Banksia - a rarish Australian wood *LINK*
Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)
>I made a Jarrah marking knife/awl set for a friend and built a box for it. The wood for the sides came from a Paulownia tree that was cut down in my garden a couple of years ago and, a first for me, the lid was a chunk of Banksia wood that I had lying around.
The Paulonia, an Asian tree, took about a year before the boards would plane without just crumbling. Even with a sharp blade I got more dust than shavings. Now it seems to work reasonably - if you like working with balsa wood - it is so light and quite soft. Cutting dovetails was quite a feat - hence the boards being a bit thicker than I would have liked (but it is just a box for tools, nothing special).
The Banksia wood is fairly rare for woodworkers to use since it is available in very small qualities and viewed as rather unstable. Even most turners find it a challenge as its grain structure chips out. See Link below for more information.
Here is a close up of the box lid:
I had a little over and turned a couple of marking knives. A few disintegrated before I ended with this set.
.. and a close up of the knife:
It reminds me of the grain of West Australian She-oak. But that is for another time.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Banksia
Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood *LINK*
#2Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood
Richard L. Darin
>OK I'll take the Rochart test. I see The Scream.
Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood *LINK*
#3Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood
MikeW
>Nice Derek,
Great figure in the Paulownia. And that Banksia looks very interesting. I like the slight arch on the bottom front.
And a slightly worthless tip...if one is confident the through DTs are well fitted through the joint, you can resaw the box thinner after assembly or test fitting and tuning the DTs. A well tuned bandsaw with a good blade and a scraper to clean-up.
Take care, Mike
Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood *LINK*
#4Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood *LINK*
Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)
>...if one is confident the through DTs are well fitted through the joint, you can resaw the box thinner after assembly or test fitting and tuning the DTs. A well tuned bandsaw with a good blade and a scraper to clean-up
Yeah, I thought of that Mike. Trouble is I usually use a slight undercut on the baselines. So, if I bandsaw off a section, it will likely create a gap at the end of the tail.
And that Paulownia really is like balsa wood. A scraper blade just raises dust.
Paulownia wood is very light, fine-grained, soft, and warp-resistant and is used for chests, boxes, and clogs (geta). The wood is burned to make charcoal for sketching and powder for fireworks, the bark is made into a dye, and the leaves are used in vermicide preparations. (from Wikipedia, link below).
Regards from Perth
Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood *LINK*
#5Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood
MikeW
>"Yeah, I thought of that Mike. Trouble is I usually use a slight undercut on the baselines. So, if I bandsaw off a section, it will likely create a gap at the end of the tail."
Heh, heh, heh. That's why I called it a "slightly worthless tip." Rarely am I confident that through the joint I am square. If I use a paring block, which I do often use when I am using a small chisel because I tend to twist the little buggers, then I am fairly sure. Not always worth the risk, though.
Well, back to the shop. Take care, Mike
Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood *LINK*
#6Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood
Don Pierson
>1986 I lived on the esplanade in South Perth ( one beautiful view!)and was taken by your different animals and vegetation. I still have a seed pod from a Banksia tree and a turned tooth pick holder made of the grass tree Blackboy that I bought in Albany. Don in rainy Vancouver,WA,USA
Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood *LINK*
#7The Scream
Dean Lapinel
>How funny!!
The image couldn't be better.
Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood *LINK*
#8Is this the wood or the pod?
Stephen Shepherd in the State of Deseret
>
Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood *LINK*
#9Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood
Chicago Bob
>Derek,
How does one sign-up to get on your "list of friends"?
As always, you do beautiful & creative work!
Bob
Re: Banksia - a rarish Australian wood *LINK*
#10It is the wood.
Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)
>Hi Stephen
It is the wood, not the pod. Pods are fairly common.
The rough sawn wood looked like this (a picture from the review I wrote on the LV Scrub plane - since children may have wanted to read it, I refrained from commenting on my experience at flattening and thicknessing this stuff by hand!).
A key to the various timbers:
The piece I used on the box lid (above) was small. The box is only about 7" long by about 2" wide. I know proportions are misleading when it is stand alone. The box sides are 3/8" (I would have preferred 1/4").
Now here is a more intelligent use of a slice of Banksia!
Regards from Perth
Derek