Opinions requested: Woods that make you go "wow"

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punkinn

punkinn

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Well, in a positive way I mean. ;)

In your opionion, what woods produce the nicest NATURAL finish? A lot of the wood species I'm working with are for the first time, and when one polishes up especially well, it's such a delight.

In my extremely limited experience, these would include:

African Blackwood (WOW!) and Desert Ironwood

What are your opinions on woods that produce an excellent finish on their own characteristics? ;)

Nancy
 
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I just turned my first Ironwood pen and was very pleased. The others that I find look nice when finished...

Brazillian Rosewood
Koa (curly)
Curly Mahogany (regular stuff has a different feel to me when finished -almost not as solid)
Cocobolo

Maybe a few others, but these turn pretty easy and sand really nice. I used to only do a friction polish on them, but found out how little the finish lasts. I still have a hard time wondering if I shoudl apply the finish once sanding is done.
 
There are many, it's a great and interesting world that produces so much beauty. Cocobolo has been mentioned and it is always a big favorite. The ironwoods are incredible. Olive woods, I enjoy turning Bethlehem olive. That's what makes this and other turnings so obsessive, always looking for beauty in different thing. Once you have settled on a favorite, write again and tell us yours.
 
cocobolo.
buckeye burl.
olive wood from holey land.
ambroisa maple.
spalted maple
amboyna burl.

just to name a few.
if you want a pen to really pop out at you, get some cocobolo in a board. make sure when looking at the end of the board that the grain kinda looks like a semi circle. cut the wood endgrain for your pen.

i turned a polaris pen with this type of grain. the grain after turned looked like a target. a small circle in center with bigger circles radiating out. i messed up and forget to take a picture before i sold it.
 
Nancy,

Woods that finish with a natural finish the best are what has already been listed (cocobolo, BOW, GOW, etc.)

The main common characteristic...high oil content. Oily woods finish well WITHOUT finish. Another one you might want to add to this list is Lignum Vitae (one of the highest oil content woods)

Oops, forgot one of my favorites....VERA Wood...this is a relative of Lignum Vitae, but it like turning Vick's Vapor Rub. It has an incredible powerful smell and is extremely oily. (PS- this wood can also turn color in bright sunlight and have royal blue streaks that show up).
 
I recently received some Chinese Elm that I purchased on EBay. It came from someone in CA. I have yet to turn it but it looks like it is covered with some sort of grease. I have tried to clean it off with DA but it still looks (and feels) like it is saturated with oil. I have not see Chinese Elm listed here. Has anyone had experience with this wood? Texas John
 
Texasjohn
If I was to bet, you received this from clint mccormack at mcfamily woods[:)]. I buy too many blanks from him[:D]. The grease is basically a wax mixture that he uses. If you read his frequently asked page he sells a wetter wood. The wax helps to keep it from drying out. His belief is that you should turn the wood and use lots of ca to stabilize it. I have turned several pieces of chinese elm and it does soak up the ca. If you got his crosscut elm, I would drill it and let it sit for sometime. It seems his crosscut shrinks quite a bit so I drill and let it shrink then redrill again and use lots of ca in the middle and at the end of the turning. The wax you are refering to is a bear to remove, so I wipe it off the best I can with paper towl and just deal with it. If you have any questions you can contact him through the e-bay contact page and he gets back to you pretty quickly. Good luck, Dave.
 
There are toooo many woods that I love to answer that question. But any wood that has the word burl after it is sure to be my favorite.

My daughter gave me a book for christmas called "Wood for Woodturners" by Mark Baker. This book gives a photo(s), description, seasoning and working qualities of 150 woods. While is is not the BIBLE OF WOODS, it is a really good addition to a personal library.
 
My favorites for their own natural finish are Cocobolo, Lignum Vitae, and Purpleheart. You'll probably do well with any of the rosewoods (e.g. African Blackwood, Cocobolo, Rosewood, etc. - basically anything with a genus name of Dalbergia) since they are dense and oily - that's generally what you'll find produces the best natural finish.
 
Nancy,

Obviously there are lots of personal preferences listed here and I certainly agree with many of the other posts. My personal favorite is Masur Birch.
 
Nancy, as you can see, there are many opinions here. [:D] Your post keyed on natural finish, so I'll base my reply on that. To that end, I prefer Lignum Vitae, Spalted Persimmon (aka Black & White Ebony), Olive wood, Amboyna burl, Afzelia burl, Texas Ebony, Cocobolo, Goncalo Alves and spalted Beech. With the exception of the two burls all of these are quite dense and polish up very nice w/MM. So much so that I've been known to only apply Ren Wax or TSW instead of one of my traditional finishes. Just another opinion. [;)]
 
Hi Nancy!

If you want to stick with natural woods with natural finishes, I don't have anything to add to the lists above. But some of the most beautiful wood is barely turnable, much less hard and oily enough to shine with a natural finish! That's why I suggest stabilized woods from Bill Baumbeck (Arizona Silhouette). He has some blanks that would fall apart in your hands if in their natural state, but are as tough as woodpecker lips once stabilized. Many of his blanks are what he calls eye candy, and once you see them you'll know why! One warning - it is really easy to get hooked on Bill's blanks so you don't want to use anything else!!! [8D]

Have fun!

Scott.
 
Cambodian Paduak burl, Brazilian tulipwood, African blackwood, desert ironwood burl, quilted sapele pommelle, bloodheart boxelder burl, amboyna burl, afzelia xylay.
 
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