Workability

[collinb]

I was thinking about a guy's post a month or so ago, how he started making dovetails beginning with soft wood instead of hard.  From what I've modestly experienced, it would seem that working with a harder wood -- like a maple -- might be easier for learning on than a softer wood -- like pine, poplar, or cottonwood. :-)
(Does anyone work cottonwood? Just threw that one in.)

That said, it was noted the other day that zebra wood is apparently difficult to joint.  How does one smooth its face?  Sander + scraper?  I saw a chunk of it over at WoodWerks the other day and though it might make a really beautiful camera piece.

[Ray]

I have some experience with zebrawood, but only in small projects. That being said, I haven't found it to be difficult to work with. Doesn't seem to be too tough on tools, sands nicely. In my limited experience I've found it to be pretty porous, which can be a little challenging when it comes to finishing. The only real negative for me so far has been the smell. It is not an overpowering bad smell, just more of a faint smell of......urine? Or maybe it's just me.

[Chestnut]

I have a source for done cottonwood. It's $0.50 bf so i was going to buy some just to see what its like.

I worked a small piece of zebra wood and it wasn't so bad. Jatoba is far more difficult imo.

Pardon the spelling sent from my phone.

[AceHoleInOne]

Just me being me, I think poplar is a good choice. Soft woods such as pine, the fibers tend to be coarse and not cut like a hardwood. But I did practice on pine shelf boards. One you get your brain wrapped around hand cutting DT's on crap pine and can cut pine DT's proficiently. You'll then appreciate the crisp DT's in hardwoods. 

I say start with pine make a few, then move on to poplar, then onto project wood.

 

-Ace-

[Eric.]

Zebrawood is absolutely difficult to work with, unless you're comparing it to wenge.  Zebrawood has every negative thing going for it that it can...it's dense, it's brittle, and it has reversing, interlocked grain.  It IS tough on blades and it WILL tear out readily.  But it does sand and polish to a nice shine and it can totally be worth the trouble, depending on the look you're going for.

As for dovetail practice, I'd practice on a species that closest resembles the species you plan to work with.  For me that would be cherry or walnut...so I'd practice on cherry or walnut scraps, or perhaps something like red maple.  Softer woods will give you a false sense of success because the fibers will just compress into submission and they'll be much more forgiving of your mistakes.  Using a harder wood will be more frustrating to practice on...but if you can dovetail successfully in bubinga, you can dovetail in anything.  Hard maple would be a good practice species if you plan to work on exotic species.

I know they used to make coffins out of cottonwood, otherwise I have no idea what else it could be used for.  Maybe drawer sides.  It ain't that pretty to look at.

[Gixxerjoe04]

I bought a small chunk of zebra wood before, besides it smelly pretty bad, even after running it over my jointer with a byrd head, it seems like it took quiet a few passes to get it not to be fuzzy, never dealt with anything like that before.

[Ray]

5 hours ago, Eric. said:

Zebrawood is absolutely difficult to work with, unless you're comparing it to wenge.  Zebrawood has every negative thing going for it that it can...it's dense, it's brittle, and it has reversing, interlocked grain.  It IS tough on blades and it WILL tear out readily.  But it does sand and polish to a nice shine and it can totally be worth the trouble, depending on the look you're going for.

 

Good to know!  I may have been subconsciously comparing zebrawood to other exotics that I've found to be more difficult to work with.  Canarywood and purpleheart immediately come to mind.  I have no data to back that up, I'm just basing my opinion on experience.  But again, my experience level is limited compared to many others in this forum.  Additionally, I'm really only using zebrawood for small projects.  I suppose I might feel different if I was making something larger or that required more complicated joinery.