Tequila madness

I have read all the discussions here and despite all the warnings I’m feeling an agave intoxication. I can’t help but notice all the flowering stands of timber, all calling my name like a beautiful siren. There are at least 15 of them within 500metres of my place, mostly on verges and council sumps and the like and I feel I just have to harvest them. I have read of the major skin and respiratory reactions, the splinters like toxic glass and the threat of death if you fall to their core( I hope this was partly jest?)
Ben the chip fish lives a similar distance away so if I don the flanno lumberjack gear I will get him to document the expedition, hey it may just be my final record.
Any idea if around 10 milled up would be enough for a board?

All depends on how pithy they are. If there is good integrity, then ten should be enough.

you guys have Agave down under??? if i were thinking about doing an Agave board, i would shoot Gary Linden an email.

i don’t know if he would respond with some tips but, it couldn’t hurt to ask/try. seems like he knows what he’s doing with agave…

good luck!

Yeah they grow well here, they are an introduced species and there seems to be a heap around the Scarborough area where I live. They are most regularly in the neglected verges and area’s like that. I guess if you had ones growing in your family garden you would move them on as they can be fierce.
Our climate is a lot like southern California so they like it.

If I get to cutting some down I might contact Gary Linden.

Does anyone know if it is best to saw them near the base or if you give them a good push will they separate near the bottom on their own? The older ones seem to come away easily but this may not be the case when they still have some greenness.

What would be the minimum diameter base to warrant collecting?
And one last question, is the wood up near the flower stalks still good or should I cut the tops off and only bring home the bottom half?
Thanks in advance.

Hey P-co, With Agave it is beter to let the stalks run their course on the plant and cut at the base when the blossoms have dropped and the stalk is dried thoroughly. Dont use any green material. They cut when dry very easily with a hand saw. The key is to find them when they have dried out but haven't sat very long on the plant. Wear a respirator when handling. If they have dried out and sat through the cycles of the seasons, they begin to rot on the inside. Often times you will find large pithy sections in the stalks. If the woodpeckers (birds) have begun work on a stalk, then it may be better to move on to another one.

Thanks tblank, there are some in all the stages you mention so I will sort through for the good ones. I’m loving the fact I have had a real life “conversation” with someone and included the topic of woodpeckers. Before this my only connection with them has been watching woody wood pecker as a kid, cool.

..hi Ross !

 

 ...You'll have to show me the agave , mate !  I've probably walked past it , urinated on one  [ I sure hope you don't score THAT one!] , or sat on one and got poisoned by one without even knowing [ AND , I always thought it was the RESIN that was doing the damage to my brain , eh?!] ....well , it just goes to show ...

 

  Maybe we can start with a skateboard first ? to see how the agave might behave when sanded ? I'll definately photograph the process for you , if you want .

 

  Interesting thread , i wonder if Gary Linden posts here ? .... I hope so , because  I've seen some nice wooden boards of his , in surf mags here, over the years .... 

 

 I'd love to see an agave board build photo thread.

 

 Well, I'm off to google "agave surfboards" ,  RIGHT NOW  !

 

[edit ...  here's what a search HERE turned up , Ross . Happy reading !]

 

http://www.swaylocks.com/cgi/search.cgi?searchString=agave+surfboards+&db=forums&Submit=Go  ]

Hello P-co, Woodpeckers are a dime a dozen here in So. Cal., lots of them. The oaks are riddled with acorns stashed by them. And yes, there are lots of red headed ones too.

For what it's worth.

agava Gary Linden surfboard. Go there there are some good pics of Gary building agava boards . Will give you a good Idea of how to .

Hey Ben, a good stash is across the road from your place about 100m to the east, sort of a no mans land verge between two blocks of units. There is a monster one at the top of my street and a few more patches of them about the place. I imagine it would be heaps easier to go to a wood shop and buy some balsa but I can’t stop scanning the neighborhood for agave. Maybe like white mulberries are supposed to clean off the purple mulberry stains, I should keep some tequila on hand to douse the agave wounds or at least pour down my throat if it all turns ugly.

hiya Ross !

 

  here's a link to what 'Wood Ogre' mentioned ....

 

http://www.lindensurfboards.com/s_agve.html

 

 Once you have cut the wood into whatever size lengths, would Bunnings mill the wood for you , I wonder ? 

 Will you be making a LONGboard out of it , do you reckon ?

 

[ ....if so , could the 'offcuts' be used for a skatey , too ?? ]

 

  cheers !

 

  ben

Couldn’t imagine a skatey from it Ben. More like balsa so not tough enough for that I would reakon. I would be making a classic style board, either a rhino chaser gun or a old skool mal. I don’t buy into making modern boards in what will be a heavier timber finish. At the end of the day if it was performance you were after there are so many better materials. How cool do the linden boards look? Great.

ah...

 

  ....so,  it's a pretty SOFT wood , then ?  the 'trees' [?]  DO look kinda "brittle" ? [for want of a better word]

 

yeah the Linden boards are very NICE , eh ?!  ...the different colours in the woods are INTERESTING ... some strips look almost "burnt" in colour ??

 

  I wonder ....if I were to laminate some fibreglass cloth between agave pieces , or use carbon fibre , if THAT would bond well / strengthen offcuts enough , for a skatey ?? [remember those keels that you put the ?blue tinted? cloth between , when you laminated the pieces of wood together ...did you use epoxy or polyester resin for those , Ross ?

 

.....because maybe similar could work , with agave ? [for a skatey , i mean ? i'd be keen to do a test on it , try making even a MODEL skateboard [?or maybe some agave fins? ] using whatever off cuts you want to throw my way ...  maybe i could donate the fins to you , if you ever decided to go with side probox plugs ?

 

  .... anyway, food for thought eh , "neighbourino"  [diddly] ?

 

 many thanks,  'T-blank' , for your input , too !

 

  and , 'Wood_Ogre'  ... have you and / or 'Ambrose' done much stuff with agave , I wonder ....DOES it grow on kauai , by any chance , or is it too wet there ?

 

    cheers,  guys !

 

      ben

 

...I too will be looking at these fairly ugly plants in a new light now , thanks to this thread , Ross / 'P-CO' !  [NOW you've REALLY started something ...uh oh !!  "agave fins ideas" ,  floating around in my head !....]

 

 

" I would be making a classic style board, either a rhino chaser gun ....."

 

 

.....YEAH ,  DO IT , Ross !!!

 

that would be unreal !!!

 

  ben

Hey P-Co, and Chip, Agave is a very soft wood that has no real compressive strength. It will dent very easy. I've weighed in on this before that I think it is more trouble than it is worth. Of course, if you have plenty of time and the patience go ahead and do it. The discolorations mostly are a fungus because it is quite open pored on the inside. It gets a harder crust on the outside to reveal a soft interior.Wood Ogre can attest to this that it is a hassle to do. The material is very fibrous so a mask/respirator at all time when handling is a MUST. Breathe in the fibers and we'll start calling you guys Wheezy. You would have to laminate heavily to make a "skatey" hold up. I will say a triple stringed gun  would be bitchin.

  Funny story aside; I was working in one of the "canyons" in the wealthier part of L.A. and there were four mature agave stalks on the side of a hill across the street from where I was and decided to see about getting them.They weren't on anyones property so I simply cut them down and loaded them on my lumber rack and took them home. While at work the next day, a neighbor came by to ask about the stalks and I'm thinking "aw Sh#$" they are angry about taking them. The guy walks up and asks if we will cut down several more that are blocking his view and he will PAY me to do it! I say we can work out a deal and got eight more with full pay for our services. Two days later another guy walks up and is asking about agave removal. I can't belive what I'm hearing and score a second job cutting and hauling his growth. Turns out this one is a known actor that surfs and I tell him they are going to be surfboards so he commissions me to build one for him!! I made him a nine footer Phil Edwards style with three mahogany stringers that he turned into a wall hanger. Made really good money on it too. Then the side affects settled in: respiratory problems and an itchy rash that persisted for over a month. That was the end of playing with Agave for me. This is a long way of saying, PROTECT YOURSELVES while handling this material. The end product is pretty cool, but I'll admit I never surfed one. Sold them all.

howdy tblank,

got pics of those projects?

Hi Surfiber, Howzit? I don't have any photos of these or any of my boards. Never really been a camera guy...don't know how to use them. I inherited a very nice Nikon from my brother and tried to learn it and use it to no avail. Sorry. Been thinking of maybe trying one of those digital ones.

"Never really been a camera guy...don't know how to use them. I inherited a very nice

Nikon from my brother and tried to learn it and use it to no avail."

 

 

......oh the BLASPHEMY ! the BLASPHEMY !!  [hahaahaaaa !]

 

just as well SOME of us DO ! [use cameras] , because  I reckon Swaylocks may be just a little 'dry' [?boring, even? , perhaps ? ] if not even one photo was ever posted here  , over the last eleven or so years ??? ....

 

" Been thinking of maybe trying one of those digital ones.'

 

 ..... now , THAT'S not a bad idea , 't' !

 

  Then all you have to do is 'point and shoot' ...nowadays , digital cameras pretty much take the photo for  you . [Like with a woman , all you got to do is remember to turn them on ! ]  There definately ain't no rocket science involved there ...I've seen 90 year old grannies take good photos , wobbly hands and all, with THOSE "new fangled devices"  [" lol " , etc]

 

 .... go on , Mr. 't' ! ....[in the words of the googly-eyed guy in 'The Waterboy'] ..... "you can DO it !"

   [....and , that way,  you won't end up sounding like LeeDD , either ! "well, i made great boards , and i ripped ....in the 1970s .... but my ego didn't need photos to prove it " , etc   hahaha .....what a complete load of bollocks ! ....if his ego didn't need massaging , WHY would the old guy come on here and tell us stories of how he supposedly "ripped" ...FORTY  SOMETHING YEARS AGO ?! [...yeah , RIGHT, mate !  WHATEVER you reckon , now take your meds , like a good old gopher]  ...that would  make him at LEAST sixty plus years old , so i'm sure he busts ...er..."airs"  every day [in the nursing home , and the staff have to clean up the mess ...where IS doleman lee NOW , i wonder ??? is he still ALIVE , even ?  ]

internet land is a FUNNY old "world" ! [ it's almost like it's from / on another planet at times , eh ?] ...

 

cheers !

 

  ben

Hah! Chip that's some funny stuff!! It's not that I don't enjoy a nice photograph, I just don't know how to take one. Pretty thick, I guess. If  you were near by I'd give you the Nikon. I used to have a friend take photos of my work for prospective clients to see but after a few it was simply redundant. That is not say I haven't enjoyed the dawn patrol shots taken by you, there have been many. It seems I don't have the propensity or patience. Could be all those Chistmases and Easters staring at the sun while my Dad yelled at us to stay in the shot. I will say I tried to use the Nikon. Got a roll of 36 exposures and carried it with me constantly for a year and a half taking photos of ONLY the rare sights and the biggest swells. Thought I had the biggest day recorded around here in '98 on film. The roll finally finished up and took the camera in to get the film processed. EXPOSED ROLL! after that I said "F" it.

ps. Chip, I've only had a computer for two years. This is still all space age stuff to me.

you sure got a way with words, ben!

meantime that nikon should be worth something.

ever tried selling it on ebay, T? if not i’d gladly bid for it, if you can provide a pic hehe " )

cheers,