Question on lacewwood

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mikeinco

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A friend sent me a piece of Australian Lacewood which I cut into blanks that are approx 3/4X1/2". When I turned the two I've glued u), when I got down to the finish turning phase, the wood breaks off the tube(on the ends). Any suggestions as to why and also what I can do to stop this? Thanks
 
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Chris, couldn't get down to 1/16" before it flew off. I'll using more glue, or maybe go back to using some of the latex glue to see if it'll expand enough to hold more firmly.
 
I had this problem and it was due to cutting the blanks 90 degrees off of the grain direction. You may have cut it correctly, but once I bought a new piece and cut it correctly it turned nicely. I fully agree that the large figured portions can be nasty if you aggressively turn like you can with other woods. CA nicely fills in the grain and makes the figure and color pop.

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Very nice work there Mark. I've been using a thick CA to glue in tubes and cut the plank with the grain. I don't use a CA finish on pens, don't know how and kinda prefer the natural feel of the wood. I may try using some CA coats when I turn this wood, but am not sure if I could then use my regular finish. Thanks for the replies.
 
Funny, but I like Lacewood, and have never had a problem turning it. I've always thought it turned very nicely.

Gary
 
Ken, I was kinda thinking that might be the problem, my wife has been trying to help out by glueing up the blanks for me, so maybe I'll have to check her work.LOL
 
I turned a pen today, after using latex type glue, turned well, had some minor problems with finish, but it turned out very nice. No pics yet.
Mike
 
A minor suggestion. After drilling your holes, dribble some thin CA into the hole to stabilize the INSIDE of the blank (the 1 mm that will be there after turning). Let set, then redrill and proceed to glue and continue with all above suggestions.

This originated from some Aussie Mates!
 
Mark, thanks for the good idea. When I turned the pen yesterday, as I got to the final dimension I took very very small cuts with a skew until I got where I wanted.
 
When I've done lacewood, I've used 5 minute epoxy. I've also had good luck with Gorilla glue, but I let them sit overnight before turning.
 
When I run into that and some woods are like that for me the problem usually occurs at about 1/8th inch from finish. I just stop cutting with a tool sooner and use sandpaper. I'll start with 80 grit rather than the normal 150. It might at times be gluing but I use epoxy and rough up the tube and the glue does get well spread.
 
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