What to do with this?

[PatrickR]

I'm a sucker for the cut-off bins. I took a chance on this.

I probably should have left it there. It has pith and reaction wood. Any ideas of what I could / should do with it? Best way to cut it for blanks? Any guesses as to what it is? It is heavy, a little oily, no smell.
Thanks!

 

[alankulwicki7]

Looks like Desert Ironwood to me. It's going to be tough to cut that up without getting some cracks in the blanks. Most small cracks are easily fixed while turning with some CA. If this is indeed Ironwood I'm not sure how much stabilizing will help....

 

[PatrickR]

^ Thanks. I'm not very familiar with DIW. I do have one small piece and it looks different than this. This piece is less red (more of a walnut color) with darker sap wood that is less delineated.

 

[KenV]

If it is,oily, probably one of the central/south american species.

I bandsaw alonf major cracks and plan n,using epoxy fillers. I use thin epoxy sold for rot repair and add black epoxy colorant. Thin viscosity amd slow set time get good penetration. Risk is these epoxys will leak through tape joints so plastic bags are good to contain messes.

Cut off scraps of desert ironwood sell for $10 a pound in Tucson.

 

[PatrickR]

Thanks. I have a pressure pot and some LD so I can cast it to deal with the cracks. Ill cut some of it and let it sit awhile to see if it moves before I do anything further.
I did okay then, $5 a pound.

 

[PatrickR]

Went ahead and cut some of it. Nothing spectacular. Looks a little like Pau Ferro.

 

[Rockytime]

Actually I found the pica pole more interesting. Used one for fifty years.

 

[PatrickR]

Actually I found the pica pole more interesting. Used one for fifty years.

Then you worked in the printing industry. We always called it a line gauge. It's still the first thing I grab to measure. Force of habit.