http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persimmon#Wood
Last year, I told an architect acquaintance of mine that I was interested in trying to find a tree big enough to process into billets for guitar back and sides. As it turned out, one of his kayaking mates has a persimmon farm and was planning to cut down 2 old trees, so on a pre-arranged Sunday we drove down there. I wasn't expecting much, but I thought it might be worth having a look even though it was the middle of January, and freezing bloody cold. An open water tank by the side of the track leading up to the house was frozen over. The 2 trees were on a wind swept plateau overlooking a steep valley. Not that far off, we could see the looming profile of Koya San, a mystical mountain dotted with ancient graves, stone lanterns, and moss covered paths leading through equally ancient forests.
To my great surprise, the biggest tree was 50 cm across the widest point, and the trunks of both were long enough for side sets. The venture was looking worthwhile after all.
Me on the chainsaw.
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The second photo shows the smaller of the 2 logs. That 10cm blade cut through the logs like they were butter. Width of cut is 4 mm or maybe a tad less.
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The next photo shows the resulting billets. Persimmon wood behaves like Blackwood. i.e. It has to be cut into billets ideally at least 5 cm thick, and left to dry for a couple of years. 2 or 3 of them didn't go that thick, but most are 5 to 6 cm and as close to quarter as we could get.
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I have a small thickness planer, so I used it to clean up the faces of some of the billets.
Most back sets will be 3 part. There's not enough width in most of these for anything better, but i'm not complaining. After this I won't complain about the cost of tone wood.
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I don't know how stable this wood will end up. I've been lucky so far. I've got a few pieces from a small tree that was left lying in a paddock for a year after it was cut down. Its about the same hardness as IRW and rings like a bell when tapped.
About the tsunami / earthquake / nuc situation...
I was working downstairs in the office when my wife came in and told me what was happening. The live-to-air TV footage was unimaginably horrendous. Then the tsunami warning was extended down the entire east coast and they broadcast a message saying that it was due to hit Osaka in a little over an hour. We quickly gathered valuables, blankets, warm clothes and drinking water, piled it all in the car, and the 3 of us drove up into the mountains and waited it out listening to the radio.
My wife went to see our neighbors before we left. They said they were staying, saying they were looking after their grandmother. After seeing the TV footage I wasn't staying a minute longer than necessary. We live only a few minutes by car from the coast in a relatively low lying area. Radio reports started to come in. Shirahama, a couple of hours down the coast copped a 90cm tsunami. At Wakayama it was much lower, and the closest vulnerable place, Kansai airport, was unaffected. Luckily we are on the Eastern side of Osaka Bay, so we were pretty well sheltered from it. Not so for many other poor folk, unfortunately.
The death toll has risen to about 8,500 and more than 12,000 people are missing. People are doing whatever they can to help survivors now sheltering at about 2,500 makeshift shelters across the north of Japan. Relief supplies are reaching most areas, but access to those areas is restricted and due to lack of fuel its difficult for people to get out even if they have vehicles. A large company that I do some work for is continuing to pay staff in affected areas, even though they can't go to work, and is donating cash and large quantities of clothing. New housing and more permanent accommodation will have to be built for hundreds of thousands of evacuees.
Severely damaged nuclear reactors are being stabilised, but the wind is now blowing from the North towards us. We've been enjoying a delicious soup made from kelp which is said to be rich in potassium iodide. The body absorbs as much as it needs from the kelp, and won't absorb radioactive potassium iodide. I feel reasonably positive about the situation. It will stabilise in time, although, its heart rending to see some of the TV footage of people who have lost their relatives and everything they had.
Thanks for reading.
Now there is dedication for you.
Kudos to your salvage efforts.
oh well plenty to go around I suppose)
