Organized list of Handlewoods

Thank you Hellspawn! If I have any questions, I'll be sure to ask you! Fiddleback and Feather Crotch patterns..........so beautiful!!!
 
jdm61 said:
Jens, if there is ANY wood that may be as sensitizing if not more than cocobolo, it is mango. You need to be as careful with it if it is unstabilized. It has small amounts of the same toxin/allergen that you find in poison ivy.
Click to expand...

I have read what you mentioned about Mango but never experienced it first hand. When I cut and sand the different rosewoods I will get flu like symptoms but never with Mango. Even when I am cutting up Mango that has not dried yet. When we were kids and climbed mango trees the sap would irritate our skin a bit like poison ivy. Maybe it is different for different people. My guess is that the primary irritant is with the living tree sap.
This is some fresh Mango I am cutting up now. Over the past few years I have cut a lot.
001_zps4rldziqx.jpg
 
i4Marc said:
When do you think that Mango will be ready Mark?
Click to expand...
To keep things on topic and not derail the thread......
The mango I showed in the photo is fresh cut. That means that the moisture content is still over 35%.
When you are air drying wood you normally want to allow at least 1 year for each inch of thickness with the easy to dry woods.
If you speed up the drying it is easy to ruin the wood with twisting, cracking or the wood can tear itself apart internally.
I strongly suggest that people DO NOT use the quick drying tips you see on the internet. Especially the microwave trick. Don't do it!

The way I will dry wood like this is;
1st I cut into oversized blocks and seal all the end grain.
Next they get wrapped in paper grocery bags.
This allows the moisture to work it's way out slowly.
The wood stays wrapped until the moisture content is under 20%.
The time between fresh cut and 20% is when it is easiest to ruin the wood.
After that it goes on drying racks to allow the wood to air dry in a room with fans and a dehumidifier until the moisture content is under 10%.
Finally off to the stabilizers. Mango is a durable wood but my personal opinion is that it is better stabilized.

For anyone who purchases or collects wood that is not dry I suggest that you trim it into pieces a little bit larger than you need. Seal all end grain and then put it aside somewhere out of direct sunlight and let it dry slowly. At least a year per inch of thickness. Exotics and dense woods at least double that time.
 
Mark, I am convinced that handling a lot of mango fruit, branches when i was like 12-13 sensitized me to poison ivy because I was not allergic to it until then and even then, I don't react as bad as most. The sap is the main culprit but so is the skin of the fruit.
Burl Source said:
I have read what you mentioned about Mango but never experienced it first hand. When I cut and sand the different rosewoods I will get flu like symptoms but never with Mango. Even when I am cutting up Mango that has not dried yet. When we were kids and climbed mango trees the sap would irritate our skin a bit like poison ivy. Maybe it is different for different people. My guess is that the primary irritant is with the living tree sap.
This is some fresh Mango I am cutting up now. Over the past few years I have cut a lot.
001_zps4rldziqx.jpg
Click to expand...
 
I agree with both being sensitised to certain wood oils & saps and the way Mark dries wood. Although babies should likely be exposed to peanuts to prevent dangerous allergies in the future, it seems that repeated exposure to poison ivy type oils (poison ivy, cocobola, yew and related woods) will make one gradually more allergic to them. A friend sanded a cocobola gunstock on his lap on a hot muggy day and regretted it for 6 weeks as he broke oil in rash and boils (in THAT area). Ouch! I, personally, start sneezing until I remove the dust from my nose. I don't break out yet.

As for Mark's info on drying, he is spot on. Gunstock woods are given one year per inch of thickness to dry, and I add another year to stabilize. Coat the end grain with something like parafin, keep it out of the sun, and sticker it to allow all sides to dry. In Turkey, they boil it to remove the oils and it dries in 11 weeks. It looks good on the outside and the unknowing have paid many thousands of dollars for blanks which test dry and have no visible flaws. Then they blame the stockmaker when he cuts into it and finds flaws 1/8"-1/4" wide. "What did you do to my $3000. blank?" He merely took the surface off revealing the cracks underneath caused by forced drying. I had some gorgeous spalted maple treated once and the treater's heat controller went out. The surface didn't look bad, but underneath the surface, the material was completely ruined. Don't try to force dry.

I used the term "stabilize" up above as a natural form of stabilization in allowing wood an additional year to dry. This added time allows more time for wood to expand and contract which I would theorise allows the wood grains to break and lock together reducing future expansion/contraction. Wood will lose and gain moisture depending on ambient conditions. In some areas like the desert of Oregon, the Summer is the dryest time. In humid areas of the Midwest, the frozen Winter is the dryest and the Summer is humid and wood gains moisture. I doubt if it is possible to naturally dry wood to gunstock levels on the Oregon coast. We figure 7-11% is about right for gunstocks. Some meters will read 2% higher or lower than others. I doubt if you can get under 20% on the Oregon coast. Also, gunstocks cut in one area and sent to another area will gain or lose moisture depending on ambient conditions. This can cause cracking but usually causes movement of the wood causing a change in the point of impact or making the metal proud of the wood which is ugly to a purest. Even finished stocks can have problems. This is not a problem for knifemakers as wood can be stabilized (plasticized). But I don't know of anyone who stabilizes large pieces like gunstocks. I would be a customer for someone who could do that.

Anyways, there is a wood drying tutorial to add to what Mark has said, and again, he is spot on.

Pete
 
Thanks again for all the good advice.

I wood have never guessed about the mango side effects.

I also realised with 37 I'm still very impressionable. Whenever a new cool wood type is listed here and I Google some pics I want to have it. Didn't know there are so many nice ones on our planet.

For now I'll stick with black palm. Gotta start somewhere. :D

Thank you.
 
What about Brazilian imbuya? Does it need to be stabilized? I just picked up a piece with nice figure.
 
I bought a 2 ft stick of what was labeled tulip wood for $4. It feels pretty dense. Anything special about it?
 
viral said:
I bought a 2 ft stick of what was labeled tulip wood for $4. It feels pretty dense. Anything special about it?
Click to expand...
Yes it is special. Real Tulipwood is a Rosewood that finishes up very nicely. Creme color with red stripes.
 
hellspawn415 said:
You lucked out! that stuff is expensive! real pretty wood though. I love it in chefs knives.
Click to expand...

Shoot I didn't know, it didn't have a pricetag on it and the dude was in a hurry so he asked if $4 would work. I guess sometimes I get lucky. Thanks, for giving me a bit more info about it!
 
It looks like some wood I have over here sold te me under the name: bahia rosewood
Different names for the same wood?
 
Hengelo_77 said:
It looks like some wood I have over here sold te me under the name: bahia rosewood
Different names for the same wood?
Click to expand...

Well that is a very old name for Brazilian rosewood. A lot of the Brazilian you get today is really just figures east Indian, but there are a few ways to check. Do you still have it?
 
Yes I do.

Red and creme colour striped.
But I doubt if it is old.
I've never seen it on sale before but when I got it several ebay-shops were selling it.(in germany)
My guess is that a load arrived, got sold wholesale and then offered retail.
I know I paid less for it then what it was worth.
I'll see if I can post a pic this week if you like
 
Hengelo_77 said:
Yes I do.

Red and creme colour striped.
But I doubt if it is old.
I've never seen it on sale before but when I got it several ebay-shops were selling it.(in germany)
My guess is that a load arrived, got sold wholesale and then offered retail.
I know I paid less for it then what it was worth.
I'll see if I can post a pic this week if you like
Click to expand...

If its red and cream its tulip wood, not Brazilian.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top