I have a chance to do a little project adding a piece of custom cabinetry to
a recently remodeled kitchen. The cabinets were made of Plantation Hardwood
with a honey finish. My problem is figuring out what plantation hardwood
really is and where to buy it. The wood sample looks a little like oak but
more porous, lighter in weight and color.
Anyone know what this stuff is?
Thanks in advance,
Chuck
WoodChuck asks:
>I have a chance to do a little project adding a piece of custom cabinetry to
>a recently remodeled kitchen. The cabinets were made of Plantation Hardwood
>with a honey finish. My problem is figuring out what plantation hardwood
>really is and where to buy it. The wood sample looks a little like oak but
>more porous, lighter in weight and color.
>
>Anyone know what this stuff is?
Whose plantation? At least one company grows a variety of eucalyptus in
plantations, and calls the result Lyptus or some such. There are plantations
for many types of wood, so without having a pretty good idea to start who is
producing the wood, it's gonna be difficult to trace.
Google shows lots of plantation hardwood set-ups, including teak, but no
Plantation Hardwood.
Charlie Self
"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and
steady dedication of a lifetime. "
Adlai E. Stevenson
On Sat, 20 Sep 2003 01:09:47 -0400, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I can't imagine one of them growing up to become
>something that would yield a timber that could be mistaken for oak.
Easiest way to spot rubberwood is (usually) that it's made from narrow
strips, laminated up. It's also quite a distinct timber from oak, if
you know how to recognise oak anyway, Colour is similar to the
lightest of oaks, but the structure is quite different.
When applied to teak, "plantation" is usually a shorthand for
"Irreversible rainforest deforestation by the military juntas of Burma
or Cambodia, supplied with faked paperwork". In this case though, my
first thought would be rubberwood, one of the most sustainable of the
tropicals.
Andy Dingley <[email protected]> schreef
> Easiest way to spot rubberwood is (usually) that it's made from narrow
> strips, laminated up. It's also quite a distinct timber from oak, if
> you know how to recognise oak anyway, Colour is similar to the
> lightest of oaks, but the structure is quite different.
+ + +
There don't seem to be many good pictures on the net, but these give some
idea:
http://www.bnswood.co.th/index.html
PvR
I did a google search myself. It seems that plantation hardwood is a
classification based upon the trees being grown on a 'tree farm' for
subsequent harvesting. There seems to be a bunch of cabinet suppliers
providing a choice of Plantation Hardwood along with other common species
with no indication of what species the plantation hardwood is. I went to
the original supplier's web site only to find a single item in the species
list as plantation hardwood along with Oak, Maple, Cherry, Alder and Birch.
The sample I have looks a like oak but is less dense and a little lighter in
color.
Perhaps it's time to punt.
Chuck
"Charlie Self" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> WoodChuck asks:
>
> >I have a chance to do a little project adding a piece of custom cabinetry
to
> >a recently remodeled kitchen. The cabinets were made of Plantation
Hardwood
> >with a honey finish. My problem is figuring out what plantation hardwood
> >really is and where to buy it. The wood sample looks a little like oak
but
> >more porous, lighter in weight and color.
> >
> >Anyone know what this stuff is?
>
> Whose plantation? At least one company grows a variety of eucalyptus in
> plantations, and calls the result Lyptus or some such. There are
plantations
> for many types of wood, so without having a pretty good idea to start who
is
> producing the wood, it's gonna be difficult to trace.
>
> Google shows lots of plantation hardwood set-ups, including teak, but no
> Plantation Hardwood.
>
> Charlie Self
>
> "Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil
and
> steady dedication of a lifetime. "
> Adlai E. Stevenson
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Nut Tree wrote:
> Many of the older rubber trees in Malaysia and Indonesia are being
> recycled
> into furniture. It does look a bit like oak but it does weigh less, or
> seems so when held in the hand. Much of the stuff for sale in stores like
> Pier Imports is rubber wood.
Is that actually true? I guess I need to go do some reading. My initial
reaction is that rubber trees are /Ficus elastica/ and that those trees
have pithy, spindly wood. I can't imagine one of them growing up to become
something that would yield a timber that could be mistaken for oak.
Maybe real rubber trees aren't /F. elastica/, or maybe /F. elastica/ makes a
much more robust tree when grown in its natural habitat. I don't know
which or whether.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17840 Approximate word count: 535200
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
Silvan notes:
>Maybe real rubber trees aren't /F. elastica/, or maybe /F. elastica/ makes a
>much more robust tree when grown in its natural habitat. I don't know
>which or whether.
>
Well, reports on F. elastica range from 50 to 90 foot final neight, but the
rubber tree that produces sap for rubber making is Hevea brasiliensis. Whole
'nother thing.
Grows as high as 125 feet, but are usually cut before the reach 80 feet and a
16 inch diameter (tall, skinny sucker, eh?). That takes about 25 years.
The tree pays its way with latex rubber sap, so a lot of that cheap furniture
is made with wood that is probably super cheap at its locale...it has to come
down because of decreased sap production, thus is essentially a junk tree. A
brief look: specific gravity from 0.46 to 0.52 (light middleweight); dries
quickly, usually kiln dried right away because all sorts of fungi and insects
find it delicious when green; low shrinkage; stable when dried; works very
easily; steam bends decently or better and the bends are stable; splits when
nailed. Peels easily to produce veneer. Hard enough for parquet or strip
flooring, though its hardness has been compared to Europe's Scotch pine.
The supply seems to be increasing as a newer more productive type of rubber
tree is being planted.
Charlie Self
"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and
steady dedication of a lifetime. "
Adlai E. Stevenson
Charlie Self wrote:
> Well, reports on F. elastica range from 50 to 90 foot final neight, but
> the rubber tree that produces sap for rubber making is Hevea brasiliensis.
> Whole 'nother thing.
OK, that seems quite credible, 'cause I sure can't imagine those crappy,
pithy little stupid rubber houseplant things turning into oak-like stuff.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17849 Approximate word count: 535470
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> Silvan notes:
>
> >Maybe real rubber trees aren't /F. elastica/, or maybe /F. elastica/ makes a
> >much more robust tree when grown in its natural habitat. I don't know
> >which or whether.
> >
>
> Well, reports on F. elastica range from 50 to 90 foot final neight, but the
> rubber tree that produces sap for rubber making is Hevea brasiliensis. Whole
> 'nother thing.
>
> Grows as high as 125 feet, but are usually cut before the reach 80 feet and a
> 16 inch diameter (tall, skinny sucker, eh?). That takes about 25 years.
>
> The tree pays its way with latex rubber sap, so a lot of that cheap furniture
> is made with wood that is probably super cheap at its locale...it has to come
> down because of decreased sap production, thus is essentially a junk tree. A
> brief look: specific gravity from 0.46 to 0.52 (light middleweight); dries
> quickly, usually kiln dried right away because all sorts of fungi and insects
> find it delicious when green; low shrinkage; stable when dried; works very
> easily; steam bends decently or better and the bends are stable; splits when
> nailed. Peels easily to produce veneer. Hard enough for parquet or strip
> flooring, though its hardness has been compared to Europe's Scotch pine.
>
> The supply seems to be increasing as a newer more productive type of rubber
> tree is being planted.
>
I also seem to recall that rubber tree wood has some sort of resident
fungus in it that normally stains the wood rapidly after cutting. It
was relatively recently that they figured out how to kill this (and the
bugs) in order to actually use the wood. Before this, the trees were
burned after they were cut, to make way for younger, more productive
plants.