Black Poisonwood

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52
This is the first time to use this kind of wood. It is Chechen from Mexico and South America. It is also known as Black Poisonwood, due to the nature of the sap, which will burn your skin. I got it as a 2"x4" in a large purchase of wood from an individual going out of business. It was a dull brownish-orange color on the outside, but an awesome reddish color on the inside of the board. I have no idea if it is going to change colors from what is it now. It was very easy to turn and finished very nicely. It only has two coats of Antique Oil on it at this point and it was already so reflective, that it was hard to photograph.

60 pieces of Chechen and 1 piece of curly maple floating between rings for the bottom. 6" wide and 3.25" tall.

Critiques and comments are welcome. Thanks!
 

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Great work, Robert. :thumb: Excellent-looking joints, sweet form, the wood's fantastic, and the fact that you got a high gloss after just two coats of Antique Oil is a testament to the quality of the sanding job. Very well done all around. :clap:
 
Robert, that is a beautiful piece. I enjoy seeing well constructed segmented turnings.

I don't believe the wood is chechen however. I have turned many pieces of chechen and have several sticks of it in the shop as I write. I have never seen chechen that was so red and with such fine grain. Every piece I have seen is predominantly brown or black with streaky grain that interlocks. The wood you have there resembles chakte kok and if so it will turn an even darker red over time eventually going to a purplish black.
 
Ditto all the other complimentary remarks. Lookin' fine from here.
To expand on what Mike said.....it is no secret that many of the woods shipped from Central and South America are misidentified. Often this is intentional as many are illegal to ship since they are toxic. Unless you know your woods very well, there is not much way to identify what you have. Jim King, a member here, can expand expertly on this subject.
When working with those exotic woods, extra care needs to be taken to avoid inhaling dust.
 
...To expand on what Mike said.....it is no secret that many of the woods shipped from Central and South America are misidentified. Often this is intentional as many are illegal to ship since they are toxic...

Very true, and no disagreement here. I did think it would be ironic for them to name something "poisonwood" to sneak it past the authorities. :D
 
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