All pieces are coated with a clear marine grade polyurethane spar varnish that is impervious to most liquids including body oils and some mild acids. It also has ultraviolet inhibitors in it to repel the suns UV rays.

I started this column because of my desire to share my woodworking experiences and to teach and help people become better woodworkers. I have more than 25 years of experience working with wood and have worked more than 500 different species of wood. I normally keep more than 125 species in stock.

I have studied hundreds of woodworking magazine articles and more than 230 books on woodworking by as many as 190 authors. In addition I have studied numerous books and magazine articles on art, business, marketing, advertising and webmastering. I consult with both individuals and companies {World Tree Technologies, Impact Group New York, & B. K. Brown Designs} on the best wood, procedures and finishing techniques to use in the production of their wooden projects or products and how to advertise their products.

The easiest, fastest and safest way to uncoil a band saw blade is to go to a grassy area and pitch it 8 - 12 foot out in front of you letting it hit the grass covered ground.

Botanical name is Agathis australis. Its average specific gravity is approximately 0.45. It is in the classification of softwood. It grows in New Zealand. Other names are Kauri Pine, Kaurikopal, Menghilan, Dakua Makadre and New Zealand Kauri.

The trees from ancient forests on North Island, New Zealand have been buried under peat moss during the last ice age. They are well preserved and are now being dug up from the tundra. They have been radio carbon dated to approximately 30,000 - 50,000 years old. Of coarse, 50,000 years is the ultimate limit of radio carbon dating so it is quite possible that these trees could be older!

It is estimated that the trees were growing approximately 12 - 20 centuries before they were buried by the ice. Some of the trees had a circumference of approximately 40 foot and heights of almost 200 foot. The Ancient Kauri trees are native to New Zealand and are not found anywhere else in the world.

Ancient Kauri wood is environmentally safe. There are no cutting of living trees and the land that the trees were on is redone to its original contours and state.

The logs are underneath the surface of farm fields and ranch lands. When a site is identified, permission is obtained and expert heavy equipment operators are brought in to carefully expose and lift the logs which are gigantic and are at 100% moisture content out of what was a prehistoric bog. Then they are moved to a location to begin the milling process. The milling itself, has demanded some innovative equipment designs and in some instances just plain old lumberman's ingenuity.

The kiln drying process is very slow and great care and patience is required as it looses heavy amounts of moisture to reach the moisture content of 12%.

Kauri trees still grow in New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea, Fiji Islands, Indochina, Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Indonesia and New Caledonia. Law protects the Kauri trees that grow in New Zealand. The above Kauri trees are not the quality that Ancient Kauri trees are. Some have been dug up that are 3000 - 5000 years old.

Canoes were handcrafted by the older generations of Maori people. Each was made from a single tree and some were up to 80 foot long.

The gum from the Kauri use to be used as an ingredient in high quality paints and varnishes.

Ancient Kauri lumber is classified a softwood. It has about the same hardness as say Southern Yellow Pine. Because the growth rings are much closer together {tighter} than present day Kauri has, it is a little harder and easier to work.

The lumber has minute movement in service, {very stable}.

It planes, drills, hand carves and cuts well with either high speed tool steel or carbide tipped cutting tools and it also does not tool burn easily. It does have the tendency to fuzz. It does not have much of a dulling affect even when using high speed tool steel cutting tools. Cutting tools should be kept quite sharp as the wood has a tendency to chip out, tear and splinter.

As with most softwood routing across the grain is difficult. Extremely sharp bits should be used and multiple shallow passes made cutting away only small amounts of wood per each pass, 1/32" or so per pass.

Turns well on a lathe. Due to the softness of the wood it is best when turning miniature pieces to use the highest possible lathe speed. Sharp tools should be used at all times when working with the wood. Care should be taken to use slight pressure and remove a minute amount of wood at a time due to its softness.

Glues very well with carpenters yellow glue or polyurethane glue.

Sands well with all types of sandpaper (no gum up). If sanded down in steps to 2000 grit sandpaper or finer it will produce a finish that gives the illusion of being 3 dimensional.

Stains well but the wood should be preconditioned before staining due to the softness of the wood to eliminate blotching.

Polishing will produce a remarkable luster.

Due to the softness of the wood, deep thread wood screws should be used for fastening multiple pieces of this wood together or other parts to it. It nails well and no pre-boring is needed.

It is closed pored, usually straight. Sometimes some lumber will have wavy grain, may have a flame or mottled figure and may even have areas that give the illusion of changing colors..

This wood is moderately durable in an outdoor environment.

Ancient Kauri can be bought from veneer 1/20th of an inch thick, 9" wide and 10 foot long to slabs as large as 14 inches thick 48" wide and 12 foot long. Logs, stumps, natural edge and free form wild edge pieces are also available.

The lumber cost is $25.00 - $60.00 per board foot depending upon the grain {figure pattern}, thickness and width. The veneer starts at $3.00 per square foot

One place you may purchase Ancient Kauri wood online is, Ancientwood, LTD. Each piece of Ancient Kauri wood/lumber purchased, comes with a Certificate Of Authenticity.

When making a box, no matter how many sides always cut the sides from one piece of lumber and in consecutive order. This allows the figure and grain patterns of the wood to be continuous, wrapping around the perimeter of the box.

No mistakes, no experience; no experience, no wisdom. Stanley Goldstein

Botanical name is Berchemia zeyheri. Its average specific gravity is approximately 0.81. It is in the classification of hardwood. It grows in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa. Other names are Red Ivorywood, Umgoloti Wood and Pau Preto Wood.

Legend has it that it is the royal wood of the South African tribe, Zulu. When the son of a chief is capable of cutting the tree down and can create a spear with the wood, he is considered a man. No other member of the tribe is allowed to cut a tree or have any of the trees wood in their possession. If they break this sacred rule, the punishment is death.

Pink Ivory turns and carves fairly easily. It has a very fine texture, if sanded down in steps to 2000 grit sandpaper or finer it will shine without applying a finish or wax to it. The color can be light pink to a medium red with a pinkish tinge and sometimes a fairly bright red with a pinkish tinge. It costs $100.00 - $150.00 per board foot. Sometimes it is sold by the pound. Here is a supplier that usually has it, Righteous Woods.

Store lumber vertically from longest pieces in back to shortest in front, instead of horizontally on shelves or racks. It makes lumber a whole lot easier to see, look at {thumb through}, from getting marred and scratched, and it saves a lot of time.

The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it. Elbert Hubbard

Botanical name is Olea europaea. Its average specific gravity is approximately 0.70. It is in the classification of hardwood. Today Olive tress can be found in northern Africa, the Middle East and southern Europe especially in Italy. There are also small orchards in California, Florida and Arizona. Other names are Olivo Wood, Olivier Wood and Olbaum Wood.

Olive Trees have been around for many centuries. Olive is in the Ash {Fraxinus spp} family. They can live for 1500 years or more and usually do not obtain a height of more than 25 feet or diameters in excess of 12 inches. The Holy Bible states that King Solomon's temple had Olivewood decorative art objects in it.

Very large percentages are cultivated for oil and the olives. It is rarely sold or available in lumber and if one is lucky enough to find lumber, it will be small pieces and very expensive.

The most famous and sought after Olivewood is the wood from the trees in and around the Bethlehem Jerusalem Holy Land area. Because the trees are only trimmed once or twice a year, it is extremely difficult to obtain the wood and then only in small pieces. No trees are ever harmed, damaged or destroyed by the trimming.

Bethlehem Olivewood lumber is hard, heavy and strong. The color can be light to medium brown with a yellowish tinge with brownish, grayish and blackish markings. The lumber has great movement in service. It routs, shapes and planes well with carbide tipped cutting tools. Carves well and turns well on a lathe.

Drilling and cutting is rather difficult. Most cutting tools seem to dull at an above average rate. Cutting tools should be kept quite sharp. It also does not tool burn easily

If one does not own or have access to a moisture meter, especially with the blocks used for turning, I highly recommend stabilizing {treating} it using PEG 1000 {polyethylene glycol} before making any project from it.

When first worked with tools and sanded, the wood gives off a slight sweet smell.

Sands wells, very little gum up. Glues very well with polyurethane glue.

It costs $50.00 to $90.00 per board foot.

One must be very careful in purchasing Olivewood as some pieces may have high waste {unusable} as much as 66 2/3%. Small pieces this does not pertain to, but the larger the piece the poorer the quality. This is because the trees are small and do not have very much of a trunk. Here is one supplier that sells it in Israel, Bethlehem Olive Wood.

When routing woods that tool burn easily when you slow down too much or stop such as cherry, use a variable speed router. To get the burn marks out, set the speed of the router to about 2/3 of the maximum revolution and lower the bit just a hair, then make one more pass. You will get a slightly rougher cut but the burn mark or marks will be gone.

Botanical name is Piratinera Guianensis. Its average specific gravity is approximately 1.30. It is in the classification of hardwood and it grows in South America, Guyana and Surinam. Other names are Leopard Wood, Speckled Wood and Letterwood.

It is extremely hard! Color is usually light reddish brown to dark reddish brown. It can have remarkable figure with dark brown or black speckles, stripes and spots like a leopards or with strange markings. It has a tendency to dull tools very quickly it is best to use extremely sharp carbide tools when working with this wood. In my experience when sawing Snakewood it is not uncommon for the saw blade to throw sparks. You should clean the wood with Acetone prior to gluing it and use a polyurethane glue.

The price varies depending upon the amount of figure the wood has. Highly figured will cost $150.00 - $350.00 per board foot. Sometimes they sell it by the pound. One board foot will normally weigh approximately 6 pounds. There are a few suppliers who carry Snakewood most of the time, one such supplier is, Eisenbrand Exotic Hardwoods.

When marking around templates or patterns, you should use a mechanical pencil that uses 0.5 or 0.7mm lead. This allows for a precise and consistent marking to follow when using a scroll saw or bandsaw for cutting. Also you can twist the lead out say an inch or so to mark in those hard to reach crevices.

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas Alva Edison

Botanical name is Tetraclinis artculata. Its average specific gravity is approximately 0.72. It is in the classification of softwood {Conifer}. It grows in Morocco and Algeria. Other names are Citrus Wood, Thyine Wood and Sandarac Wood.

It is a burl, which is an outgrowth on the root of a tree. When worked {sawed, planed, sanded etc.} it gives off a sweet but also a sour smell combined. It is usually light golden brown to light to medium brown sometimes with a slight reddish tinge and has wild grain and numerous knots making a mottled or bird's eye figure. The wood is difficult to work because of its brittle nature. Extreme care is required during the kiln drying process. To eliminate this you can either air dry (requiring an extended amount of time depending upon the thickness of the wood) or I recommend stabilizing {treating} it using PEG 1000 {polyethylene glycol} before making any project from it. This will decrease the waiting time to do a project.

It costs $50.00 to $75.00 per board foot but it is extremely difficult to obtain a source. The source that I have located to obtain this wood is, Exotic Wood Group.

To produce exact fitting pieces, use the cut and fit method. To do this take each piece, line it up with the joining piece and mark approximately with a pencil where the cut needs to be, then cut the piece {sometimes takes as many as 3 or 4 cuts} until it fits precisely.

Exquisite taste. Beautiful craftsmanship. A continual quest for excellence. These three elements combine to make J.W. Morlan's Unique Wood Gifts (www.morlanwoodgifts.com) one of the finest purveyors of individually-made solid wood items in the world. As a young boy helping his father with carpentry jobs, Johnny Morlan could never guess that one day his gorgeous wood pieces would adorn not only the finest American and European homes, but would even be presented to the President and First Lady of the United States. By the time he was a teen, the artistry that would later make him such a success was already apparent.

I Was A Celebrity Gift Bag Participate, For The 16Th Annual American Century Celebrity Golf Championship, July 12 - 17, 2005 At The Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, Lake Tahoe, Nevada. 100 Gift Bags Were Given To Current & Former Professional Athletes & Entertainers.

Some of Johnny's creations have been bought by or given as presents to professional people, foreign dignitaries of state, celebrities and even the President and the First Lady of the United States.