The Wood Library is included in the STICKIES so you can get to it from any page.

LumberJock’s Wood Library Blogs

Basswood
Beech
Bloodwood
Ebony
Boxwood
Hickory
Holly
Mahogany
Swiss Pear

Wood Library – Charts and Tables

Janka Hardness
Wood Toxicity

How to Contribute

Hopefully this will grow into its own section like Reviews but for now Martin has suggested we use blogs.

So, just create a blog about a particular wood and send me a link to your blog so I can add it to this page. See the bloodwood blog above as an example. I think that over time we may come to some standard format but for now just create it as you like.

There are a number of sites with wood photos and properties and you may included that information in your blog but we are most interested in your personal experiences working with the wood. In addition to the individual wood blogs, I think that we will also include some wood properties tables that list hardness, movement, etc for a number of woods in a single blog.

Remember not to violate copyrights when posting information from other sources.

There are currently some issues with searching for these blogs using the search box. We expect to overcome these issues in the future so please add our standard set of tags to each blog you create.

The standard tags are : wood library, wood samples, wood details, wood info, woodinfo, woodlibrary, woodsamples, wooddetails plus the wood name.

Since multiple users cannot share a blog series, Martin has asked that I maintain a master list of all the blogs on this page. When you create a Wood Library blog, send me a PM with the blog link and I will add it to the list on this page.

You can also contribute by adding comments to an existing Wood Library blog. For instance, if you have additional comments or experience with bloodwood please add a comment to my bloodwood blog.

Please comment in this blog your ideas and questions about the LumberJock’s Wood Library

PS. Be sure to tell Allison thanks. It was her idea.

A few weeks ago what I thought was a lot of cane projects started showing up. When I first saw the cane projects, I was very impressed. Interesting designs and beautiful workmanship. As more and more posts showed up, I wondered what was going on. It seemed that someone was posting an entire catalog ( my wording ). I started reading some of the posts in detail and seemed to me a little salesy ( just my opinion ).

I thought about doing a post to object to this use of the LJ site. Instead, I decided to post it as a marketing strategy and see what other LJ’s had to say. Could be that I was the only one that didn’t like it. I include Mark’s name in my post as the source of the strategy.

After my post, one of Mark’s buddies ( Darryl ) thought I was being mean to Mark and posted a comment that Mark was a really nice guy and that I should just “Back off already”.

I responded to Darryl’s comments in the forum and explained how I didn’t feel I had done anything wrong. Furthermore, I felt that if the friendly atmosphere, the sharing of opinions and woodworking expertise go away why should I stay?

So Mark annoyed me with his projects, I annoyed Darryl with my forum post, and Darryl annoyed me with his comments about my post. I’m ready to quit LumberJocks.

Not off to a very good start!

So I’m working on my LumberJock’s resignation letter. Stuff about how I don’t need the aggravation. How I can get 90% of what I want from LumberJocks by just lurking and never participating. My spiteful side was wondering if Martin had “It’s A Wonderful Life” button he could push to delete everything I’d ever done on LumberJocks. LumberJocks and I could part company as if I’d never been here.

Then I get two PM’s. One from Mark (the guy that annoyed me). He is encouraging me to stick with it, keep participating and don’t quit. He seemed to think that LumberJocks needs people that are involved and willing to contribute to make it even better. Seems too that Mark had recognized the problem that had annoyed me – posting lots of projects with a sales spin. He tried to find a way to get the projects into his gallery without posting them as projects but currently that’s the only way to get something in your gallery. Mark also included his personal and business background and some history on the LumberJocks site. Turn’s out Mark is a really nice guy!

The second PM was from Darryl (the guy that I annoyed and the guy that made me want to quit ). He was actually asking me to stay too! He apologized for his over exuberant response to my post. Seems that Darryl is a nice guy too!

While all this is going on, Bill – Ad Marketing Guy weighs in on my original post about my interpretation of Mark’s “marketing strategy”. Bill thinks there needs to be some clarification on how search engine optimization and Internet marketing work. So Bill offers to start a blog series on Internet Marketing.

Things are looking better…

I got acquainted with two really nice LumberJocks and got another LumberJock to contribute some much needed marketing advice.

All because I saw something about the LumberJocks site that I thought needed to be addressed and because those involved are mature, intelligent people that are capable of working through their differences.

Based on the GREAT Success of this post, I’m going to renege on my “promise to keep my opinions to myself in the future”. I plan to keep posting things that I think need discussion. Might be more controversial than “What You Have for Breakfast” but I think free and open idea exchange is necessary for the healthy growth of LumberJocks.

1. It is very hard (Janka 2900). Sometimes chips out with the router and is very difficult to hand sand in the nooks and cranies. I’ve recently heard that it “is HELL on scroll saw blades” too.
2. It can be quite fragile when it gets thin. In order to make my heart cross, I had to create my own plywood by resawing my stock and gluing the two pieces back together with the grain at 90 degrees to give it the strength I needed.
   
3. You can easily burn the end grain by machine sanding. Need to go lightly or hand sand the end grain.
4. It takes a great finish. I’ve had excellent results with “tung oil” finish. It does darken it somewhat.
5. There is a huge difference in the plain sawn, riff cut,and quarter sawn lumber. I much prefer the plain sawn for the small items I make. The other cuts might work for larger items.
   Quarter Sawn
6. Seems to glue well. I’ve used Titebond II and III and never had any problems.
7. Also turns well. I’ve made several pens with it. Never had any problem with tearout while turning but might be a problem with end grain turning. I just haven’t tried it. Sands and finishes well on the lathe.

For the project, I wanted something light and airy. I think this bookcase has the lightness I wanted yet sturdy. The weight of the bookcase rests on a base so that there is no weight on the curved ends of the side rails. Since there is no strain on the curved parts, I’ll probably leave the grain running vertically for the entire side loops.

The back edge of the shelf is designed to provide a stop for the books, hold the optional bookends and add resistance to racking. The under shelf supports provide additional strength. There are 10 of these supports but I think they could be roughed out with a bandsaw then routed with a template to finished size. The rest of the shelf/side support joints are simple matching dados. These interlock to provide additional stiffness. These could be doweled if necessary for additional strength and provide another decorative touch. Biscuits hold the two side loop sets together. The back edge of the shelf components are also joined with biscuits.
The drawing does not show it, but I’m considering using a 1/8” round over bit on the outside edges of the side rails to soften the look. Also considering softening the front edges of the shelves.

The piece on the top shelf is a movable bookend. There could be several of these. These are not connected to the shelf in any way so they are completely removable. The end of the bookend fits in the grove in the back of the shelf. If the top tries to tip over, the bottom extension will bind in the grove and support the book.

The Sketchup File includes a detailed drawing of the back edge of the shelf and how it joins with the side rail. Also includes details of the curved shelf supports.