect to tearing out, though I would not go so far as to call it tearing out or think it in the same category in this sense as purpleheart. This is a description I found for Quina:

"Quina: A pinkish-red wood with an oily feel and incredible perfumed scent that lasts. Beautiful figure. Extremely durable, this wood is widely used for items like window and door frames, counter tops, cutting boards and flooring. Fine textured, provides excellent polish. Heartwood color is deep red, sometimes with purple highlights and high natural luster. Good in-use stability, but can be difficult to machine due to interlocked grain.”

I would very much like to drop by and view your collection. I don't have the room to keep a stock anymore and I'd love to have some of the fiddleback Koa for a guitar I will build someday. Any pieces big enough for a back, Even a two-piece? I'd like to see the douka, too. Madrone Burl. I knew a guy once in Oregon who had a wood stove and when I went there it was putting out some HEAT. Turns out he was burning Madrone.......

Get ahold of some Cebil and give it a try. It is actually the one I was leaning towards for my project.

I like your mention of inlays as I am the fifth generation of a long line of marquetry nuts! :-)