Charlie
Nice job on the pages. I know what you mean about the common names of woods.
One of the things I wanted from out trip to Thailand was some local wood to
turn. Just about impossible to find. However I got some "tool handles" at
one of the markets. They were each a trapezoidal piece of wood about an inch
thick, twelve or so inches long, and tapering from one and a half to one
inch. When I asked what kind of wood they were I was told mai pai. Helps me
not a bit but I figured I could get three or four pen blanks out of each so
I got five for 100 baht. Call it $3.50. What would I have to lose? Now I
know I should have gotten more. It looks like rosewood, turns like rosewood,
smells like rosewood and tastes like rosewood (never mind). Seems like
rosewood to me. Any one got rosewood pen blanks for sale at thirty cents
apiece?
--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

"charlie b" wrote in message
...
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