WIP: Old Iroko Planks into:-

[Ed Bray]

I have mentioned before how I became the owner of a number of Iroko planks these were originally 12ft Long by 9" wide by 1½" thick, these I had to cut in half to get them into my trailer to enable me to get them home. The were originally used as baffles in a Water Treatment Tank and had been under water for over 20 years. When they were cut it could be seen that as the wood was so dense the boards had only absorbed the water about 2mm on every face.

Over the last 5 years I have been using them on various projects (door frames, a door, jigsaws etc).

This is what the boards look like after 20+ years in a flocculation tank and 5 years in my garden:



And this is what they can look like after a bit of hand and mechanical machining:

 

[jordec66]

Very nice work. That Iroko is beautiful.

 

[Alexam]

Well done, that's superb workmanship.

 

[bugbear]

I have mentioned before how I became the owner of a number of Iroko planks these were originally 12ft Long by 9" wide by 1½" thick, these I had to cut in half to get them into my trailer to enable me to get them home. The were originally used as baffles in a Water Treatment Tank and had been under water for over 20 years. When they were cut it could be seen that as the wood was so dense the boards had only absorbed the water about 2mm on every face.

Over the last 5 years I have been using them on various projects (door frames, a door, jigsaws etc).

This is what the boards look like after 20+ years in a flocculation tank and 5 years in my garden:


And this is what they can look like after a bit of hand and mechanical machining:

Those are great adverts for the quality of both Iroko and your skill!

BugBear

 

[Ed Bray]

Those are great adverts for the quality of both Iroko and your skill!

BugBear

Thanks all for the comments don't disassemble them though or you will see the Dominos :wink:

 

[Mar_mite]

Very nice. Love the long tapered legs. But where is the rest of it?

 

[Ed Bray]

Very nice. Love the long tapered legs. But where is the rest of it?

Thanks, still stuck on the half blind dovetails at the moment for the drawer. Not going to do them until I am competent enough that they look/fit well enough. I cut the drawer front out of that piece so the grain will match when its refitted, so I've only got the one chance to get it correct. The top is not quite ready, It is in the front room 'acclimatising'.

But isn't this why its a Work In Progress?

 

[rafezetter]

I have mentioned before how I became the owner of a number of Iroko planks these were originally 12ft Long by 9" wide by 1½" thick, these I had to cut in half to get them into my trailer to enable me to get them home. The were originally used as baffles in a Water Treatment Tank and had been under water for over 20 years. When they were cut it could be seen that as the wood was so dense the boards had only absorbed the water about 2mm on every face.

Over the last 5 years I have been using them on various projects (door frames, a door, jigsaws etc).

This is what the boards look like after 20+ years in a flocculation tank and 5 years in my garden:



And this is what they can look like after a bit of hand and mechanical machining:

WOW what a transformation, it never fails to impress me how rough wood that looks way too far gone to be anything but firewood can be brought back from the dead. In this case something quite literally rescued from a pile of sh.. !

 

[nicguthrie]

Really lovely, and I'm amazed at how well the Iroko tidies up after 20yrs submerged, and not in plain, clean water either!

I'd be willing to bet that there's hundreds of tonnes of great old hardwood binned or burned every year because people don't think to look under the surface damage to see if it's still good.

I've had a few planks from a mate myself that were blackened and nasty looking from an old snooker table that was sitting in pieces in an abandoned and condemned youth centre. Utterly beautiful grain and colour underneath the damage, so it's been gorgeous on small projects. Well done for both the find, and the MacGyver thinking!

Nic.

 

[Bradshaw Joinery]

Great reclamation of timber!!

Looks like it could pass off as keroin (sp) from the pictures?

 

[Ed Bray]

Thanks for the comments, the wood is really good but it is quite hard to work. My neighbours have had a word about the noise when I was thicknessing it, could only take very thin cuts so needed quite a few passes. I have since been planning it by hand, and it certainly has improved my planning technique but it does take an age. The top is almost ready it is 3 boards fitted together, I have kept some of the sapwood showing along with the heartwood as I think it adds character and makes the top look a bit more interesting, I have also tried to disguise the joins so it looks as though it is all one piece. I will show it off soon.

I have decided to use the domino to cut 10mm mortice slots around the inside of the rails just below where the top will be fitted. I will make some buttons with tenons to fit into the slots to allow for expansion. The drawer will be made with Iroko front and oak sides and back (to give a bit of contrast). Unfortunately my half-lapped dovetails aren't up to much at the moment and although I have considered using through dovetails and then mounting the drawer front afterwards I would prefer it was done with the half-laps.

 

[Mar_mite]

Looking forward to seeing it finished. You must be delighted to end up with a beautiful piece out of those rough old boards.

 

[Ed Bray]

Yes, its a nice wood.

These came from flocculation tanks in a water treatment works, for those interested they were subject to dosed raw water which contained added lime (for pH correction), powdered activated carbon (for pesticide and organic taste removal) and aluminium sulphate (coagulant), the baffles are placed vertically in the tanks to make the waters travel through the tanks longer which facilitates the correct time of travel for the process but in a smaller footprint.

Once removed from the tanks and air dried a bit, I had to scrape off the chemicals that had adhered to the surface of the boards.

 

[Ed Bray]

Been awhile but I have spent the last couple of days trying to get this project underway again.

Gave up trying to get my hand cut half lap dovetails to something I am proud of and with gentle ribbing from my wife succumbed to using my Leigh D4R jig to make the drawer, I also cheated on the back of the drawer and used 2 pairs of 4mm Dominos.

I did have a bit of luck though I found a bit of 4mm ply in the garage (from an earlier project) which had a mahogany side and an oak side. This was fortuitous as I was planning to make the drawer front from the Iroko (mahogany'ish) with the back and sides of Oak.

So the drawer is made, yes I copped out with the hand cut dovetails but will keep practising.

So from this:



To this:







Just to get it ready for a finish now, I am pretty sure I will use Danish Oil as I have had a lot of success with that in the past and it seems to have held up well over the years.

 

[SimonT]

Fantastic job. Well done. Machined dovetails or not you have created a peice you would be happy to buy in a shopand from what would be other wise scrap wood. If i had a hat id take it of.

 

[John15]

Hi Ed,

An extremely attractive piece of furniture.

John

 

[blackrodd]

Very nice design and well made, Hard work, planing by hand, I would think.
It will, no doubt take on that lovely rich, "golden" colour that is Iroko, going by the last pic of that lovely drawer and top.
Regards Rodders

 

[dickm]

Really nice - plain simple design, good proportions and nice finish. Very satisfying, making something out of what might otherwise just get scrapped or burnt

 

[Ed Bray]

Thanks all for the comments. I am hoping this piece becomes a bit of a family heirloom and gets passed down through the family.

I know I sort of cheated by using modern jointing methods, dual dominos on the legs to rail joints, 4mm dominos to make the face frame for the drawer, 4mm dominos to fit the drawer back, but it has come to me that now the table is assembled who knows or can tell from the external appearance what joints have been used? I realise that the half-lap dovetails do look machine cut, even though I tried to make them asymmetrical (pity I can't cut dovetails like Bern), but that is the only giveaway and then probably only would be realised by other woodworkers.

My only other piece of furniture I have made from 'real wood' (made lots of things from plywood and mdf) was a video case (made in the late 90s) made from reclaimed oak floorboards and some oak faced ply for the back which has now been pressed into service as a DVD, Bluray and Xbox Games case. Both my daughters have asked for this when it gets passed down, so I hope that one can have the little table and one can have the video case.

Oak video case, made entirely with power tools, all except for the back from reclaimed oak floorboards and all mouldings made on my router table. Not a hand tool in sight. Shelves attached with #20 biscuits. This has had 3 coats of Danish Oil, flooded on and then the excess wiped off after about 15 minutes. It isn't actually as shiny as the photos make it look.









Just need to think of some projects to use the remaining 12 or so planks of Iroko up before I have to blag some more. Would like to find something that might require the use of my XL Domino, but more importantly is that, it is fun to make, stretches my technique, is useful, tasteful and looks like it was made with some pride.

 

[will1983]

***** Post removed by member *****