Working zebrano with hand tools.

[Andy Kev.]

Good Morning All,

I was just down the timber yard getting some very normal stuff when I spotted an odd piece in the corner. It was zebrano and the lad let me have it for €15 for his coffee fund and then cut it for me. So I now have two pieces each of 3' x 8" x 2". I would like to double that by getting the thickness down to 1" or even 3/4". However, having seen how his chain saw laboured while slicing it up, I quickly realised that I need access to a powerful bandsaw for that job.

So that leaves the normal hand tool work. Has anybody any experience with planing and sawing zebrano? I'm assume that extremely sharp edges is the minimum before even looking at it but any advice would be welcome.

 

[Trafalgar]

Tisk, tisk Andy. You should know by now all you have to do is set the cap iron close and take as thick a shaving as your own strength will allow. :wink:

Might also want to buy completely new cutters made out of the latest superduper alloy for every tool you own before you get started. Otherwise, you might actually have to sharpen something before your work is finished. Can't have that now, can we?

Cheers!

I'd just sand it. Not a person in the world will be able to tell the difference. Not one.

http://www.advantagelumber.com/zebrawood.htm

Your main concern with a species like this is the design of the project. I've seen pieces built with distinctively grained woods like these that are likely to induce vertigo if not epileptic seizures. These woods are not a substitute for a good design, rather, they put a premium on the design and stock selection. Picking the right piece for the right component is all-important I'd say. With regard to planing just bring your wits and resources to bear. If it's tearing out, reduce cutter exposure, adjust the cap iron, change planing direction, give your higher pitched plane a go. Plane, scrape, sand, and finish a sample piece to see if that's acceptable. It often is. This is the standard routine, assertions from 'planing Nazis' notwithstanding. The goal, obviously (?), is to complete the project in a reasonable amount of time rather than becoming the go-to expert on planing Zebrano with all the internet fame and fortune that accrues, but alas with beautifully planed parts lying around the shop for a year and a half. Don't let a nickel hold up a dime. You don't have to take a detour through metallurgy or botany on your way to building the project. The building itself is difficult enough without the distractions, no?

 

[Andy Kev.]

Thanks Charles, I appreciate the down-to-earthedness of that. I'm going to let it sit around a bit before I take a plane to it. There was one 10" left over after my two 3' pieces were cut, so I'll probably take a hand axe to it to give me a couple of bits to try the planes on.

At the moment I haven't a clue what I'm going to make with it. I'm currently getting some European Cherry together to build a small work desk for my computer (also about 3' wide as it happens) and it occurred to me that I could have one piece of this zebrano running along the middle as an eye catching bit of contrast. However, there's no way of knowing if that would turn out to be brilliant or an utter aesthetic disaster (mind you, if the latter, I could always enter it for the Turner Prize).

What I'm inclined to avoid is using it for anything that would involve loads of sawing, having seen how the chain saw at the timber yard struggled this morning and that only with a cross cut!

 

[Trafalgar]

Easy enough to clamp it together and take a look. Doesn't sound like something that would particularly appeal to my taste but that's why they make chocolate and vanilla. I've always thought wildly contrasting woods to be somewhat of a design crutch though of course there are exceptions.

 

[ED65]

Andy, FWIW some of the horror stories you've read may give more of an indication of the relative inexperience of the user more than give a good read of the difficulty of working the wood. Zebrano isn't that hard yet I've heard people moan about it like it was lignum vitae.

The main challenge you're likely to encounter is difficult grain, what's your usual strategy for dealing with woods prone to tearout?

Using a smoother to finish off the surface or using a card scraper or cabinet scraper should top the list. You could of course <gack> sand it smooth, but who wants to turn beautiful wood into dust when you can make shavings instead? ;-)

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

Perhaps the wood yard needs a new chain on its chainsaw, zebrano isn't terribly hard. A reasonable bandsaw should cut it fine. The biggest problem is its rowed grain, so planing it one way tears out stripes, which when plane the other, causes alternately torn stripes. It is not impossible to plane, though, and finishing with a scraper will cure the remaining torn grain. Sanding is an option but zebra wood smells a bit like poo, so making dust would be my least favourite way to go. I must say, I've yet to see a piece made from zebrano that was aesthetically successful, though. Use sparingly for small accent parts would be my advice. If your European cherry is nice, it might be better to leave the zebrano inclusion well alone.

Mike.

 

[D_W]

Saw and plane it like anything else. Use the cap iron for anything after jacking, it's practical and free to do, and will prevent you from dealing with a bunch of tearout and jerky plane strokes all the way to the last second.

(certainly you can skip the hand tools and cut and sand it. I recall it being stinky to turn. Its hardness is not similar to really hard woods like kingwood, etc, nor is its density as high)

 

[bugbear]

I must say, I've yet to see a piece made from zebrano that was aesthetically successful, though. Use sparingly for small accent parts would be my advice.

(the bookmatching is wondrous)

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

This guitar might be a bit brash for some; John Williams it ain't!!

http://www.artist-site.dk/guitars/manta ... uitar.html

BugBear

 

[Trafalgar]

I must say, I've yet to see a piece made from zebrano that was aesthetically successful, though. Use sparingly for small accent parts would be my advice.

(the bookmatching is wondrous)

BugBear

Lovely match on the sequenced veneers though a lot of the credit should go to the firm that cut them.

That piece in the wrong room, with the wrong paint, art, wallpaper, floor coverings, lamps, etc. has an equal if not better change of just being hideous.

 

[bugbear]

That piece in the wrong room, with the wrong paint, art, wallpaper, floor coverings, lamps, etc. has an equal if not better change of just being hideous.

I think that applies to pretty much any "piece".

BugBear

 

[D_W]

It's a bit nasty. It looks like someone flamed a piece of southern yellow pine. If it sold and the maker made some money, however, it is a success.

 

[bugbear]

It looks like someone flamed a piece of southern yellow pine.

Best thing to do with SYP. :lol: :lol: :lol:

BugBear

 

[Trafalgar]

That piece in the wrong room, with the wrong paint, art, wallpaper, floor coverings, lamps, etc. has an equal if not better change of just being hideous.

I think that applies to pretty much any "piece".

BugBear

Not the case at all with less distinctly grained articles of furniture which could look well in a much wider variety of decorating schemes.

 

[Andy Kev.]

I had an experimental planing of the 10" offcut piece and can report that ED65 and Woodgrains are bang on the money: essentially it planes fairly easily to yield a very smooth, marble-like surface, then you hit a narrow streak of grain going in exactly the opposite direction. I rubbed a bit of camellia oil out of curiosity on to the planed bit and it instantly came up beautifully. it is remarkable grain, beautiful in itself but almost aggressive in its markedness. I think I'll abandon my notion of incorporating a strip into my cherry table top.

Because of the grain being so strong, I can't think of a use for it at the moment and will simply wait until I get some sort of inspiration.

I did take a photo but I've yet to get around organising pictures in my new Apple computer and so am not in a position to post it ... yet.

 

[bugbear]

That piece in the wrong room, with the wrong paint, art, wallpaper, floor coverings, lamps, etc. has an equal if not better change of just being hideous.

I think that applies to pretty much any "piece".

BugBear

Not the case at all with less distinctly grained articles of furniture which could look well in a much wider variety of decorating schemes.

That way lies painting all your walls magnolia.

BugBear

 

[D_W]

I had an experimental planing of the 10" offcut piece and can report that ED65 and Woodgrains are bang on the money: essentially it planes fairly easily to yield a very smooth, marble-like surface, then you hit a narrow streak of grain going in exactly the opposite direction. I rubbed a bit of camellia oil out of curiosity on to the planed bit and it instantly came up beautifully. it is remarkable grain, beautiful in itself but almost aggressive in its markedness. I think I'll abandon my notion of incorporating a strip into my cherry table top.

Because of the grain being so strong, I can't think of a use for it at the moment and will simply wait until I get some sort of inspiration.

I did take a photo but I've yet to get around organising pictures in my new Apple computer and so am not in a position to post it ... yet.

It does make interesting turnings, but I suppose that requires something thicker.

 

[woodbrains]

I must say, I've yet to see a piece made from zebrano that was aesthetically successful, though. Use sparingly for small accent parts would be my advice.

(the bookmatching is wondrous)

BugBear

Hello,

Oohhh, I'm not sure that changes my mind! Who could live with that, I'm not sure. The minute almost anything was added to that room there would be a clash. But then that is the major flaw in minimalist ideals, simply living causes clashes and causes one to fret.

Incidentally, those veneers are (nicely) slip matched.

Mike.

 

[bugbear]

Incidentally, those veneers are (nicely) slip matched.

Mike.

Hadn't heard that term; thank you.

BTW - noone's commented on the guitar I posted?!

BugBear

 

[Andy Kev.]

Yep, the guitar is pretty dramatic and I think it works aesthetically. I wonder if that is because the guitar has a very pronounced geometry which is strong enough to accommodate the zebrano? This makes me wonder if zebrano grain is inherently unsuitable for classical furniture forms with their right angles and curves. Maybe it would be OK for a sort of surreal or cubist box with the corners going all over the place?