Rosewood?

The local hardwood dealer answered my question about using Ebony or Cocobola to make some little push-up bench stops and saw stops on the workbench I'm constructing.

He didn't have the Cocobola, but he said that Rosewood is denser and stronger than either. And he has Rosewood in stock.

Is that a denser or harder wood? And I thought it was an endangered product, anyway. I should have asked him if his stock is the old fashioned Indian Rosewood, or some lame variety from the Galapogos Islands or some other weird place.

Gary Curtis
 
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There are a lot of hard-hardwoods that would work. And there are tons of woods that are classed as 'rosewoods'. Shop around. Hard rock maple might work fine, there are 200 year old tools still going strong made with maple. Lignum vitae is hard-hard and self-lubricating. How big of pieces do you need?
 
Hi Gary,

Most of the Rosewoods other than Cocobolo are probably better for this purpose. Less brittle on the edges. Still, I think they too are too brittle. If I wanted a good hard wood with self lubricating properties, I would probably pick Verawood, a Lignum Vitae relative. Else I would use Ipe.

But...I would simply use hard Maple. Easily replaceable and inexpensive. But if the qualities of the exotics are what you want, even Bubinga would work very well in addition to the above list.

Take care, Mike
 
Rosewood

It sounds like it's high time I buy that book by Bruce Hoadley on wood. Been so busy outfitting my shop I've spent scant time on subjects dealing with materials. My ignorance is showing here.

The bench stops would protrude perhaps 3/4 of an inch from the top and simply be called upon to slide up and down in a hole and then hold wood being planed.

The saw stop would rotate on the side of the bench and serve is a small fence to hold pieces being cut off. I put a lot of effort into the whole bench, so some exotic touches would be fitting. The top is 2" Nordic Beech. The legs and trestles are Western Maple (4x4). The aprons, side battens and vise faces are Eastern Hardrock Maple (sugar). Total weight with the vises will be about 300 lbs.

Gary
 
Make that spelling ROSEWOOD.

GARY
Gary, you can fix the spelling in the title is you want to. Click the 'Edit' button in your initial post, then click 'Go Advanced'. You'll see a field for editing the thread title.

I'd be glad to do it for you, but you know the saying...give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day -- teach a man to fish, and you won't have to give him any of yours. (Or something like that.) :rofl:
 
Rosewood why ?¿

I agree with Mike , there are dozens of woods better than Rosewood for your use and his choices are good. Also thick Purpleheart or Bloodwood are cheap and good.
 
It sounds like it's high time I buy that book by Bruce Hoadley on wood. Been so busy outfitting my shop I've spent scant time on subjects dealing with materials. My ignorance is showing here.

The bench stops would protrude perhaps 3/4 of an inch from the top and simply be called upon to slide up and down in a hole and then hold wood being planed.

The saw stop would rotate on the side of the bench and serve is a small fence to hold pieces being cut off. I put a lot of effort into the whole bench, so some exotic touches would be fitting. The top is 2" Nordic Beech. The legs and trestles are Western Maple (4x4). The aprons, side battens and vise faces are Eastern Hardrock Maple (sugar). Total weight with the vises will be about 300 lbs.

Gary


Gary, if exotic is what you want, then go for it. But, as mentioned, there are domestics that are doggone hard and durable. Hard rock maple, desert ironwood are a couple. I would probably choose Osage Orange. For two reasons, I have a good stock on hand and, the older it gets, the harder it gets. My shop mallet is OO and it will dent anything short of cast iron.
 
Yes there are lots of different 'rosewoods' but no, I wouldn't use bloodwood. It can be quite brittle and tends to fracture along the grain easily. I would sooner use blackwood, or verawood, or lignum vitae. Heck, maybe you should use 'slippery' elm. elm's pretty tough.:D I know I hate splitting that stuff. If you are set on a fancy wood, check out www.gilmerwood.com , they have lots of figured woods. They do have a $100.00 minimum order though. (I'm not tring to endorse their site, I'm just pointing out that they have a lot of figured woods from around the world.) I'm sure there are other suppliers.
 
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