Brazilian Cherry

[Blaughn]

A hardwood dealer had a stack of lumber advertised as Brazilian Cherry.  There was a quarter-sawn 8/4 piece that was 4 1/2" wide and 6 feet long.  He was asking $3.00 per linear foot so I took a chance.  The wood is extremely dense, beautifully colored with a straight grain.  By edge jointing, resawing and surface planing - I was able to get a good number of 3/8" thick stock for plaques.

The wood's only shared trait with Cherry is its color and is actually called Jatoba wood.  It cuts cleanly and takes Watco oil beautifully.  The only draw back is it dulls the Flying Dutchman #1 UR blades very quickly requiring frequent blade changes.  The wood is so hard, it actually has a distinctly different sound when you are cutting it. 

I cut a second Dala Horse plaque, this time for my wife, and decided to try the Jatoba.  Here's a picture of the work-in-progress - Jatoba plaque with the oak backing that will be attached after I spray the background black.  The Jatoba has a single coat of Watco in this picture.

[Jim McDonald]

I did a couple of pieces in 7/8" B. Cherry and just about swore off cutting after that ordeal.  The pieces looked great when finished, but I did go through blades about 3 to 1 over other species.

Your stuff looks great.  They will be beautiful when completed. 

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, Jim McDonald said:

I did a couple of pieces in 7/8" B. Cherry and just about swore off cutting after that ordeal.  The pieces looked great when finished, but I did go through blades about 3 to 1 over other species.

Your stuff looks great.  They will be beautiful when completed. 

Same here.. and I had a lot left over from a special project I did.. that piece sat in my wood stash for about 6 years before I decided to make a cutting board out of it, LOL.. I sure wasn't cutting on the scroll saw with it again  

[amazingkevin]

8 hours ago, Blaughn said:

A hardwood dealer had a stack of lumber advertised as Brazilian Cherry.  There was a quarter-sawn 8/4 piece that was 4 1/2" wide and 6 feet long.  He was asking $3.00 per linear foot so I took a chance.  The wood is extremely dense, beautifully colored with a straight grain.  By edge jointing, resawing and surface planing - I was able to get a good number of 3/8" thick stock for plaques.

The wood's only shared trait with Cherry is its color and is actually called Jatoba wood.  It cuts cleanly and takes Watco oil beautifully.  The only draw back is it dulls the Flying Dutchman #1 UR blades very quickly requiring frequent blade changes.  The wood is so hard, it actually has a distinctly different sound when you are cutting it. 

I cut a second Dala Horse plaque, this time for my wife, and decided to try the Jatoba.  Here's a picture of the work-in-progress - Jatoba plaque with the oak backing that will be attached after I spray the background black.  The Jatoba has a single coat of Watco in this picture.

Beautiful work and wood!

[lawson56]

That's a new one to me.A Beautiful piece of wood indeed.And a Beautiful piece piece of wood work.

[redwine]

I was given a lot of this wood that was cut offs from flooring that a doctor was having put down in a new built house. I cut off the tongue and groove and glued up sections 6 inches wide than run it through the planer to 1/2 inch thick. Your right it is a very hard, dense wood and does a number on blades! It makes for beautiful projects though!

Erv

[Blaughn]

1 hour ago, redwine said:

I was given a lot of this wood that was cut offs from flooring that a doctor was having put down in a new built house. I cut off the tongue and groove and glued up sections 6 inches wide than run it through the planer to 1/2 inch thick. Your right it is a very hard, dense wood and does a number on blades! It makes for beautiful projects though!

Erv

I am 3/4 of the way through a 2nd attempt at a plaque that has 126 small script letters.  First attempt was in cherry and I lost a drop-out about 1/4 of the way through the cutting.  The Jatoba has interlocking grain.  That and the heavy density seems to guard against breaking off a drop-out.  (Knock on wood!!! - gently)  I will be tackling the last 1/4 of the piece today.  Given the first failure, this project gets harder and harder as I near the end. 

Edited October 7, 2017 by Blaughn

[daveww1]

very nice job with a difficult wood

[Frank Pellow]

I love Jatoba wood but have done only a little bit of scrolling with it.

I have what is probably a lifetime supply of the stuff that I acquired for next to nothing when a local hardwood flooring manufacturer had a clearance of rough cut hardwoods a few years ago.

My main use of the wood is in picture frames, such as those shown in the thread: http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forums/topic/17275-extending-sheila-landry-keith-fentons-seasonal-welcome-plaque-set/?tab=comments#comment-168181

Here is another example of Jatoba frame that I recently made:

 

[Jim McDonald]

Not to hijack the thread, but that is a great looking frame. Beautiful work.

[Blaughn]

6 hours ago, Frank Pellow said:

I love Jatoba wood but have done only a little bit of scrolling with it.

I have what is probably a lifetime supply of the stuff that I acquired for next to nothing when a local hardwood flooring manufacturer had a clearance of rough cut hardwoods a few years ago.

My main use of the wood is in picture frames, such as those shown in the thread: http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forums/topic/17275-extending-sheila-landry-keith-fentons-seasonal-welcome-plaque-set/?tab=comments#comment-168181

Here is another example of Jatoba frame that I recently made:

 

That is a beautiful frame - great accent to that artwork!  What finish did you use with it?

[Frank Pellow]

Thanks.  The beauty is all in the wood! 

I find that that best thing to do with such wood is to sand it very smooth then apply a few coats of Polymerized Tung Oil.

[Frank Pellow]

On ‎2017‎-‎10‎-‎10 at 3:54 PM, Jim McDonald said:

Not to hijack the thread, but that is a great looking frame. Beautiful work.

I guess that I already hijacked the thread, but I think that  it was worth it to illustrate again just how beautiful this wood is.

[Scrappile]

Looks very rich and beautiful.  It buffs beautiful with wax.