sequoia
Well-known member
Some thoughts on working with the torrefied spruce top (terriefied spruce?) from SMD. Some good and some not so good: First the good news.
- The stuff looks great! A "real" classic amber look right out of the box with no use of dyes. Pretty honey/gold.
- Extremely percussive with a nice bell-like tone.
- Thickness sands quickly and politely with good consistency.
- Nice book matching and grade. I'm no wood grader, but I would guess it is solid 2AA or better. Unfortunately, I got a little flaw that was hidden and only appeared after thinning. Who knew? Not a biggy.
Now the bad news:
- Very brittle and difficult to work. The tear-out possibility is very real and when it tears it fractures out the piece. So far any tear out has been on the down side and minor, but it happens fast and goes deep with the chip completely separating and disappearing. Really nasty.
- Smell: Smells like cooked spruce. Not bad but not very nice either.
- Curling: This stuff will curl like a potato chip in a heartbeat at the merest whiff of moisture. Not really a big deal, but it spent weeks stickered in the iron maiden until tamed.
Conclusion: VERY difficult wood to work with. Brittle with little elasticity. But the biggest issue is fracturing chip-out which is no joke. Repair possible, but challenging. Trying not to go there. I'm not out of the woods yet and have to trim the waste after I glue up the top and I'm approaching this task like I would if I had to deal with nuclear waste or a rabid cat: Very slowly and very carefully. No router and only the sharpest of thumb planes. I slather shellac on the thing before I even attempt working with it. Plus, I'm not a religious man, but I've been thinking about prayer.
- The stuff looks great! A "real" classic amber look right out of the box with no use of dyes. Pretty honey/gold.
- Extremely percussive with a nice bell-like tone.
- Thickness sands quickly and politely with good consistency.
- Nice book matching and grade. I'm no wood grader, but I would guess it is solid 2AA or better. Unfortunately, I got a little flaw that was hidden and only appeared after thinning. Who knew? Not a biggy.
Now the bad news:
- Very brittle and difficult to work. The tear-out possibility is very real and when it tears it fractures out the piece. So far any tear out has been on the down side and minor, but it happens fast and goes deep with the chip completely separating and disappearing. Really nasty.
- Smell: Smells like cooked spruce. Not bad but not very nice either.
- Curling: This stuff will curl like a potato chip in a heartbeat at the merest whiff of moisture. Not really a big deal, but it spent weeks stickered in the iron maiden until tamed.
Conclusion: VERY difficult wood to work with. Brittle with little elasticity. But the biggest issue is fracturing chip-out which is no joke. Repair possible, but challenging. Trying not to go there. I'm not out of the woods yet and have to trim the waste after I glue up the top and I'm approaching this task like I would if I had to deal with nuclear waste or a rabid cat: Very slowly and very carefully. No router and only the sharpest of thumb planes. I slather shellac on the thing before I even attempt working with it. Plus, I'm not a religious man, but I've been thinking about prayer.