Imbuia Blanket Chest

[Scoony]

I lucked into a stash of Imbuis (Brazilian Walnut) several years ago. That stash has been collecting dust in my shed until now.  Most of the boards were 6" - 8" wide so I was able to run them through the tailed jointer and planer. I did have a few wider boards that I had to flatten one one side with hand planes. 

This board was the worst. Not a great pick, but you can see the winding sticks and how out of flat this board is. Note the strip of purple heart on the rear winding stick. This board is 8' long. I had to cut the length down in half. The saving grace was that it was 5/4 - 6/4 thick. I say that because the thickness varied along the length.   No progress picks, but I filled a trash can of shavings just from this one board (cut in two). It became the rear panel for a blanket chest build. 

   

I am now at the point where all the main panels are glued, and cut to size and i am ready to start cutting dovetails. The front and side panels are curly quarter sawn while the back panel that caused issues with flattening, is flat sawn. The wood is not an easy wood to hand plane. I am finding the best luck with low angle bevel up planes. Even then, there is still sections of tear out here and there. This is going to have a Bermuda style to it with turned feet. 

   

[C. in Indy]

That should be a knockout!

I have a different glue-up I did at a small scale with QS red oak, and now I'm fearing the 180-degree shift in chatoyance (sp?) across the glue gap will bother me.  I may re-do mine.

Keep us posted...

[Scoony]

That should be a knockout!

I have a different glue-up I did at a small scale with QS red oak, and now I'm fearing the 180-degree shift in chatoyance (sp?) across the glue gap will bother me.  I may re-do mine.

Keep us posted...

I tried to match up the grain as best I could and did not notice the direction of the curl until I stood above and took the pic.   I am not going to change anything at this point.

[PBWilson]

Imbuia is a pretty cool wood. I've used it a little and I'm always amazed by the smell. Really unique. I like that there seems to be a lot of it with some sort of figure.

Your project will look fantastic when it's all done!

[Scoony]

Imbuia is a pretty cool wood. I've used it a little and I'm always amazed by the smell. Really unique. I like that there seems to be a lot of it with some sort of figure.

Your project will look fantastic when it's all done!

I have noticed the smell being something that I would describe as smoky nutty (like walnut), but with mild fruity perfume mixed in.  Actaully pretty pleasant. 

I had to put this project on hold to knock out some other projects.

[Scoony]

Been a minute and a half since that last post. Had to put it on hold to complete a couple projects for others. Back at it and gaining steam.  Had a gap on the bottom dovetail and I blame that on a complex glue up. A little sliver of some endgrain will fill it in and make it invisible. Here I am leveling the front. This wood is very difficult, much like ribbon mahogany, but the bevel up planes works well without tear out.

   

The top is glued up and I scrapped off the glue line, but have not smoothed it yet. It will have breadboard ends. 

   

I hope to have the case assembled by the end of this week and start on the lid next week.