Local Wood Varieties . .

[flyer222]

Hello there, I need some help on identifying a Thai hardwood called "mai khao dam". Does anybody know its name? Appreciate any help, thanks.

[GungaDin]

Beautiful work!

Tech, if I asked my local chippy to make me a 4 shelf, simple, TV stand,

which very dark wood would you suggest?

No teak thanks.

cheers

gd

Bump

[technocracy]

Hello there, I need some help on identifying a Thai hardwood called "mai khao dam". Does anybody know its name? Appreciate any help, thanks.

Mai khao dam . . quite simple - black and white ebony (the clue is in the name! ) Just look for it in the previous set of pictures. In Lao it's called Mai Lang Dam

Beautiful work!

Tech, if I asked my local chippy to make me a 4 shelf, simple, TV stand,

which very dark wood would you suggest?

No teak thanks.

cheers

gd

I pm'd a reply didn't i? Dark wood = Rosewood - so Mai Khamphii, Mai Khanoung (ching chang in thai?) or Mai Mun which is black and brown ebony. Or probably more available Mai Doo Daeng which is otherwise known as Burmese Rosewood but it's not a real rosewood i.e. not a member of the Dalbergia family but is a very dark red and has a lovely grain to it.

Any unit in those woods will cost a fair bit in wood alone.

I have updated a few pictures on the guitar builds on my site a bit if anyones interested. . although I've been concentrating on pickups just lately and the builds have lagged behind somewhat. (sjeguitar.com just incase you can't find it from the links on the pictures)

Righty I hear some Bamboo Soup calling my name, then I have a fretboard to glue . . c'y'all!

Edited July 28, 2009 by technocracy

[technocracy]

A quick and blatant plug . . . well I did post a part finished picture previously so just to prove I do actually finish things!

[quiksilva]

I don't play but I can appreciate good workmanship when I see it, and that is a beautiful guitar!

PS. Im getting a pergola built, what type of wood would be best? I'm not prepared to pay absolute top dollar but want great value for money, it should be suitable for outdoors and resistant to termites and of course it has to look good. Any ideas?

[technocracy]

I don't play but I can appreciate good workmanship when I see it, and that is a beautiful guitar!

PS. Im getting a pergola built, what type of wood would be best? I'm not prepared to pay absolute top dollar but want great value for money, it should be suitable for outdoors and resistant to termites and of course it has to look good. Any ideas?

Pergola . . . hmmm well the best bang for buck is the Giam & Malabar Ironwoods - khaen hin or khaen hua both fill your needs and are at the cheaper end of the wood scale. Then there is Burmese Ironwood - mai daeng (which incidentally the wings of that guitar and the previous guitar are made from - albeit figured grain) as you can see if finished well can look great although in general it is usually a plain kind of grain, I landed the log with figured grain purely by fluke!

Then the next is Afzelia Xylocarpa - Mai Tae Kha - I make all my guitar necks from it and the thin laminate strips in that guitar body are this - however it's nowhere near as strong as the ironwoods and is more often used for indoor furniture mainly due to the more attractive grain. Also for some bizarre reason it's regularly finished with a yellow shallac so it look virtually the same colour as the Padouk - mai doo. This I really don't understand as in my opinion the natural colour and finish of it is far superior to the Padouk. However for some reason Padouk is put up at the top of hi-so's wood list - sure it's a nice looking timber and hel_l all of the windows and doors in my house are made from it. It's perfectly usable for outdoor or indoor and as with all the others I mentioned is resistant to termites.

In terms of termite resistance the list goes list this:

1) Giam

2) Burmese Ironwood

3) Malabar Ironwood

4) Padouk

5) Afzelia xylocarpa

For some reason Padouk has gained a reputation as the strongest wood available - it terms of actual Janka hardness rating it is actually the weakness of those 5 and as that list show it is the 4th dense. Termite resistance is all about the density wood the denser the wood the a less chance of termites being about to eat it this is why softer and lighter aka not dense woods are consumed with ease.

Cheers for the compliment on the guitar - it plays and sounds great as well!

Edited August 25, 2009 by technocracy

[Thaikidave]

Thanks for all the information about woods. I'm starting an aikido club and I need cheap short staffs for practice with contact, and maybe to make wooden bokken. Usually they're made out of white or red oak. I was thinking about one of the ironwoods. I have to see what the local shops have. Anyone know anything about practice weapons?

[quiksilva]

Cheers Techno, that knowledge will come in handy. I have got some quotes coming in tomorrow so am now a little better informed! Much appreciated!

[technocracy]

Great guitars. We bought beautiful old 'sralao' furniture in Cambodia, I think this is the same as 'tabek' in Thailand (lagerstroemia ovalifolia I am told). The Khmers used it in their houses in the old days, so it must be reasonably durable. Our furniture is polished up to a sheen and seems to hold the surface well. It has a dark brown tiger-stripe pattern through deep gold-coloured wood, it's really distinctive.

Hey Goinghomesoon . . . I missed this message in the thread and the mentioned of lagerstroemia ovalifolia . . according to this site:

http://www.dnp.go.th/wffp/research/databas.../LYTHRACEAE.htm

It is know in Thai as Dta baek daeng (although my Thai reading ain't the best . . . ) but commonly known as tabek - in Lao it is Mai Bak Daeng . .

However the lagerstroemia ovalifolia may be the Thai species although the Laos and the more common Malay species is Anisoptera cochinchinensis which looks something like this:

http://www.thewoodexplorer.com/maindata/we104.html

I was excited for a moment as the lagerstroemia is a species of Myrtle which produces some fabulous colour burls and wood and I thought I might beable find some locally .. .. .. however it ain't.

Thaikidave I generally remember a the bokken as a kind of wood samurai sword look alike without a hilt? Mai daeng would be excellent for these as it's incredible strong and a piece 50mm wide and just 5mm or so thick can barely be bent by hand let alone snapped! Never did any Aikido in my martial arts days mainly due to there being no schools near where I lived - mainly Pencak Silat and Jeet Kune do myself.

[basjke]

A question for the experts on this topic.I've been looking for interior doors and saw some in a nice looking wood which they told me was Champa wood.It seemed to me very hard when I touched it,had a nice looking grain and was also reasonable in price.

When asked the sellers told me that termites like it and also that the chinese use it for their coffins,which I cannot understand.

Why chinese would put a coffin in the ground that they know will be easily eaten by termites.

My question is so,is this wood suitable for interior doors and will it easily colour in a natural tint?

[technocracy]

A question for the experts on this topic.I've been looking for interior doors and saw some in a nice looking wood which they told me was Champa wood.It seemed to me very hard when I touched it,had a nice looking grain and was also reasonable in price.

When asked the sellers told me that termites like it and also that the chinese use it for their coffins,which I cannot understand.

Why chinese would put a coffin in the ground that they know will be easily eaten by termites.

My question is so,is this wood suitable for interior doors and will it easily colour in a natural tint?

Champa wood?!? As in the Champa flower tree? Strange since the trees are small and have very little wood.

Never heard of Champa wood for sale.

[basjke]

A question for the experts on this topic.I've been looking for interior doors and saw some in a nice looking wood which they told me was Champa wood.It seemed to me very hard when I touched it,had a nice looking grain and was also reasonable in price.

When asked the sellers told me that termites like it and also that the chinese use it for their coffins,which I cannot understand.

Why chinese would put a coffin in the ground that they know will be easily eaten by termites.

My question is so,is this wood suitable for interior doors and will it easily colour in a natural tint?

Champa wood?!? As in the Champa flower tree? Strange since the trees are small and have very little wood.

Never heard of Champa wood for sale.

If I do a google for Michelia champaca I can find some results that the wood is used for furniture.

The doors I saw were at global house and had a grain that looked a bit similar to teak,light brown in colour and were very smooth to touch.If you went over with your fingernail it was impossible to make any engraving in the wood however they said it was softwood and told me it named champa wood.

[technocracy]

Here is all the info you need:

http://www.thewoodexplorer.com/maindata/we779.html

According to that it certainly a softwood with a density around 470kg/m3 which is much the same as Pine. Even though that wood explorer strangely states it has a high termite resistance I'd consider it be very wrong! Pine wouldn't last 10 seconds left on the floor near termites and I wouldn't expect this to do much different!

So in short treat it as you would pine and you won't got far wrong.

[technocracy]

BUMP and PLUG . . . .

. . .look at the eyes on that . . .

Also just to keep this post somewhat on track - I amusingly noticed a post offering to buy peoples Amboyna burl for the generous price of $6.50 per kg bizarrely posted Job Offers section - I hope that no one was stupid enough to sell any!!! The very minimum per kg price of Amboyna burl is $30 and commonly higher depending on the quality and number of eyes etc.

Although if anyone has any I'll offer you $7

Edited September 8, 2009 by technocracy

[nakedcalcium]

tecknocracy,got a question.do you sell your guitars and if you do for how much

You have a PM!

Cheers for the compliements people . . . ain't looked on this thread for while been busy busy . . here's a quick pic of a in progress build.

With it first coat of oil . .

Mai daeng (Burmese Ironwood) wings with accents stripes of Mai Khampii (Laos Rosewood) and Mai Tha kha (Afzelia Xylee). The neck is Afzelia with a Laos Rosewood fretboard . .. . of which I don't have any current pics.

Here's a couple of further appetizers:

Figure Afzelia Xylee (mai tha kha laai) currently being turned into an 8 string guitar which currently looks like this:

That fret board is some more lovely b&w ebony:

The neck is figured Siam rosewood:

Check out the wild figuring on the back of the neck:

The 8 string parts have just been prepared I am waiting on a few deliveries of parts to continue with it.

Oh yes forgot add Afzelia Xylee is far stronger than teak and denser - however teak has the high oil content so it'll always be far superior to basically any other timbers for use where the timber has water exposure. Personally I aren't a really fan of the teak furniture but that just a personal thing - I think the grain and colour are a little plain.

[maimeearai]

Can anyone tell me the English name for the wood known locally (Southern Thailand) as 'mai loong por' ? or possibly 'mai loom por'

[MaiDong]

I saw a very descriptive list of woods with pictures some time ago on tv.com but I can't find it now, can anybody point me in the right direction?

[Xylo]

It's gonna be a nice looking musical instrument! And I agree about the teak - it pales against some of the oter woods to be found in this part of the world.

tecknocracy,got a question.do you sell your guitars and if you do for how much

You have a PM!

Cheers for the compliements people . . . ain't looked on this thread for while been busy busy . . here's a quick pic of a in progress build.

With it first coat of oil . .

Mai daeng (Burmese Ironwood) wings with accents stripes of Mai Khampii (Laos Rosewood) and Mai Tha kha (Afzelia Xylee). The neck is Afzelia with a Laos Rosewood fretboard . .. . of which I don't have any current pics.

Here's a couple of further appetizers:

Figure Afzelia Xylee (mai tha kha laai) currently being turned into an 8 string guitar which currently looks like this:

That fret board is some more lovely b&w ebony:

The neck is figured Siam rosewood:

Check out the wild figuring on the back of the neck:

The 8 string parts have just been prepared I am waiting on a few deliveries of parts to continue with it.

Oh yes forgot add Afzelia Xylee is far stronger than teak and denser - however teak has the high oil content so it'll always be far superior to basically any other timbers for use where the timber has water exposure. Personally I aren't a really fan of the teak furniture but that just a personal thing - I think the grain and colour are a little plain.

[Xylo]

A question for the experts on this topic.I've been looking for interior doors and saw some in a nice looking wood which they told me was Champa wood.It seemed to me very hard when I touched it,had a nice looking grain and was also reasonable in price.

When asked the sellers told me that termites like it and also that the chinese use it for their coffins,which I cannot understand.

Why chinese would put a coffin in the ground that they know will be easily eaten by termites.

My question is so,is this wood suitable for interior doors and will it easily colour in a natural tint?

Champa wood?!? As in the Champa flower tree? Strange since the trees are small and have very little wood.

Never heard of Champa wood for sale.

Mai champa is not generally liked by Thais for furniture, as it's traditionally used to make coffins! It must be a larger variety than the flower tree, as I have seen benches made of it. It's very plae yellow, and takes a good stain.

[basjke]

A question for the experts on this topic.I've been looking for interior doors and saw some in a nice looking wood which they told me was Champa wood.It seemed to me very hard when I touched it,had a nice looking grain and was also reasonable in price.

When asked the sellers told me that termites like it and also that the chinese use it for their coffins,which I cannot understand.

Why chinese would put a coffin in the ground that they know will be easily eaten by termites.

My question is so,is this wood suitable for interior doors and will it easily colour in a natural tint?

Champa wood?!? As in the Champa flower tree? Strange since the trees are small and have very little wood.

Never heard of Champa wood for sale.

Mai champa is not generally liked by Thais for furniture, as it's traditionally used to make coffins! It must be a larger variety than the flower tree, as I have seen benches made of it. It's very plae yellow, and takes a good stain.

I guess we talking about the same wood.Actually the interior doors I saw looked very nice,almost similar grain as teak wood and no color differences.

The salesman also told me that it is used for coffins but that the termites like it.Is it common practice that a coffin is made in a wood that is liked by termites or not?

Edited December 19, 2009 by basjke

[powderpuff]

Ever heard of cremation?

[basjke]

Ever heard of cremation?

Ever heard that chinese get buried?

[powderpuff]

Why don't you build all your furniture out of Champa wood & tell us how you like it?

[canopy]

This is an excellent thread. Any recommendations on which wood varieties to use or avoid for a timber frame house? My thinking is posts should be mature teak for termite resistance, but not positive on this or what would be appropriate elsewhere. Open to all suggestions.

[basjke]

Ever heard of cremation?

Why don't you build all your furniture out of Champa wood & tell us how you like it?

Sorry,didn't realize that this was the silly answer forum.

Edited January 29, 2010 by basjke

[powderpuff]

This is an excellent thread. Any recommendations on which wood varieties to use or avoid for a timber frame house? My thinking is posts should be mature teak for termite resistance, but not positive on this or what would be appropriate elsewhere. Open to all suggestions.

Teak is a decorative furniture wood. It is not used for framing studs.

Recently lumber yards are selling metal framing studs that look perfect. No warping & no termites. Just get your drywall screws & easy peasy.

[powderpuff]

Ever heard of cremation?

Ever heard that chinese get buried?

Yes I see Chinese graveyards ALL OVER THAILAND

[powderpuff]

I'm guessing Belgium.

But here's a factoid for you.

During cremation the coffin (wood box) is burned. Thus termite infestation is rarely a problem.

But honest to God if you feel Champa wood is good for furniture please feel free to use it. Let us know how that works out.

[basjke]

I'm guessing Belgium.

But here's a factoid for you.

During cremation the coffin (wood box) is burned. Thus termite infestation is rarely a problem.

But honest to God if you feel Champa wood is good for furniture please feel free to use it. Let us know how that works out.

I'm not sure why I'm wasting my time replying to a fool.But I have asked a sincere question about interior doors which was told to me that they were Champa wood.I doubt a factory will produce doors which they know will never sell.So the people who were selling these doors didn't know what they were actually selling or it might not be a bad choice.

That is what I try to find out by posting my question,and for sure your answers don't add anything valuable.

I also wrote in my first post that the sellers told me that chinese like it for their coffins.As chinese get buried ( make a hole in the ground, put the wooden box inside and then close the hole again ) where does cremation come into the picture.

So I suggest to you,find another topic to relieve yourself from your frustrations.

[nakedcalcium]

G'Day. I'm a new guitar maker from the u.k and i want to export a small amount of wood from thailand to the u.k but i'm not sure about the paperwork, tax etc for the thai gov.For instance i'm in Ranong and if i buy wood here what paperwork would i need from the merchant. Also, is there a good wood supplier in Bangkok. I mainly make acoustic guitars so mostly i would be after wood for back and sides, neck and fretboard. Hope someone can help. Cheers. Happy Chinese New Year.