woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Fiona, do people removing Mahogany realize what a valuable timber it is? Are there buyers for the wood?
Caribbean/Tropical tree work!!!
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rskybiz
TreeHouser
My wife says it is a inedible type of smut. Hope it helps!
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- #78
Sort of Jay...but these trees are only being trimmed and the branches are not very big.
One mahogany I worked on a couple years ago had probably a 15' x 10" piece that the HO asked me to cut as long as possible and he would keep it for something.
There really isn't much market for local timber here, some woodturners and the odd carpenter/cabinetmaker. The pieces we get are few and far between and not of any significant volume, so they'd either have to have a specific reason to want it or a desire to have it on hand for possibilities.
The one chap who did a lot of work with local timber left the Island about 4 years ago...
One mahogany I worked on a couple years ago had probably a 15' x 10" piece that the HO asked me to cut as long as possible and he would keep it for something.
There really isn't much market for local timber here, some woodturners and the odd carpenter/cabinetmaker. The pieces we get are few and far between and not of any significant volume, so they'd either have to have a specific reason to want it or a desire to have it on hand for possibilities.
The one chap who did a lot of work with local timber left the Island about 4 years ago...
Burnham
Woods walker
Any local boatbuilding action there, Fi? In wood, I mean.
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- #80
Yes, but very limited now.
There was an old codger who used to build dinghies out of Bda cedar, all by eye, mainly net boats for fishing, so beamy and stable...but he died oh about 10 years ago after building boats well into his 90's, he also used to make his own rope and had the last active rope walk on the island. He was from St. David's a fairly isolated (for Bermuda) community of farmers, fishermen, whalers, and pilots who are descended from the Pequot Indian tribe of North America. Their ancestors were shipped out to Bermuda back in the days of the French and Indian Wars, as a result of being on the losing side!
Wood for boatbuilding nowadays has to be imported, there really isn't enough cedar left.
Boatbuilding has shifted to fibreglass and even then its a very, very small industry, mainly repairs and customization now.
My hubby was one of the last to be building any volume of boats here, he started in repairing wooden boats, then moved to designing and building fibreglass ones, from 12' to 60'
Its a dying art, Bermudians were master boatbuilders in previous centuries, responsible for the Bermudian Rig, fore and aft sails that revolutionized on-the-wind sailing...Bermuda sloops and cutters were renowned for their swifness and were very successful blockade runners in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and during Prohibition.
'Kay, end of history lesson...
There was an old codger who used to build dinghies out of Bda cedar, all by eye, mainly net boats for fishing, so beamy and stable...but he died oh about 10 years ago after building boats well into his 90's, he also used to make his own rope and had the last active rope walk on the island. He was from St. David's a fairly isolated (for Bermuda) community of farmers, fishermen, whalers, and pilots who are descended from the Pequot Indian tribe of North America. Their ancestors were shipped out to Bermuda back in the days of the French and Indian Wars, as a result of being on the losing side!
Wood for boatbuilding nowadays has to be imported, there really isn't enough cedar left.
Boatbuilding has shifted to fibreglass and even then its a very, very small industry, mainly repairs and customization now.
My hubby was one of the last to be building any volume of boats here, he started in repairing wooden boats, then moved to designing and building fibreglass ones, from 12' to 60'
Its a dying art, Bermudians were master boatbuilders in previous centuries, responsible for the Bermudian Rig, fore and aft sails that revolutionized on-the-wind sailing...Bermuda sloops and cutters were renowned for their swifness and were very successful blockade runners in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and during Prohibition.
'Kay, end of history lesson...
Burnham
Woods walker
Well aware here of the Bermudan influences to sailing craft design.
May be that retirement will see me in a larger boat, one of these days
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May be that retirement will see me in a larger boat, one of these days
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- #83
Combining boats and trees now...
I'm pruning some stuff down at the bottom of a client's property, right on the shoreline...one way out for the debris is to haul it up two sets of sand covered stairs, along a short beach then up a sand hill to the road, the other way looking VERY tempting is a barge or whaler, 2 mins across the small bay to a dock and straight on the truck...$100 should secure the boat...I HATE that sand hill...
I'm pruning some stuff down at the bottom of a client's property, right on the shoreline...one way out for the debris is to haul it up two sets of sand covered stairs, along a short beach then up a sand hill to the road, the other way looking VERY tempting is a barge or whaler, 2 mins across the small bay to a dock and straight on the truck...$100 should secure the boat...I HATE that sand hill...
Burnham
Woods walker
Absolutely. I may even bite off building my own...been looking for quite a few years at a drop dead simple pilothouse power dory design that carries an aux. sail system. 45 feet on deck, 10 foot beam, draws 3.5 feet, power requirement is really low at 10 to 15 hp inboard diesel.
Or maybe buy one of the many ex-troller fishboats now converted to cruisers, available here in the PNW US and Canada for quite reasonable prices.
Burnham
Woods walker
Neither, Stig .
Moorage on the Columbia River would give me relatively close access westward to the Pacific Ocean and onward north to Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, BC and Alaska, or south to Mexico and Central America; or east on the Columbia and Snake River systems, or south on the Willamette...all served by locks.
An alternative would be to maintain moorage on Tillamook Bay, on the coast due west from here...a three hour drive, but that offers the advantage of also providing a vacation livaboard situation at the beach.
. Moorage on the Columbia River would give me relatively close access westward to the Pacific Ocean and onward north to Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, BC and Alaska, or south to Mexico and Central America; or east on the Columbia and Snake River systems, or south on the Willamette...all served by locks.
An alternative would be to maintain moorage on Tillamook Bay, on the coast due west from here...a three hour drive, but that offers the advantage of also providing a vacation livaboard situation at the beach.
Burnham
Woods walker
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Isn't Bermuda a wealthy place, basically, at least some neighborhoods? I would have thought that there would be a market for finely built traditional wooden boats. Take a year or longer to build a beauty, get payed, then move on to the next one. It doesn't seem like it would take so much to keep you going.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #90
Yes its wealthy, but the economics are hitting here as much as anywhere.
We have a mold for the latest dinghy my hubby built, it will probably be good for 50 or so hulls, people RAVED over his design when it came out, but you try and get someone to put a down payment so you can buy materials!
We reckoned there was an immediate market of about 10 hulls, there is but no-one is spending any money.
The basic unfinished hull would run about $5-6000, then go from there with the kind of finish you want, wood seats, trim, integral seats, storage etc, etc...
This boat rows, sails and motors all equally well. Shaw and Tenney 14' oars, gets her going at about 5 knots, modified sunfish rig (our design) sails like a charm, and that 9.9 four stroke pushes her at about 14 knots with two full sized people and gear.
There is one other guy who builds boats and he's the wooden expert, I don't thnk he's built a boat for 8 yrs or more, the last ones he built were dories for the sail training sloop, and they never get used. He truly is a craftsman.
Burnham, sound like you've got your eye on the prize...beamy boat for its length, that'll make it nice and stable!
You need that pilot house in your neck of the woods hey!
Ok, NOW we really need to start another thread...this one is seriously happily derailed!
We have a mold for the latest dinghy my hubby built, it will probably be good for 50 or so hulls, people RAVED over his design when it came out, but you try and get someone to put a down payment so you can buy materials!
We reckoned there was an immediate market of about 10 hulls, there is but no-one is spending any money.
The basic unfinished hull would run about $5-6000, then go from there with the kind of finish you want, wood seats, trim, integral seats, storage etc, etc...
This boat rows, sails and motors all equally well. Shaw and Tenney 14' oars, gets her going at about 5 knots, modified sunfish rig (our design) sails like a charm, and that 9.9 four stroke pushes her at about 14 knots with two full sized people and gear.
There is one other guy who builds boats and he's the wooden expert, I don't thnk he's built a boat for 8 yrs or more, the last ones he built were dories for the sail training sloop, and they never get used. He truly is a craftsman.
Burnham, sound like you've got your eye on the prize...beamy boat for its length, that'll make it nice and stable!
You need that pilot house in your neck of the woods hey!
Ok, NOW we really need to start another thread...this one is seriously happily derailed!
HolmenTree
Banned
I have to show this bowl made from wood of New Zealand. My wifes auntie bought it in New Zealand in the late 1940's. The aunt met a young Kiwi pilot during WWII who was training on the prairies of Manitoba, they were engaged to marry.
Later on he was killed during the war, after the war the aunt took a trip down under to pay her respects to his family. At the end of her life she died as a spinster in her late 80's.
Besides the chip on the edge of the bowl the wood grain is amazing along with the craftsmenship. The table it's sitting on is mahogony.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #92
Beautiful!
The timbers in Oz ans NZ are amazing, my hubby about went into raptures when he saw what was available in such quantities, lengths and quality...as he said 'its a boat builder's paradise'
So...its getting really hot in Bermy land now, I just bought a small camelback for some for the big trees I have to do, trying out taking a few hrs off in the heat of the day and going back to work after 4pm and work till about 7:30...seems to work ok on some days, or I work till about 2:30 and call it quits.
The timbers in Oz ans NZ are amazing, my hubby about went into raptures when he saw what was available in such quantities, lengths and quality...as he said 'its a boat builder's paradise'
So...its getting really hot in Bermy land now, I just bought a small camelback for some for the big trees I have to do, trying out taking a few hrs off in the heat of the day and going back to work after 4pm and work till about 7:30...seems to work ok on some days, or I work till about 2:30 and call it quits.
SkwerI
Treehouser
Definitely working short days here. I noticed from my records that my income is down slightly in July, August and September compared to the spring and early summer. I just plan for it and don't ever schedule long days until the temps start to drop.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
One Australian timber that I really like is "Jarrah", which is the Aboriginal name for a type of Eucalyptus. Are you familiar with it, Fiona? Hard but not so difficult to work, and the deep red color only gets richer over time. I made a frame for myself for a poster that I have, and the color now is somewhere between red and black, with a beautiful patina. Very nice wood.
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- #96
Ummm, not sure of names, but I have seen some VERY deep red/purple wood, we have some scraps in the shed we use for bits and pieces, its beautiful, Bob made a threshold for the door out of some.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #97
Ok, back on track...
Who knows how well Washingtonia palms transplant? I have a property where the client wants a load of palms gone and it would be a pity not to at least try to find new homes for some of them...
A couple of them are 40' ish...two are more reasonable at 15-20'
Otherwise its cut and dispose of 21 various sized palms, washies, queen, spindle, thatch, coconut...some are just too hard to access for trying to dig out, pity really. Palms are on the permanent embargo here, trying to keep out all the nasty diseases, so what is here is here and some palms can fetch a pretty penny for transplanting.
Who knows how well Washingtonia palms transplant? I have a property where the client wants a load of palms gone and it would be a pity not to at least try to find new homes for some of them...
A couple of them are 40' ish...two are more reasonable at 15-20'
Otherwise its cut and dispose of 21 various sized palms, washies, queen, spindle, thatch, coconut...some are just too hard to access for trying to dig out, pity really. Palms are on the permanent embargo here, trying to keep out all the nasty diseases, so what is here is here and some palms can fetch a pretty penny for transplanting.
SkwerI
Treehouser
If you have the means to pick them up, they aren't that difficult to transplant. The root ball will weigh almost as much as the rest of the palm. When digging the root ball, you use your tree spade to cut your ball and then dig outside of that ball. Too many people want to instantly stick the shovel in facing the trunk and begin prying on the roots. Please don't do that. You'll want a root ball about 4' across (15"-18" out from the trunk) and 2'-3' deep. Dig it until you can tip the palm over and then pick it up.
Ask Gigi about the house moving job she did a few years ago where they had to dig up and lay down a bunch of palms along a roadway and then stand them back up after the house was moved.
Ask Gigi about the house moving job she did a few years ago where they had to dig up and lay down a bunch of palms along a roadway and then stand them back up after the house was moved.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #99
No tree spades here, backhoe and a bunch of Portuguese...crane trucks or crane and flatbed...
I was more asking about how well they tolerate transplanting, I've done coconuts and palmettos, they are almost bombproof.
The tall washies have reached that stage where the secondary thickening is starting to slough off, makes them look scruffy, indicative of age is it not?
I was more asking about how well they tolerate transplanting, I've done coconuts and palmettos, they are almost bombproof.
The tall washies have reached that stage where the secondary thickening is starting to slough off, makes them look scruffy, indicative of age is it not?
SeanKroll
Treehouser
bump
swingdude was mentioned for his Swing Chestie harnesses in the Lombardi thread. Seems he hasn't posted in a while. Sometimes he posts on TB.
swingdude was mentioned for his Swing Chestie harnesses in the Lombardi thread. Seems he hasn't posted in a while. Sometimes he posts on TB.