Has anyone had the occasion to do any turnings from African Blackwood? I've got a spill vase, that I want to turn from that wood, and I've done spill vases in other woods for practice. The last vase, in the photo, is from Lignum(guaiacum?) vitae and was a real lesson in turning!!!

 

I haven't turned it but have made knife scales from it. Works very nice with standard woodworking tools. Sands and finishes to a high gloss. 

Wow!  What beautiful work!  And, those woods are stunning.  The broken one is beautiful wood.  I am so sorry that it broke where and when it did.  

 

On the outside what type gouges do you use, conventional or carbide?

 

What do you use to hollow?

 

 

Edited August 18, 20205 yr by FlGatorwood

59 minutes ago, FlGatorwood said:

Wow!  What beautiful work!  And, those woods are stunning.  The broken one is beautiful wood.  I am so sorry that it broke where and when it did.  

 

On the outside what type gouges do you use, conventional or carbide?

 

What do you use to hollow?

 

 

Thanks. Conventional gouges/scrapers but on the Lignum, I used large aluminum/metal files for the finishing of the outside, hollow part. For the hollow, I turned the base/upper form first, without the thin waist(you can see what happened to the broken walnut one), then mounted it(base) in my chuck, took it to the drill press to drill out the hollow(1 3/8" Forstner bit). After this was done, I then mounted the chuck to the lathe to finish off the outside of the hollow, followed by turning/scraping the thin waist. I did manage to salvage the broken one..... I simply doweled it together and it looked fine. The woods that I practiced on were white oak, walnut, walnut(broken one), cherry, and, the keeper, Lignum vitae. Now for one in Blackwood!

I just "found" the original photograph of the spill vase, that I've copied. Opinions as to the type of wood used?????? The vase is early 19th or 18th century and is at Historic Deerfield.

WEAR A MASK when turning and sanding that stuff it is brutal on your lungs.  JUST FYI.

Here's the finished product. I was very disappointed that the blackwood wasn't more(all) black but the dealer said that happens. It is genuine African blackwood and turned beautifully. I could produce long shavings from the wood and the final product was polished with handfuls of blackwood shavings. The setup at the drill press is how I drill for the 1 3/8" hole.... I just go from the drillpress back to the lathe. Now to try to find some truly jet-black blackwood!!!

There is a Texas Ebony which might be all black but may have runs of white also. There are also several other ebonys but no guarantees and not cheap.

Beautiful turning!

 

All my African Blackwood knife scales have streaks of brown-

 

I think that's just the characteristic of the species. 

Yea I'm gonna have to get some african blackwood for pen turning I really like the way it looks color wize.  How ever WEAR A MASK WHEN WORKING WITH IT.

2 minutes ago, AndrewB said:

WEAR A MASK WHEN WORKING WITH IT.

I had no effects from turning/sanding it

I had some Minor Effects but that may have been due to the dust itself.  I even wore a mask working with the Padauk.

I thought that I would share what a couple of month's exposure to air did to the "color" of my African Blackwood spill vase. It appears to have darkened, with exposure(oxidation) to the air, and is approaching the appearance of the original ones at Historic Deerfield. You can compare this photo, with the one above, that shows what the originals look like.

I wonder how much darker it will become.

2 hours ago, lew said:

I wonder how much darker it will become.

Judging from the Deerfield example, not much more?

That is a remarkably fast change!  Really a cool piece Frederick

Moved to Wood Turning main forum.