Boat Building Forum

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Re: Material: Wood selection
By:Les Cheeseman
Date: 6/27/2015, 4:27 pm
In Response To: Re: Material: Wood selection (Bill Hamm)

If you want realy dark, I mean BLACK!! without staining, you could try Wenge. The strangest hardwood I have ever worked with.
It is (in the UK) expensive, extremely heavy, brittle at normal temperatures and extremely hard on the cutting edge of tooling.
I used it for accent stipes and cockpit coming on a boat for my eldest son, at his request.
It is almost blood red when first cut and only turns black on exposure to oxygen or UV light. I don't know which is the catalyst
but I guess someone on here will know and inform us.
It becomes very flexible when heated, with the added bonus that you won't see any accidental scorch marks and 5 off 1/8" thin strips
made a great coming rim, pulled round singly with a heat gun.
Beware splinters!!! when planing or sanding, as once in your fingers, they break into smaller and smaller pieces when you try to remove them.
Is it worth the hastle I hear you ask. Looking at the end result, the answer is YES.

Messages In This Thread

Material: Wood selection *PIC*
Shawn Jones -- 6/17/2015, 1:57 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Shawn Jones -- 6/17/2015, 2:02 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Bob Borovicka -- 6/17/2015, 7:55 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Marc Upchurch -- 6/17/2015, 10:22 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
scottbaxter -- 6/17/2015, 2:05 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Bill Hamm -- 6/17/2015, 2:51 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Reg Lake -- 6/17/2015, 8:36 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Shawn Jones -- 6/17/2015, 11:06 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
scottbaxter -- 6/17/2015, 11:21 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection *PIC*
Reg Lake -- 6/17/2015, 11:59 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Shawn Jones -- 6/18/2015, 12:08 am
Re: Material: Wood selection *PIC*
Bob Ten Eyck -- 6/17/2015, 11:37 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Shawn Jones -- 6/17/2015, 11:48 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Mike Bielski -- 6/18/2015, 2:02 am
Re: Material: Wood selection
Jay Babina -- 6/18/2015, 8:11 am
Re: Material: Wood selection
Shawn Jones -- 6/18/2015, 12:21 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Jay Babina -- 6/18/2015, 12:57 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection *PIC*
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 6/19/2015, 11:11 am
Re: Material: Wood selection
Mike Bielski -- 6/18/2015, 12:37 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection *PIC*
Etienne Muller -- 6/18/2015, 1:42 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Shawn Jones -- 6/18/2015, 3:21 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Etienne Muller -- 6/18/2015, 3:35 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Bill Hamm -- 6/18/2015, 9:04 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection
Les Cheeseman -- 6/27/2015, 4:27 pm
Re: Material: Wood selection *PIC*
Shawn Jones -- 7/3/2015, 7:36 pm