Domestic exotics

locating!

Quartersawn sycamore, Koa (on a technicality), chestnut

Charlie!

I'm surprised at a wordsmith like you committing this oxymoron. Cracked me up.

In botanical terms,

Exotic=not native Domestic=native

LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

I'm fairly partial to figured black walnut, (burl if available in the quantity you need), flame cherry, tiger maple. What are you planning on making?

Myx

Caractacus Potts responds:

I've got a few dozen board feet of QS sycamore. It's great. Koa I've been kind of avoiding, because I'm not sure about availability...it is an endangered species in Hawaii now, though it is being plantation grown. Chestnut...ah, dreams? I could zip over to the Blue Ridge Parkway and swipe some fence rails, I guess...

Charlie Self

"I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it." George Carlin

Myxylplyk notes:

Yeah, but...I've never been partial to highly figured woods as major parts of projects, though they're attractive as partial parts.

Basically, current aim is some small boxes.

Charlie Self

"I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it." George Carlin

Hi Charlie

I recently built a box out of Cypress. The grain is beautiful when stained to bring out the grain. I'll send you a picture if you like. Reply to my in-box

Bill

Tough question, but it depends on your definition of exotic. To many, an exotic represents something that may be difficult to get, expensive, and/or foreign. For instance - I can't easily get mesquite or alder in the great white northeast, so to me, they're somewhat exotic. You could consider something like purpleheart or jatoba an exotic, but in the places they're from, they seem to be as common as maple or poplar is to us. Besides, I have plenty of the stuff in my shop, something I can't say about many domestic species.

True US domestic exotics might be any of the curlies - maple, cherry, redwood, ash, oak, etc. I have some small pieces of curly ash that I'm afraid to use, they have more value to me than any chunk of padauk or cocobolo. Also, trees that are either rare or have a very limited yield. My favorites include hophornbeam, honey locust, lilac, apple and anything spalted. Most of us consider koa an exotic, even though it's technically a US species.

Not sure I answered your question...

I've also got some cypress boards here: it's great for some things, but it's not a hardwood. Though I forgot to specify in my original post, I'd like the woods to be hardwoods, if at all possible.

Charlie Self

"I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it." George Carlin

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 19:19:02 +0000, LRod scribbled:

From the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary:

Exotic: adjective 1. introduced from abroad ...

1. Strikingly different, attractively unusual; glamorous. Formerly, outlandish, uncouth.

but also lower down: noun . . . 3. a striptease dancer. :-)

Luigi Replace "no" with "yk" for real email address

I've got some pearwood I recently re-sawed that, while pretty by itself, has some spalting that makes it striking.

In dictionary terms, definition #1 is strikingly different, scientific jargon notwithstanding.

Charlie Self

"I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it." George Carlin

Jon Endres responds:

I'd love to get hold of chinaberry, hophornbeam, honey locust or apple. Lilac doesn't do much for me, probably related to the fact that the basic of most lilacs are ideal breeding places for yellowjackets, my most hated insect/animal.

But where? Are these woods so localized they're not useful to most of us? I can get hold of good old fashioned post (black) locust down in Virginia almost any time, though in small sizes. Honey locust is a whole 'nother thing. Apple is a hit and miss proposition...you almost have to catch an orchard changing over, uprooting trees, and grab before burn day.

Charlie Self

"I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it." George Carlin

I haven't seen these on the list... Box elder burl or 1/4 sawn black locust.

Ash, Swamp ** Fraxinus spp. Aspen ** Populus spp. Butternut ** Juglans Cinerea Hackberry ** Celtis occidentalis Lime** Tilia americana Pecan ** Carya illinoensis Sap Gum ** Liquidambar styraciflua Sugarberry ** Celtis laevigata Willow ** Salix nigra Carpinus caroliniana American hornbeam Avicennia germinans black mangrove Rhamnus betulifolia birchleaf buckthorn Conocarpus erectus Combretaceae Buttonwood Catalpa bignonioides Giant Chinkapin Kentucky Coffeetree Arbutus arizonica Arizona madrone Mountain Laurel Amelanchier arborea Allegheny serviceberry Silverbell Sourwood Sumac Tanoak Tree-of-Heaven Tupelo Witch Hazel Yellow Buckeye

Regards, Tom Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania 19428

I was going to suggest black locust, but figured you had already considered it. It's not really exotic, but pretty rarely used as boards. There is at least one company down in North Carolina that mills black locust into flooring. From what I know of locust wood that should be some long lasting flooring. I'm thinking about using it when I tear up the carpet and put in hardwood in my family room.

When I was heating with wood 20 years ago I learned that green locust was easy to cut with a chainsaw, but almost impossible to split. Well cured it was just the opposite, you could split it fairly easily, but it would dull a chainsaw trying to cut it. It burns nice when it's good and dry, terrible when it's green.

Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va.

Uh, actually, I checked first. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary

My version of "domestic" is further down the list, however.

Anyway, I was just pinging on you.

LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

Isn't one of the lacewood species native to the US?

Besides that, and the others already mentioned, I'd add camphor and live oak. There are native mahogany trees and cuban mahoganies in South Florida. There are a number of woods that are quite stunning when spalted including maple, camphor and magnolia. I also like ambrosia maple, which can often be gotten significantly cheaper than plain maple.

David

remove the key to email me.

Charlie:

It took you to get me out of lurk mode. I vote for sassafras. Great wood to work with, pretty grain and color, and when you do work with it you're in a cloud of that sassafras smell. Very enjoyable stuff.

Cheers.

Mario

Charlie Self wrote:

orange, mesquite, persimmon, dogwood. What else?