Been away for a while...Found wood

[mikeGinSC]

Well folks, after a couple of months hiatus, I'm back. Worked in S. Florida from Thanksgiving until a few days before Christmas taking care of the Frasier Fir Christmas trees for 73 Home Depots from Titusville down to Key West on the east coast and Venice down to Naples on the west coast. We did pretty good on tree sales and I had a little time to pick up a few pieces of wood.

We were staying on the intercoastal in Pompano and our neigbor cut down some trees for his fence line. He piled the cuttings up on the street for pick up and I went through it before the city picked it up. I got a rather large chunk of Sea Grape and another chunk of as yet unidentified wood. It is extremely hard but looks like it might carve nicely. I also picked up some Ficus, I think. Don't know how it will carve.

Hope Santa was good to everyone.

Mike G. in SC

[davidinsarasota]

Hi Mike,
I recently returned to Florida (slightly north of you in SRQ) from Beaufort in your state. We were pickin' up our new Marine from Paris Island.

I have tried to carve Sea Grape (Cocolobo uvifera), but found it too hard when dry. I'm not sure you'll like the Ficus too much either, even after it stops oozing latex. It's softer but stringy.

My first guess on the hard stuff is Live or Laurel Oak (Quercas viriniana, Quercas laurifolia), but of course you guys have a lot of that in SC, so you would probably recognize it. Could also be Honduran Mahogany as it is hard and often found in the same region as Sea Grape. Is the wood pinkish?

[mikeGinSC]

Hi David,

That particular piece of wood I found in a pile of junk beside the railroad tracks near our warehouse. It might be Mahogany like you said. One of the guys in our carving club has carved quite a lot of Sea Grape. He carves Dolphins and Whales. He did tell me it is prone to cracking though.

Mike G. in SC

[davidinsarasota]

Interesting. I am working on a large piece of Norfolk Island Pine. It seemed soft and creamy before I started digging down, now it is hard in places soft in others, possibly due to the branch insets. I thought I would try it because I had heard that turners like this wood.