Replies

1. 
   ClancysBro | May 20, 2003 02:45am | #1

   Yes, one woodworker said to another "what is the difference between an elephant and a cop car"? (when it dawns on you don't blame me.)

2. 
   AlanTurner | May 20, 2003 03:17am | #2

   Get your abrasives out.  Zebra wood has the light grain running in one direction, and the dark in the opposite.  In my experience it cannot be worked with a hand plane.  Tried ti once with a friend over.  Sharpened and A-2 iron on an L-N, and went at it.  The iron quicky looked like it was toothed.  It machines ok, and then to the abrasives.  I find the smell of the wood dust to be quite annoying.  All that said, it is quite attractive, to my eye at least.  I have used it for accents, but never made an entire piece out of zebrawood.

3. 
   RNT | May 20, 2003 04:14am | #3

   To get yourself really into trouble, start all presentations with the following joke:

   what is the difference between roast beef and pea soup?

   answer: anyone can roast a beef.

   Perhaps this joke is most and only appropriate here.  Thought you would enjoy.

1. 
   forestgirl | May 21, 2003 01:51am | #6

   Reminds me of the news report a few years ago about the man in England who was peeing tomato seeds.  Turns out he had a leak (so to speak) from his intestine to his bladder or some such thing.  Yikes!!

   OT:  I've not worked zebrawood, but had the hardest time walking away from a 8-foot-long board of the stuff that caught my eye a couple of weeks ago.  I just wanted it!  Cool wood!  But knowing that mostly veneer is used and I'd never know what to do with a big board of it, managed to leave it at the store.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

4. 
   4DThinker | May 20, 2003 07:08am | #4

   I've used zebra wood a few times, and my students like to use it at least once when they see it.  But it can really make a large project seem too busy.  I prefer using it sparingly, with quarter-sawn red oak edging or framing it.  I've made some mission-style tables using zebra for the stretchers/apron, and sometime as a stripe or two through the top.  It has a striking contrast to the majority of oak in those tables, and really sets off the vertical planes.

   And your client would probably love the zebra coffee table I made.  I laminated zebra vertically to get horizontal stripes on the boards I carved in the shape of real zebra legs.  The "hip" of the legs pentrate quarter-sawn red oak borders on a wild zebra wood stripe through the top.  3/8" glass tops it all off.  Looks like two zebras coliding in the wild.

   4DThinker

1. 
   jimswoodworks | May 28, 2003 05:49pm | #10

   Do you have a picture of the table? I am not looking for a 'freebie', just ideas. Thanx for your reply.

5. 
   SgianDubh | May 20, 2003 07:47am | #5

   It comes out pretty well, especially if used mostly in veneer form to take advantage of the grain matching and pattern possibilities. The grain does tend to tear out if machine planed or hand planed, but if both tools are sharp you can get good results. In the solid though I find it generally best to take off the last half millimetre or so with a thickness sander followed by hand sanding ready for polishing to avoid tearout problems.

   The grain is a bit open and fairly coarse, and I like to to do a semi-fill using an oil based alkyd varnish or one of the nitro-cellulose family of lacquers-- such as nitro-cellulose itself, or pre- or post-cat. The smell of the wood during machining can be somewhat offensive, but I don't find it too bad.

   Personally, I'm not sure it would look attractive in a table top as solid planks. I suspect it would look more interesting as a veneered quartered panel (or some other arrangement) with maybe some cross-banding and stringing, but that may not be the most durable way to use it in a pub table likely to be abused.

   The zebrano fronted piece shown below was so darned big in the room it was in that I had to get a shot through the doorway from the next room, ha, ha--- plus all the open shelving has a mirror for the back panel which would have caused some lighting problems, and would have put me in the shot too, and that's a sight you really don't want to see! Slainte.

   View Image

   Website                                            The poster formerly known as Sgian Dubh

6. 
   lostarrow | May 21, 2003 05:21am | #7

   Are you all talking about quarter sawn zebra wood.  That's all I've ever seen it advertised as. Long time ago I bought 2 true quarter sawn boards of zebra wood. The edges of the boards are sawn at 45 degrees. I made a couple of small boxes with it and don't recollect having any problems.  As some one else mentioned, I too think it would be a bit too "busy" on a large project.

    Has anyone heard of "marblewood"?  Last winter I stopped in a wood store down in south Georgia. The fellow had 3 small pieces of what I took to be zebra wood as it was the same color as zebra. The dealer said "no, that's marble wood and comes from central america. Those are the remnants of a flooring project we did". It must have been a spectactular floor. The dark brown streaks in this wood swirl around like the lines in marble. The end grain of this wood is absoulutly gorgeous. It would make a beautiful bowl if you're a wood turner. I bought the stuff , and made a box with part of it to see how it behaves and works. No problems . It's much heavier and denser than zebra, but it machined OK.

    Joke?

   We all know that woodworking has it's strange happenings every now and then. This is probably the strangest thing that ever happened to me..........

   Back in '63 at the exact time that President Kennedy was BOARDING THE PLANE in Washington for the trip to Dallas, Texas,I was in Kenedy, Texas PLANNING A BOARD while working for a family ,name of Washington, on Dallas Ave. Man! if that don't make your short hairs stand up.

1. 
   Elcoholic | May 21, 2003 10:15pm | #8

   The attraction to Zebrawood bit me back when I was just getting started.  My daughter bought me a tall, skinny poster at the school bookfair.  I think she paid $6 for it.  I headed down to Austin Hardwood looking for a suitable board for the frame.  The Zebrawood nailed me, $90 for a board to make a frame for a $6 poster.

   Another very alluring exotic wood is Kingwood.  It's very expensive, the last time I priced it I think it was $35 bf.  Hogue makes handgun stocks with it.  Georgeous.

   Two posters mentioned the smell as offensive.  Actually it's fairly toxic and can be absorbed when the oils from it are still hot from cutting.  Use a  DC and wear a respirator when machining it.  Sanding generally isn't an issue because it doesn't get hot enough.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   Life is tough.  It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne

7. 
   booch | May 22, 2003 03:18pm | #9

   Word of caution on Zebra wood. It has a toxic dust that accumulates in your system over time. You aren't alergic at the beginning but over time your body decides this is bad stuff. Exposure to the dust is an individual thing.

   I've worked about 30 bd foot in my life and never had the reaction, I just avoid further exposure. I also concur on the sanding. You can plane it but it tears as it seems almost punky. Real pretty with Watco clear and a varnish coat.

   Jack of all trades and master of none - you got a problem with that?