In our most recent edition of the Woodworker’s Journal Weekly, Rob talked about burning wood, both for purposes of heat and as decorative techniques. Readers had some things to say about burning wood – like which species should be used for which purposes – and about Rob’s musical tastes. – Editor
“It seems like a pitiful shame to burn a good construction hardwood for heat. Pine and juniper are fine; my family has used them in in the past along with half rotten logs from the swamp since there are more of these woods than we can dispose of. Moreover, it seems OK to use small quantities of domestic hardwoods for barbecuing: cherry, apple, pecan, mesquite, hickory and oak are favorites in this neck of the woods. But expensive exotics should never be torched. Can you imagine burning up a Brazilian rosewood log to smoke a steak?” —Moh Clark
“’Come on baby light my fire! Try to set the night on fire!’ It is wonderful to hear someone quote those popular words again. Who knows, maybe they will be part of another famous movie or something else in the future. In the meantime, I am celebrating my new DeWALT 735X thickness planer with the 3-knife cutterhead. I have never touched wood so smooth after going through a planer like the DeWALT.” – Lee F. Howland
Slippery Slide Rules
This reader’s comment was about our expert Tim Inman’s memories of bamboo slide rules, as part of the answer to a question on bamboo.
“Your pic of your ‘slippery stick,’ as we regularly referred to them, sure brought back some old memories. I still have a 12-in. bamboo K&E and a 6-in. aluminum Pickett in the bottom of my drawer as well. The only problem is that these old eyes probably wouldn’t provide as much accuracy as those 19-year-old eyes did.” – Rick Nadler
