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charlie b

wrote:

One thing I didn't see that I think would be important... what kind of
wood did you use?. It looks like Cocobolo or something along those
lines, but so many woods look the same on a web page.
Something close grained and hard, I'll wager.

Robert

Could be cocobolo, but then again it could be either Honduran
or Brazilian rosewood. It looks very much by the chinese
furniture I inherited - which is supposed to be rosewood.
I got this stuff out of one of the "exotics" cut offs bins at
Global Wood Source here in San Jose ("Heart of Silly
Cone Valley"). Turned two lidded boxes out of one chunk
4x4 by maybe a foot long - with sapwood on one corner. I
had some stuff that I used a few years ago that works like
this wood - told that was "kingwood". Common names are
almost useless since they're often local names and some
wood suppliers play fast and loose with what they call the
wood they want to sell you.

Whatever it is, it's fairly dense, dulls edges moderately
fast and the chips smell vaguely like cinnamon. It takes
a really nice polish and people have mistaken them for
polished cabachon stones. Turns really nicely and you
can do some pretty fine turning with it - the Teenie
Weenie Tiny Top for example. Hard maple will let you
do really fine, delicate stuff as well.

The outside finial on The Nice One I think is Strawberry
Guava. I had two trees in the front yard that were
supposed to remain bushes I'm told. The previous
owner had let them go and I had the messiest trees
(next to female ginko) on the block - two thirty gallon
garbage cans worth of 1/2" to 3/4" red on the outside
mushy yellow orange on the inside berries. You couldn't
rake them, shovel them or even hose them up because
they turned to mush when you touched them. Finally
got around to cutting them down - but bandsawed up
some of the logettes. The stuff turns wonderfully
and the grain is very fine, the color uniform and bland.

charlie b