# Worst wood for dulling gouges



## Graybeard (Aug 13, 2015)

I'm making a tapered jig to put in a chuck to finish the bottom off hollow forms. It's made of Baltic birch glued in a pyramid shape. A swear I sharpened the gouge a dozen times if not more cutting through that stuff. I assume all the glue was the trouble?

I even tried to hone the gouge a bit but that didn't last long.

Glad it's over.

Graybeard


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## duncsuss (Aug 13, 2015)

Most likely the glue. By "baltic birch" do you mean plywood? That is tough on gouges to begin with because of the glue used to laminate it (it's tough on saw blades too). The multiple layers and glue that you added to it only made things worse.

Regular woods that quickly dull a gouge, off the top of my head (when dry): purple heart, osage orange, some types of maple, black locust (even when it's still green, this is bloody hard) ... I'm sure there are plenty more.


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## JR Custom Calls (Aug 13, 2015)

Mineralizes hedge will dull them quicker than anything I've turned


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## Graybeard (Aug 13, 2015)

Duncan, yup, baltic birch ply. Hopefully it's going to be stable and worth the headache.
Graybeard

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Fsyxxx (Aug 13, 2015)

Mesquite is hard on tools, but cholla is the hardest thing on tools I've ever dealt with.


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## Torque Turner (Aug 13, 2015)

Manzanita root ball. Not only is the wood extremely hard, the rock inclusions will eat up your tools!


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## Mike Jones (Aug 14, 2015)

Manzanita root for sure! But all beach-retrieved drift-wood will dull a chain in a single cycle around the bar.


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## Horatio (Aug 14, 2015)

Torque Turner said:


> Manzanita root ball. Not only is the wood extremely hard, the rock inclusions will eat up your tools!



Indeed, I work with mesquite about 75% of all I do and it chews on em pretty good. I read a while back when I was researching tool sharpening about mineral content of wood species, levels of silica, etc. Well, mesquite grows in sandy soil so it stands to reason....None of my observations are scientific to be sure, and despite wearing a path between my lathe and grinder, I still love mesquite for a variety of reasons.


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