The characteristics of some species can be partially determined by specific soil conditions; but they wouldn't grow there to begin with if the conditions weren't right. At the moment I'm at a table which made from leftover maple flooring and lovely ipe which I moulded. Talk about some hard nasty stuff! But it's beautiful with a marine finish on it, and best of all, the cats don't claw at it like they do with any wood with texture.
Be warned! Almost all 100 year old chest of drawers in the UK will be made from mahogany veneer! Better chances with small tables or butler's trays. These cost little if there is a lot of superficial surface damage.Originally Posted by barnacle
Yes, for example, out here in the wild, wild west, there are desert species that are very, very dense, and with aging, seem to become a "stone" living fossil...
An old neighbor of mine was given an antique Mexican "wood" shelf, that he wanted to cut down to size, but was so dense, heavy, and hardened, you could tap a pen against it and it would ring like stone... He tried to test cut a thin piece off with a metal blade hacksaw, but it just grooved it like it was stone... He wanted to rip cut the shelves, but I saw that there was a very pronounced grain pattern that would probably drift the cut along the table saw fence and possibly bind... I advised against it, except maybe using a diamond cut-off wheel and cooling... He changed his mind about the project...
Cutting into a knot, or cross-cutting old hardened wood can lead to surprises!!! I've broken carbide drill bits drilling into an old root stump (as density layers can force the drill or blade to deflect causing binding)... :-0
Steve K
I am a retired cabinet maker and am currently building a 4 x 10 camera as a winter project. I am making it of old growth mahogany that came from a chest my great grandmother owned in London, England and was passed onto me. Much too large for modern homes and over the years I have been using it to build a variety of items. Probably Cuban mahogany and a beautiful stable wood. I have also used black cherry and walnut and if well aged and well dried they are superb woods. I would avoid real teak (if you can get it) as it is oily and very hard to glue - more suited for the decks of boats.
PS - I have a WTB listed for a 4 X 10 film holder and if any one has one they would like to sell please let me know.
The secret with teak is to scrub it with acetone just before using urethane glue, which has its own protocol, as do marine rpoxies. Huge true teak yachts are still being made and glued up on a production basis. Teak itself is easy to acquire if you know the secret - it flows toward money, BIG money. In other words, if you can afford the yacht, you can afford teak. Plenty of people around here routinely work with it. They're called boatyards. And there are two big plants making glues for marine hardwood applications. No big deal. But if you want good cured hardwood at a bargain, try church pews.
Well, I'll admit it isn't quite that simple. Oily tropical hardwoods can also require a different sanding protocol from ordinary woods, and ideally even different sanding discs and equipment, plus specialty sealers and finishes, none of which are likely to be encountered inland. I had the advantage of not only knowing the sources, but of being the source. Yet if it were me looking to build a camera, I'd probably choose a much easier material like cherry or black walnut. My Ebony 4x5 is actually made of true mahogany. They made them of actually ebony wood too at almost double the weight. I know someone who fabricated 200 solid ebony doors and windows for someone's barn and guest house.The main house itself is slowly going up now. The owner complained about having to live upstairs in the barn for awhile because it had only ten bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The downstairs was for his eight million dollar collection of racehorses. So if you need ebony, you know where to find it. Just pull some hinge pins on a dark night.
A question. Is teak better off treated with a coating? Or bare? I have a new camera with teak. It's coated with something. No idea what. Satin-like. Maybe Poly with steel wool.
Years ago I bought cheap teak garden benches from Sams. Made in Thailand. No finish or coating. No screws or metal. Glued dowels. They sat outside for 25 years in Chicago. The wood never seemed to age or deteriorate. Somebody busted them up. Then I tossed them. They could have gone another 1/4 century.
I prefer oiled or waxed wood.
Randy. That ain't real teak. There are several pseudo-teak funiture mfg around here, one of them employing some of the dumbest workers around. One less factory (oily rags).
Finish choice is dictated by the look you want, whether you want to periodically refinish it or not, and whether you're dealing with an oily wood or not. Don't waste your time at home centers or paint stores. A true marine store is best. Old-school oil/wax finishes are hard to find. They cure slowly and are prone to spontaneous combustion, but do have a different look from synthetic finishes. I don't recommend polyurethanes - most are too brittle for outdoor use. Sacaficial layered coatings are very expensive. A good marine teak oil like Daly's must be frequently re-applied but easy to do. Forget the cheapo brands like Watco.
That begs the question of which one is real teak oil? I suspect the answer is none of them
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