Working zebrano with hand tools.

[bugbear]

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?

Well, it's sorta' obvious that with such a strong grain, you can't just ignore it, and design for shape alone (in the way you can with beech). You have to design WITH the grain pattern.

BugBear

 

[Trafalgar]

Perhaps it's an acquired taste...

 

[Andy Kev.]

Perhaps it's an acquired taste...

It would indeed be if it were offered as a straightforward alternative to other woods. Imagine a furniture shop with a range of items like sideboards, tables, wardrobes, cupboards etc. with each object offered in cherry, beech, maple, mahogany, walnut and ..... zebrano. I don't think that even in the 70s - sometimes referred to as "the decade that style forgot" - that zebrano demi-lune tables would have caught on. Maybe, however, it does lend itself to small self-contained objects e.g. kitchen implements, oddly shaped boxes as I mentioned above, dramatically shaped larger objects like bugbear's guitar, perhaps even a stacked in tray but I can't imagine it gaining acceptance for bigger things that you live with. It's not a grain that screams "cosiness" or "comfort". Try to imagine - and this mental exercise is not recommended for those of a nervous disposition - an episode of Midsomer Murders where Ch. Insp. Barnaby goes into one of those lovely English cottages and finds a badly mutilated body in the living room which also contains a large zebrano sideboard. He'd instantly put a blanket over the sideboard to prevent people throwing up. That said, I'm really glad I picked up my €15 plank of the stuff as using it well will be a real aesthetic challenge.

 

[ED65]

Back to practical matters: Andy, are you getting tearout on the strips of reversing grain? If so, try moving the cap iron closer to the edge. If you get the setting just right it should make no difference which direction you plane the board.

 

[Trafalgar]

Perhaps it's an acquired taste...

It would indeed be if it were offered as a straightforward alternative to other woods. Imagine a furniture shop with a range of items like sideboards, tables, wardrobes, cupboards etc. with each object offered in cherry, beech, maple, mahogany, walnut and ..... zebrano. I don't think that even in the 70s - sometimes referred to as "the decade that style forgot" - that zebrano demi-lune tables would have caught on. Maybe, however, it does lend itself to small self-contained objects e.g. kitchen implements, oddly shaped boxes as I mentioned above, dramatically shaped larger objects like bugbear's guitar, perhaps even a stacked in tray but I can't imagine it gaining acceptance for bigger things that you live with. It's not a grain that screams "cosiness" or "comfort". Try to imagine - and this mental exercise is not recommended for those of a nervous disposition - an episode of Midsomer Murders where Ch. Insp. Barnaby goes into one of those lovely English cottages and finds a badly mutilated body in the living room which also contains a large zebrano sideboard. He'd instantly put a blanket over the sideboard to prevent people throwing up. That said, I'm really glad I picked up my €15 plank of the stuff as using it well will be a real aesthetic challenge.

That's funny! I loved that show. I'm sure you'll find a good spot for it. It isn't to my taste in large quantities nor I believe yours. In the fullness of time an opportunity to use it is bound to present itself.

 

[Racers]

Perhaps it's an acquired taste...

It would indeed be if it were offered as a straightforward alternative to other woods. Imagine a furniture shop with a range of items like sideboards, tables, wardrobes, cupboards etc. with each object offered in cherry, beech, maple, mahogany, walnut and ..... zebrano. I don't think that even in the 70s - sometimes referred to as "the decade that style forgot" - that zebrano demi-lune tables would have caught on. Maybe, however, it does lend itself to small self-contained objects e.g. kitchen implements, oddly shaped boxes as I mentioned above, dramatically shaped larger objects like bugbear's guitar, perhaps even a stacked in tray but I can't imagine it gaining acceptance for bigger things that you live with. It's not a grain that screams "cosiness" or "comfort". Try to imagine - and this mental exercise is not recommended for those of a nervous disposition - an episode of Midsomer Murders where Ch. Insp. Barnaby goes into one of those lovely English cottages and finds a badly mutilated body in the living room which also contains a large zebrano sideboard. He'd instantly put a blanket over the sideboard to prevent people throwing up. That said, I'm really glad I picked up my €15 plank of the stuff as using it well will be a real aesthetic challenge.

One chap (I can't remember his name but has an eye patch) made a complete board room set, tables and chairs it was in F&C.

Pete

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

Kevin Ley is the fellow. It was enough to put me off zebrano for a very long time. Cheeses it was awful.

Mike.

 

[Andy Kev.]

Here is the pic of the offcut:

Apologies for the image quality. You can see the line of reversing grain immediately to the left of the oiled bit.

I will, as ED65 suggests, adjust my plane to see about dealing with that.

For Charles: I recently bought a couple of Midsomer Murders DVDs as we are suffering from the European Wendyball Championships at the moment and I wanted to watch something sensible in the evenings.

 

[Trafalgar]

They are a great way to wind down -- the dialogue is very soothing and perfect for a quick nap.

 

[D_W]

Here is the pic of the offcut:



Apologies for the image quality. You can see the line of reversing grain immediately to the left of the oiled bit.

I will, as ED65 suggests, adjust my plane to see about dealing with that.

For Charles: I recently bought a couple of Midsomer Murders DVDs as we are suffering from the European Wendyball Championships at the moment and I wanted to watch something sensible in the evenings.

Turnings. that's about all that comes to mind.

Given that it's not quartered on the face, it should plane fairly easily (i see the tearout on the left). Quartered is only a challenge if the early wood is extremely soft/brittle.

 

[ED65]

Thanks for the pic, that tearout looks like it'll be easily manageable.

There was a lot of discussion about the close setting of the cap iron here recently, not sure if you read any of it or because of the back-and-forth about who forgot what, and when, it was difficult to glean the key info but if you'd benefit from some numbers getting the cap iron to 0.5mm or so from the edge will do a lot to begin to control tearout. Under 0.3mm and you start to see the really stunning improvements. If you can set yours just a hair away from the edge and not get any clogging it'll be like magic, tearout planing in either direction will be virtually or completely eliminated.

Also, don't set the frog forward to close up the mouth as well as doing this, it's not needed and the potential for clogging (concertina shavings are possible and these jam up very readily) just adds an unnecessary complication.

 

[Andy Kev.]

Yes thanks, I did read all that. I'm forever adjusting the mouth of my LA Jack according to the task in hand. That said, the zebrano might demand my one and only Bailey design plane.

 

[D_W]

Thanks for the pic, that tearout looks like it'll be easily manageable.

There was a lot of discussion about the close setting of the cap iron here recently, not sure if you read any of it or because of the back-and-forth about who forgot what, and when, it was difficult to glean the key info but if you'd benefit from some numbers getting the cap iron to 0.5mm or so from the edge will do a lot to begin to control tearout. Under 0.3mm and you start to see the really stunning improvements. If you can set yours just a hair away from the edge and not get any clogging it'll be like magic, tearout planing in either direction will be virtually or completely eliminated.

Also, don't set the frog forward to close up the mouth as well as doing this, it's not needed and the potential for clogging (concertina shavings are possible and these jam up very readily) just adds an unnecessary complication.

Well summarized.