Hi folks!
@spanky, when you wrote that you have a JHQ "Rare Woods" ice bucket shaped like a 3-Mile Island cooling tower, I thought you meant one of these:
One in wenge would be extremely rare (if any even exist), so I got a little excited there for a moment.
Those staved pieces often split at the glue lines as they age mostly due to individual staves shrinking at different rates. Filling the resulting gaps with slivers of the same or similar species is likely the best way to remedy this condition as closing the gaps by clamping really only adds to the considerable and constant forces at play. That said, epoxy has fairly good gap-filling capability and may well hold up for long enough to suit most needs. Any remaining minor voids can be filled and inpainted to match. Skillfully done, these types of cosmetic repairs can be virtually undetectable by casual observation.
I think it's possible that one or more of the voids on your bucket may have been present when it was new and that the stamp might be a quality-control mark identifying it as what we would call a "factory second" or a "blem". Or I could be way off-base with that guess...
Pretty sure Mark's FL address is the Palm Beach House Condominiums in West Palm. If I were a detective, I'd call any better consignment stores or pricier cocktail bars in that area and ask after him. Or maybe try vintage German car clubs near there.
Thanks, tktoo. I found a source for small pieces of thin wenge online and will get one in case of future splits. I read about that as a method of repair but it sounded beyond my skills. But if it's already just 1/8" thick, then i could do it.
Wasn't Mark on an extended trip to Europe, last we heard from him? Maybe we should file a missing person report with Interpol! Just kidding. They would probably ask for his full name right off the bat and pretty sure "Aunt Mark" wouldn't cut it.
Great ideas, tk. I'll try something tomorrow (too late to call today, but I can look at the neighborhood and get ready).
Spanky, I think Mark had returned from his trip when the Schlitz hit the fan, though as I recall we heard little of him after that point. We love our Mark, don't we ? Everyone wants to have a bit of royalty in the family (or what passes for royalty on this side of the pond)---and besides . . . well, enough said.
As for wenge: the Lincoln pickup truck (!) that employed a bit of the specie---I'm still trying to recall where, exactly, though I suspect it was skid strips on the floor of the bed---was called (what else) the Blackwood. This remembrance doesn't mention that vital (to me) detail: https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/lincoln-blackwood-was-lovable-pickup-truck-failure-256033
A Wikipedia page, on the other hand, has better pictures, and this: "The exterior of the bed featured aluminum pinstripes over artificial burled black wood. " No wood grain appears in the photos, that I can see. And we all know what to think of people who appear to believe that wood can be "burled" . . .
Finally, we have this: "Its all-black interior was richly appointed with four Connolly leather bucket seats, broad center consoles front and rear, oak trim, a sunroof, and an optional GPS-based navigation system. Continuing with the elegant stygian scheme, black was the only available exterior color, though on the bed, distinctive ersatz black wenge wood patterns were imprinted on composite panels and then overlaid with aluminum pinstripes." https://www.automobilemag.com/news/lincoln-blackwood-pickup-truck-vintage-classic/
So, it was never actual wenge at all. (Curving thick pieces of wood around those rear corners would have been a trick.) Never moind . . . as they say on Long Gyland.
@spanky, When/if civilization as we know it doesn't end and/or we ever find the time to get to our deferred maintenance projects, smaller pieces of wenge veneer can be found at online retailers (Woodcraft, Rockler, etc.) for short money. The paper-backed stuff can be cut with sharp scissors and stacked to fill narrower gaps. The trickiest part would be scraping old glue out of there with an X-Acto or scalpel in preparation. Filler strip(s) should be left proud of the surface and can easily be shaved or sanded to final contour after glue has cured. Anybody with a lathe and some experience with face plate turning could fashion an accurate-enough lid if you decide one is needed.
@sdr, You could probably guess my opinion of any "luxury pickup truck/utility vehicle" produced anywhere by anybody. Even the MB G-wagens are enough to gag a maggot, IMO. Maybe it's just the people that buy them. I'd take a Unimog any day, though! Perhaps Mark has decamped to his ancestral grounds inland. Can you imagine riding this out in West Palm? I can't. On that sorry note, reports from SF sound grim. Please stay well, old friend, and check in often.
Thanks, tktoo. (Hey---didn't have to sign in or anything, this morning ! Special Covid 19 dispensation ?)
Things are quiet on the streets here, but far from dead. I'm going to work today at a private residence---we're doing another kitchen. I'll get breakfast at the usual place, but for take-out only. But they still have a couple of tables on the sidewalk; maybe I'll get a seat. With my new swell phone, I may be able to post from there.
The less said about the Blackwood, the better. Made for only one year . . . wonder how many were sold ?
You guys stay safe, too. More soon. Shh. . .the Praysident is going to bloviate again . . .
tktoo--the wenge I found was from Rockland selling on ebay---free shipping, i think. I'm gonna go ahead and get some. The other little crack looks a micromilimeter or two wider than a few days ago, though it could be my imagination.
I cleaned out the other ones by dripping acetone into them and gently scraping with a #11 X-acto blade, then rinsing with acetone.
Just glued up a very teeny hairline split on a walnut cheese board (Ernest Sohn--some of his stuff is kitschy but some is nice!) and clamped it with a tourniquet because my little bar clamps are about 1/2" too short! Grrr! I used to have big bar clamps but i gave them to a friend.
SDR you asked to see my tourniquet. The webbing used to be on the usually band clamp deal with the ratchet thing that you crank tight, but it froze up and nothing I did could loosen it, so I just cut the ratchet part off and am using the webbing which is very strong and has no give to it. I think it's nylon.
I just knotted it and stuff a big aluminum crochet hook through the knot, then twisted it tight and clamped the crochet hook down with a 6" spring clamp. The painter's tape is just to keep any excess glue from soaking into the wood, which is extremely dry---probably from someone running this through the dishwasher a bunch.
I like crochet hooks for stuff like this because they are very smooth, no corners or edges to ding up the wood. They're also comfortable in the hand, and they're helpful when weaving the final strands of paper cord seats, both to widen a hole that you have to stick cord through and to hook it and pull it through.
Melanie's Real Thrift & Things ? I'm not having too much luck finding the right streets anywhere in the vicinity.
I will contact them, for what it's worth. Somehow I doubt that this is the right place. Perhaps I'll plow back though the thread to see if I can find his comments about the shop and possibly the neighborhood; I'm suspecting that he may have gone further afield, in one of the vehicles, to find suitable shopping and imbibing . . . ?
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