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Thats right, went to the candy store today and wandered around for a while to see what whet my appetite and came away with this. Actually there were lots of tasty treats but this is what my allowance got me. Cocobolo! Chanin Hardwoods in Edmonton likely has one the most extensive collections of hardwood on the planet. Gary can be a little tough to deal with but he is to the point and knows his business.
Can't wait to resaw it and see how the bookmatch looks.
With luck and patience I hope to get two sets and will likely sell one.
Never worked this stuff before so anyone with any advice over and above the dustmask stuff, send it on. Feels heavy hard and dense.

Thanks
B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Hmmm, looks tasty.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Looks great! I might be interested in your for sale set, price depending, or perhaps trade some stuff?

What's your resaw setup like?

I hope you'll chronicle your resawing efforts in this thread. I'd be interested in seeing how you go about it and how your sets turn out.

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George :-)

Nice. Couple days ago I ran into a quartered 5" wide x 2" x about 8 foot long straight grain piece at a local windsor plywood, but eventually found myself walking out without it.

OOOH. Nice. Only advice, is to allow a lot of time for it to dry and acclimate. Once stable, it is as easy to work with as Indian Rosewood, but I've had it move around quite a bit if it is not seasoned and acclimated. Oh yea and wear a dust mask.

" Oh yea and wear a dust mask."

And if you can , find disposable coveralls to go with it.

I have a 5HP saw with a Lennox Woodmaster CT & I still find Cocobolo challenging.

Be sure you have your fence is set to accommodate drift and do some test cuts before trying to Cocobolo.

The wood is very oily and the dust is sticky. If things aren't set up close to perfect, you'll generate a lot of heat & things will get worse at an exponential rate as the dust sticks to the bade.

Pay close attention as you're cutting. If things seem to be going awry, stop, don't try to muscle it through, it will only make it worse, DAMHIKT.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Thanks Kevin,
I have a 5 hp 17" with a 1-1/4" trimaster CT.
Nothing I have run through at this point has drifted at all, including some 16" wide maple and some 12" wide teak. I bet the coco is substantially harder than both those though.
My plan is to make a custom fence for doing these thin pieces.

B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Never walk away without it...

'Cause it won't be there tomorrow...

Got around to resawing today.
The last slice may be a little thin, but I will see when it gets sanded out.
I was startled by the color difference from the fresh cut to the oxidized surface.
Any guesses on how long this takes to darken?
As a side note the lennox tri-master ct went through this with very little effort.

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Man, that looks nice!

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Gee Brian,

Too bad it changed colour on you. If you like I could dispose of it for you, I'd even come and pick it up being as I'm just across the lake and a bit south of you. ).

Cal

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Remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!

Might be a good plan as we likely have a campfire ban on, which is where most of my scraps go.

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Seriously, that is great looking wood. I'm envious.

Cal

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Remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!

It darkens pretty quickly, seems like a couple of months made a significant difference.
It's been a while since I've cut any.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

What exactly causes it to darken? Air? Sunlight?

I have several sets of sides that look exactly like the day I resawed them about 2 years ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What exactly causes it to darken? Air? Sunlight?

I would guess a little of both, uv and oxygen.

For interest here, is a pic 24 hours after sawing.
Quite the change!

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

He does have the most amazing collection . Just don't ever interrupt him while he's talking. Ha ha

Nice score Brian. Kinda sucks. My brother in law, sole reason to visit Edmonton, has moved to Victoria.