Recycled Materials
Chunks of shipwreck ebony – from the Schooner “Dolphin” that sank in 1854 off Cuttyhunk, MA. This ship was out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, probably where it put in en route from Africa with a load of ebony logs. Although the ship body was never found, the logs have been washing up on shore and put to various uses by the locals. Reference is found in The Sailor’s Magazine Volumes 26-27, Page 180, February 1855:”Schooner Dolphin, ashore at Cuttyhunk, has bilged and broken her deck, and will prove a total loss.” I utilize scraps leftover from other users as I am able to work so small.
Brazilian Bloodwood – from a ship’s “bolster.” Note the round outer radius. These would be used anywhere a rope would be dragged over say, a railing where you didn’t want to friction wear your precious rope or grind on a softer wood (i.e., where an anchor rope might be passed). Very heavy wood like ebony.
Misc. musical source materials – copper wire stripped from piano strings, ebony flat keys from pianos, bone as a substitute for piano key ivory (in support of elephant lives that remain, ivory trade needs to be shut down totally). Bone is a by-product of the food industry. Guitar maker bridge blank scraps of ebony. The large curved piece of ebony is from an acoustic bass.
Copper wire being stripped from piano string.
Searching through the pallet pieces in the scrap bins at the yard!
Shipwreck ebony being sliced on a bandsaw. Note the rough exterior and how water hardly penetrated the dense ebony shown a little at the bottom of the image (it doesn’t float!)
Swordfish Bills – discarded by the New England fishing industry. Looking to inlay little sailboats in pendants, etc. as a substitute for bone in the future.
Ebony – from various musical sources… cello and bass fingerboards with crack issues.
Brazilian Tulipwood – Importers of exotic wood informed the artist that there was some valuable heartwood that shows up in the shipping pallets. This photo displays the transition from gnarly pallet discard to gorgeous source for beautiful earrings (shown on homepage).
SAYONARA STEAMSHIP YACHT – LAKE GEORGE, NY KNAPP ESTATE – EARLY 20TH CENTURY. Andaman Padauk and Narra from the Phillipine Islands. I grew up on Lake George and have bushwhacked all around the Knapp Estate in the Shelving Rock area. It’s like traversing the ancient Roman Empire in miniature. This boat was on this glorious lake during the steamship heyday and the wood came my way from a man who came into my shop in Brattleboro, VT 2-3 years in a row, finally bringing a bucket of scraps from the Sayonara which he paid something like $300.00 for salvage. He took the lions share of the wood and built a sailboat out of it.
Live oak from the “Revonoc”, a sailboat with an interesting history…! Check out the links below. I got this scrap of white oak from the shipbuilders who rebuilt the original Revonoc which is Conover spelled backwards. This boat won 3-4 major races and placed high in many, apparently. The owner, Harvey Conover went down with the Revenue II when he was caught in a bad storm. Both boats are/were Sparkman & Stephens designs.