Winding Sticks: Any thoughts on what this wood is?
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Vince Reed.
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28 March 2015 at 1:11 am #126002
I went to an auction recently and purchased several large lots of locally grown Walnut lumber, in the rough. Supposedly, that was the only species of wood in these lots, but when looking through the lumber for a thick enough piece I found a piece that surprised me when I cut into it.
Attached are pictures of my winding sticks I just completed. I used some Quilted Maple scraps I had for the light pieces and dyed the strip using India Ink, but the main bodies of the sticks were made out of this unknown lumber. It is a dark red wood and planes nicely. I don’t know of any similar woods grown locally and I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what this might be.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.28 March 2015 at 3:59 am #126007Looks nice. Could it be Padauk? Certainly that would not be grown locally, though, unless you are in Central or tropical west Africa. But it’s relatively easy to find it here in Chicago.
28 March 2015 at 5:00 am #126008You have got me stumped because of the anual ray pattern can you get a closer shot.
28 March 2015 at 9:34 am #126013Looks like Jarrah, but that seems unlikely, unless you are in Australia.
28 March 2015 at 10:08 am #126014No it’s not Jarrah but you can get it in the US it’s very expensive like it is here. It’s th grain that’s throwing me off.
28 March 2015 at 10:11 am #126015On second maybe you are right, I have Jarrah in my shop but here is a pic I just pulled off the net. This is why I requested to for a close up shot, I want to see the grain close up.
[attachment file=”JARRAH.jpg”]
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You must be logged in to view attached files.28 March 2015 at 11:45 am #126017Jarrah is often not that nice looking, but you can get furniture grade pieces. It used to be called Swan River Mahogany #marketing. Here in Perth it’s very cheap, and was in the past used for things like railway ties, since it’s very strong, heavy, and durable. It’s not often considered a good furniture wood because the silica in it tends to blunt tools quickly, and the interlocking grain can make it hard to machine. It’s really not a wood for modern machine based furniture production, but you do see it turn up in slab bar tops and such.
I’ve been thinking about using some of what I have to make wooden plane soles and such, because it’s just hard as nails, especially once it’s aged a bit.
28 March 2015 at 11:49 am #126018I didn’t know it was called that I don’t know how they associate it with Mahogany but I beg to differ it not being used in furniture construction. I have seen tons of furniture been built out of it and it’s most popular for the interior of boats.
28 March 2015 at 12:11 pm #126019I can see why it would be popular for boat interiors, since it’s very durable. I haven’t seen that much Jarrah furniture around, but I’m sure it exists. It’s quite similar to mahogany in a lot of ways, despite being a eucalypt.
28 March 2015 at 12:13 pm #126020If you google you’ll find it as for boats I don’t much about but I do know they use it a lot for it.
28 March 2015 at 12:18 pm #126021Apparently Jarrah was called Swan River Mahogany because it’s finished appearance was similar to Honduras Mahogany. So maybe if our original poster isn’t Australian, then that’s what it is?
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