Dresser. Not.

Right, so I meant to surprise you all with a fully completed dresser, all beautifully fitted and sprayed in time for the holidays. What happened in reality was a partially completed dresser, and some bits hanging about waiting to dry.

So what you get instead are some musings on wood. Now that I've been doing this for a grand total of 4 months, I've had the opportunity now to work with several different types of wood and to get a feel for the different textures and characteristics that come with the territory. We've been working mostly with wood that's indigenous to the British Isles (mostly because I think the principal gets it for free - he is Scottish after all!), and I've decided to rank them all - some of these observations may prove incorrect with time, but here's an uneducated beginner's take:

1. Sycamore - this is a joy to work with. Its a very hard, close-grained wood which cuts easily and gives a great finish as its easily sanded up to a nice pretty polish. The only downside is the colour, which is fine if you like a milky/white/light wood. But me, I grew up in the tropics, and if its not dark its not right.

2. Walnut - a dark, dense, hard wood which is pretty easy to hand finish if your tools are sharp. We've only used small bits of this because its so expensive, but what little I've seen of it so far has been pretty good. If I'd have had a chance to work with it more, it might have overtaken sycamore, but will have to just settle in second place for now.

3. Yew - a really pretty wood. I would say the queen of the lot. With lovely grain and beautiful purple streaks running through it, this is certainly the wood to turn too when you're looking for that little something that grabs attention. Sometimes a bit too hard (and the grain's a bit too wild) to work with properly, especially if you're using handtools.

4. Sweet chestnut - known as poor man's oak. This to me is a much nicer wood than oak as it feels pretty much the same to work with but has a much lovelier grain. Plus, as a bonus for you stingy Scots out there - its cheaper and stains up to a nice pretend ebony if you try hard enough (just ask John).

5.Wych elm - another pretty wood with some lovely green streaks running through it if you get it right. Unfortunately the grain is rather wild and crazy and its quite hard, which makes it difficult to work with sometimes.

6. Beech - the ugly step-sister of the lot. Its very strong and good for structural work (which is why its used to make domino bits), and is quite a stable hardwood as its dense and close grained. However, its quite an unattractive colour (a horrible reddy salmon) and I would rather not use it if I had a choice! Its ranked higher than oak or olive ash though, just because of how useful it is.

7. Oak - this is a bit of a pain to work with despite its popularity with the masses. Its too hard and chips/splinters relatively easily, especially when compared to sycamore or walnut. Bloody heavy to boot (just check Stumpy out, will probably need 4 Poles to move it).

8. Olive ash - I must confess that I haven't used this much at all. From what I have seen so far though, its quite soft for a hardwood and chips easily, although its got a very pretty grain (white with grey/brown streaks). Another wood which is generally too light for me too.

9. Cherry - must have got a stinker in the small plank I used but I just did not like this at all. It chipped easily and has what to me is an unattractive red hew to it.

Extreme woodworking

Last but not least, we had a bit of a chuckle in the workshop today when we discovered the parting gift which 'no hands' Hamish left behind on Friday. No prizes for guessing why he's called that. And on that note, see you next term.