Ambrosia Maple serving trays

[chopsaw]

Ambrosia is a defect in wood , caused by the Ambrosia boring beetle . Discolors the wood , and makes some really nice features . I figured it would make some nice serving or display boards .
These came out really sharp . Pictures don't do them justice , but thought I'd share .
Made one larger board , glued up . Then made some smaller single lengths , and added a weave to 2 of them .
First larger one ,

Single length simple weave ,



The more I looked at them the better they looked . Really sharp in person .
So I started cutting and glueing the rest of what I had . Ended up with 4 large ones
finished , and have one still clamped up .





Sanded to 220 , spritzed with water to raise the grain , then hand scraped with a razor blade ,
and resanded . 3 coats of butcher block oil . They're like glass .

While I had the oil out , I knocked the dust off some cutting boards and
oiled those up too .


Be some nice charcuterie boards .

 

[02ebz06]

You're on a roll. How soon will you be hiring a staff?

 

[chopsaw]

How soon will you be hiring a staff?

Need a couple people to clean that mess up !

 

[Fueling Around]

Looks great
I’ve never heard of Ambrosia wood

 

[912smoker]

Never heard of it either Chop but man those are beautiful

Keith

 

[pineywoods]

Beautiful wood and great craftsmanship

 

[sawhorseray]

CAN'T TAKE MY EYES AWAY FROM THAT END GRAIN SHOT, SOME BEAUTIFUL WORK RICH! I'D SAY BETWEEN YOUR SHOP, PATIO SMOKERS, AND KITCHEN PRODUCTION YOU'VE BEEN STAYING PRETTY DARNED BUSY, DON' FORGET TO RELAX SOME. RAY

 

[Steve H]

Absolutely beautiful work! And I learned something new!
My latest batch of lumber had some of this in it. I just thought it was a natural occurance. Thanks for the info!
I made a board with this. And didn't realize how it came to be.

It's a neat looking wood.

 

[normanaj]

Nice work Rich.

I've been on site where the customer specifically asked for it for master bed night stands and bureaus.Shot with nothing but three coats of conversion varnish dull-rubbed finish,looked great with the final paint scheme of the room.I must have pics of that somewhere but that was literally 20+ years ago.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Wow I am impressed! Nice work.

 

[clifish]

Nice work Rich! What is the process (simplified) to get those white squiggly lines through them?

 

[chopsaw]

Looks great
I’ve never heard of Ambrosia wood

I had heard of it , but didn't really know what it was . I researched it and learned about the bug damage . After its kiln dried the reaction stops and the wood is sterile and food safe .

 

[chopsaw]

DON' FORGET TO RELAX SOME.

That's how I relax Ray . I do sneak in a map around noon .

I made a board with this. And didn't realize how it came to be.

Nice . There's also " Spalted " which is caused by fungus that stains the wood . That looks like what you have there . Good looking stuff . Again , kiln drying stops and kills it .
I'm learning this on the fly too .
Birdseye Maple is another feature caused by disease . I've used that plenty of times in the past .

 

[chopsaw]

asked for it for master bed night stands

I've been making these single drawer Shaker style tables / night stands .

I have one going in Maple right now , and my original plan was to use the Ambrosia .
After I got it home I changed plans .

conversion varnish dull-rubbed finish

Had to look that up . Is that used to fight against wear ? Sounds like it takes a pro to apply it .

 

[chopsaw]

process (simplified) to get those white squiggly lines through them?

Clif , it's pretty straight forward . I have a good understanding of radius work so that helps .
Each strip is a single setup . So make the rip cut , and glue the strip in .
After that drys , make the next rip , add the strip , and glue it up .

Then trim the excess , and sand it flush .


I'm working on some other styles now , using 2 species of wood stacked together Make the cut . Then the pieces are " switched " and puzzled back together .

 

[clifish]

Clif , it's pretty straight forward . I have a good understanding of radius work so that helps .
Each strip is a single setup . So make the rip cut , and glue the strip in .
After that drys , make the next rip , add the strip , and glue it up .
View attachment 724770
Then trim the excess , and sand it flush .
View attachment 724771

I'm working on some other styles now , using 2 species of wood stacked together Make the cut . Then the pieces are " switched " and puzzled back together .

Damn that sounds like work...oh and a ton of skill.

 

[normanaj]

Had to look that up . Is that used to fight against wear ? Sounds like it takes a pro to apply it .

Depending on wood species it can be a bit of process to get to the final finish but once it's fully cured (21 days) it's bullet proof.

 

[kilo charlie]

I made a TV tray out of a piece of spalted maple I found laying on the ground behind my friends barn. The legs are hickory.