What did you do in your shop today?

I've always been amazed by these candles. They look simple to make and would be a good first project for a new turner? You've probably shared the dimensions of your blanks, would you mind doing it again? I'm currently splitting my last load of Black Locust I cut this Spring. The bottom of the pile isn't slit too bad and I've been saving some of the better for turning blanks. No bowl blanks because it split too bad over time or the ring shake that's present, but some pepper mill blanks and smaller should come out of this. Might get a couple of your candle blanks out of it if they are no too large.
 
While waiting for the finish to dry in this humidity. I
rearranged my main wood rack putting most of the cherry at the
top. I spread out my other pieces in the shed and cleaned up the chainsaw
station.

Wood Rack 1a.webp

Wood Rack 1b.webp

Wood Rack 1c.webp
 
I haven't been in the shop for awhile, I came down with covid Sunday night. It took me down again, felt like crap until this afternoon. Fever finally broke and headache quit so I went down to the shop for awhile. If I'm going to be quarantined the shop is a good place to be. :sarcastic:
I finished sanding this stuff I cut out last week and got a coat of blo thinned 50/50 with odorless mineral spirits. Thought I'd try thinning it a bit to see if it soaks in any better or dries quicker, we'll see. 20240829_210335.webp
I dont know what the species of the red crosses are, could be paduk or bloodwood. It was pretty orange when cutting and sanding and turned this beautiful red color when oiled. I might have to keep one of those for myself.
20240829_210347.webp
Now that I've got the finish on these I can start cutting the next batch, it'll be all domestic woods next.
 
I haven't been in the shop for awhile, I came down with covid Sunday night. It took me down again, felt like crap until this afternoon. Fever finally broke and headache quit so I went down to the shop for awhile. If I'm going to be quarantined the shop is a good place to be. :sarcastic:
I finished sanding this stuff I cut out last week and got a coat of blo thinned 50/50 with odorless mineral spirits. Thought I'd try thinning it a bit to see if it soaks in any better or dries quicker, we'll see. View attachment 261504
I dont know what the species of the red crosses are, could be paduk or bloodwood. It was pretty orange when cutting and sanding and turned this beautiful red color when oiled. I might have to keep one of those for myself.
View attachment 261505
Now that I've got the finish on these I can start cutting the next batch, it'll be all domestic woods next.
I really like those!
 
I'm a bit late to this thread since I only follow it sporadically and I just ran across this
Being no esteemed wood engineer, just a maker of dust & splinters so look it up and don't take my word for it, but I believe that Mesquite is slightly harder than the Rosewoods on the Janka hardness scale.
Here are the results. Clearly it depends on WHICH mesquite and WHICH rosewood but many of the rosewood are harder than most of the mesquites.

Janka table


1724995116046.png

1724995137848.png
 
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I'm a bit late to this thread since I only follow it sporadically and I just ran across this

Here are the results. Clearly it depends on WHICH mesquite and WHICH rosewood but many of the rosewood are harder than most of the mesquites.


View attachment 261511

View attachment 261512
African Blackwood (dalbergia melanoxylon) has the highest janka hardness at about 3600+ for dalbergia. I’ve also had a handful of rosewood from Belize that had a density of 5.80 pounds per board foot and would imagine the janka hardness to be up close to kingwood. There is also something in that list doesn’t line up to me- there is no way that Brazilian rosewood is denser and has higher janka hardness than Amazon rosewood. It is actually should be reverse that number. Fluorescence and density is what separates the two for folks trying to pass off Amazon as Brazilian rosewood- Amazon rosewood does grow in Brazil.
 
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African Blackwood (dalbergia melanoxylon) has the highest janka hardness at about 3600+ for dalbergia. I’ve also had a handful of rosewood from Belize that had a density of 5.80 pounds per board foot and would imagine the janka hardness to be up close to kingwood. There is also something in that list doesn’t line up to me- there is no way that Brazilian rosewood is denser and has higher janka hardness than Amazon rosewood. It is actually should be reverse that number. Fluorescence and density is what separates the two for folks trying to pass off Amazon as Brazilian rosewood- Amazon rosewood does grow in Brazil.
My D. spruceana is heavier than my D. nigra samples. As for Janka, I can't test that...
 
When Amazon rosewood starting to hit stride and hit the market, probably around 2005-2006, there were vendors using other common names alongside Amazon rosewood and what they were marketing in fact wasn’t even a dalbergia species, but something else. It went by a common name “Macacauba or Hormigo”. Coincidentally, I had kept this link on my file for keep sake so I know well enough to stay away from it. I don’t want to “out” this particular vendor, but this will rub people the wrong way, because this is not the first time they have done this playing word games and trying to pass something that is not even close to what it suppose to be. That could be part of the reason why the janka hardness and density might be skewed.
 
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Nice Moravian Star. You should make a few out of Acacia and Black locust so they will glow under black light.
Now all I need is enough acacia and black locust. The glow sounds cool! When completed and it glows, will I have to play a Beatles record to show how cool I am?
 
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