On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 15:20:11 -0700, BeeFlow
wrote:

On 6/22/2013 11:59 AM, G. Ross wrote:
So far have roughed out about 10 bowls 6-10 inches diameter. I dulled
two chainsaws slicing up the blanks. Wore out a brand new bandsaw blade
cutting out the circles. The wood is wet and does not appear harder
than average but it is rough on gouges. The first 2 or 3 passes the
wood just peels out great. Then it doesn't cut so well. Feel the gouge
edge and it is dull as a hammer. Lay it aside and get a sharp one out.
Same story.

Maybe I should just turn discs instead of bowls then I could use it for
grinding lawn mower blades.

What's that other wood that has a ton of silica in it? You might be
turning sand.

Desert ironwood has a lot of embedded sand...