# What is the most difficult wood you  turned?



## Dario

As the title says...

What is/are the most difficult wood you ever turned?


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## Dario

In my experience the worst is ziricote burl.  

It is very nice but it is tear out central.  No matter how sharp my skew is and how light I attack it, each pass will tear out somewhere somehow.  Sanding it also was a pain because it is very hard.

That was when I am still a newbie (not that I am no longer but I am more exprienced now []) and not sure if I was doing something wrong then.


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## dubdrvrkev

I think my least favorite to date was wenge, but one of the most difficult to deal with was manzanita root burl. It was hard as nails, didn't tear out but chipped rather badly, and was an absolute bear to finish. CA literally just flew off of it. I couldn't give the rest of it away.


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## vick

Katalox it was like turning a rock.


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## tipusnr

Soft straight-grained redwood.  It drill and turned sweet but the heat from applying the finish peeled it right off the tubes.  What a pain!


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## punkinn

Cross cut Wenge, hands down! The Wenge tops cross cut Zebrawood by a slight margin.  I'll take Zebra any day...  my Wenge blanks will probably be in my drawer for quite a while.  I turned both face cut and cross cut pens just to say I'd conquered it, that was enough. LOL

The redwood I turned cracked under the heat of sanding as well, Bill... not a pen but a tiny goblet and "wine bottle" to match.  this was from a small, solid limb of S. gigantea.  It was beautiful, but very delicate to finish.  

Kevin, I wish I'd known you had manzanita to GIVE AWAY!! I'd happily have taken it off your hands.  I've really enjoyed working with the MRB I've turned.  

Nancy


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## smoky10

Dry osage orange, make two passes and sharpen your tools.


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## arjudy

Crosscut palm.  Way too much tear out.


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## RonMc1954

Smoky10 wrote: 





> Dry osage orange, make two passes and sharpen your tools.


Smoky I have never turned osage orange but I have cut alot with a chainsaw. It is the only wood I have cut that can produce sparks when cutting with a chainsaw. IT'S HARD
Ron


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## chigdon

OK, I know it is supposed to be one but I will narrow it down to 2:

1 - Stabilized Redwood Bark - one I got from Rex Burningham at a show.  He said that Craft Supply was going to start carrying them but who knows?  Tremendous tear out and lots of CA.

2 - Crosscut Black Palm - enough said

I would love to see (and try) Ziricote Burl though.  Sounds very interesting.


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## PatLawson

> _Originally posted by Dario_
> ...What is/are the most difficult wood you ever turned?



Crosscut black palm - no contest.

Pat L.


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## DCBluesman

What she ^ said. [8D]


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## CameronPotter

Corn cobs for a slimline.

I got through the stuff that a corn cob pen is meant to look like and the rest just tore out entirely.

Nasty.

(Does a corn cob count as wood)?  Otherwise the hardest I have turned is eucalyptus burl.

Cam


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## alamocdc

1) Xcut Chakte Viga - talk about turing a rock. 

Believe it or not the CV was 10 times harder than the 2) xcut Texas Ebony I did just weeks earlier (1 of which actually warped the lower tube of an Olympia while I was turning it).

3) Red Palm


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## btboone

Wen ge is Nas te.  Lots of splinters.  I also don't care for walnut much.  Pretty soft, weak, and splintery.


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## woodpens

> _Originally posted by PatLawson_
> <br />Crosscut black palm - no contest.


That sounds like a challenge to me! []

While reorganizing my pen blanks I came across a good bit of crosscut Black Palm. I need to try it again now that I have a little more experience and maybe patience. LOL

I agree with the Wenge haters. Even with a CA finish, I always end up with white streaks in the grain that don't belong there.


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## gerryr

Birds-eye maple is the hardest wood I've tried, but the most difficult for me is Bocote.  I've tried to make two pens from it and both of them fractured on the lathe.[]  Bocote must hate me.


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## Rifleman1776

Palm. About three seconds, back to sharpening wheel. Impossible.

Edit: Depending on what you mean by "hardest to turn". Palm #1 impossible for me; #2 spalted burls, they just come apart unless stabilized; #3 the so-called dymondwoods, very-very hard, I don't like at all.


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## Doghouse

Hardest - Dymondwood.  Hard as a rock and dulls your tools faster.

Most problematic - Punky wood - anything that has gone just past the spalted point.


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## huntersilver

I would say a very soft spalted maple, ir just 
wants to tear away.


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## Daniel

Amboyna Burl, Expensive and likes to pop out chunks like other Burls. Real hard on my nervous system.
the single hardest piece of wood I ever turned was a "Challenge Blank" From My Family Woods on e-bay.(It was sold witha warning that it was not for beginners) It was a half rotten piece of Juniper. I blew it apart just drilling it. made an interesting pen though.


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## Charles

Gabon ebony, So hard never created shavings just dust. All over dust, like fingerprint powder. Had it all over me. It seemed like it stayed suspended forever, the dust that is.


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## GBusardo

Birds-eye maple is the hardest wood I've tried, but the most difficult for me is Bocote. I've tried to make two pens from it and both of them fractured on the lathe. Bocote must hate me

Interestingly, I have had no problems with either of those,  but crosscut cocobolo drives me nuts!!!  Aside from the super hard woods, I think everyone's technique might lend to being more successful with different wood,  maybe.  []


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## chigdon

I think this has evolved into 2 different questions and I am not sure which was intended.  We have the hardest wood in density and the hardest in difficulty.  

I answered already in difficult to turn but if we are talking hardest in density I would say either Manzanita Burl, Desert Ironwood Root Burl, or Birdseye Maple that was sunken for 100 years!


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## Rifleman1776

> _Originally posted by RonMc1954_
> <br />Smoky10 wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dry osage orange, make two passes and sharpen your tools.
> 
> 
> 
> Smoky I have never turned osage orange but I have cut alot with a chainsaw. It is the only wood I have cut that can produce sparks when cutting with a chainsaw. IT'S HARD
> Ron
Click to expand...


Agree, it is hard. But I find it a joy to turn.


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## Ravenbsp

I agree, wenge sucks.  I turn it to round using multiple conservative passes on a metal lathe, never had any tear-out.  Using chisels though, it always seeemed like I wood get it near perfect and then blow the blank right of the tube[xx(]


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## kent4Him

I'd have to agree with the crosscut palm group.  Very unique if it survives.  I've also blown out a number of Thuya blanks.  That pains me more because of the cost.


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## chitswood

Purpleheart, it has to be the most brittle wood I've ever worked with.
I keep telling myself to avoid it, but I'm stupid for pretty colors[}]


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## Nolan

Black Palm that I just did. Super hard couldnt believe it.
Nolan


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## Rifleman1776

> _Originally posted by smoky10_
> <br />Dry osage orange, make two passes and sharpen your tools.



Interesting observation. I love turning OO. Hard, but not difficult.
Recent project.


Edit: P.S. I didn't realize this was an old thread reactivated. Oh, well. Enney chance to boast. []





<br />


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## scroller99

The worst wood that I have tried to turn to date is black palm, finally after a couple of years and some practice with the skew I have been able to turn a couple[] Howard


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## mick

Not a wood....but Denim wrapped around a set of Baron tubes and soaked through and through with thin CA. A couple of passes and its back to sharpening my skew. I finally resorted to a 60 grit gouge!! Second would the the afore mentioned Black palm! Oddly enough some of the others mentioned have never given me trouble. Wenge' for example is one of my favorites to turn, as is Dymondwood, atho it is very difficult to drill and trim because of its hardness. I would think that what's hardest for you would depend a lot on your tool of choice. Woods prone to blow out .....or tear out would it, seems to me, react differently to say a gouge as opposed to a skew. Again this is just MHO so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. []


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## arjudy

Crosscut palm.


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## RogerGarrett

> _Originally posted by smoky10_
> <br />Dry osage orange, make two passes and sharpen your tools.



I haven't had any problem with the Osage Orange - I find it turns quite beautifully as long as the tools are sharp [] - but then I'll bet you are better at turning cross cut zebra wood than I am - tearout....etc.

In standard woodworking operations (routing, planing, etc.) I find hickory to be a bear, and planing Zebrawood was also not much fun - maybe my planer knives were getting dull?

Best,
Roger Garrett


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## huntersilver

It is embarassing, but the angle cut Ebony from Chitswood, everyone
else does not seem to have a problem with it??


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## bradh

African Blackwood! Very hard and oily and I find it very difficult to get a good finish. I have a good cutomer that loves this wood and I always struggle to make these pens.
Brad
HardingPens.com


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## KenV

Western red cedar wood and alabaster (rock) -

Red cedar splintered and tore.  Alabaster is a dusty pain dulling tools.


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## chitswood

Easily, UGLY WOOD!

when a wood is pretty enough, I'll go through any trouble to get it done, but when the wood is really bland, I lose interest in it because its a waste of my time[]


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## its_virgil

I second that, Alan. I'm 0 for 5 in the cross cut palm. The question was "wood" and as I understand it, palm is a grass. But still, my vote goes to cross cut palm wood..red, black, coconut, or ali: 0 for 5[!][][V]
Do a good turn daily!
Don





> _Originally posted by arjudy_
> <br />Crosscut palm.


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## wesley8747

Cross grain spalted oak. I think I actually did more sanding than turning with this one. Also used a ton of thin CA.


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## Pipes

X Cut Zebra wood for me is IMO a PITA depending on the tree ! I have had some turn easy and some blow out everytime I tried it !! []





http://affordablepipes.com/


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## Blind_Squirrel

X-cut desert iron wood.  I have had more blow outs with that than any other type of wood.


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## johncrane

RING GIDGEE. FROM THE DESSERT IN W/AUST IT IS LIKE STEEL


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## Rojo22

I am going to turn some of the desert iron wood this weekend, so I am glad I read the forum first, it is like a slab of metal!

Dogwood is the only wood I know that gives my chainsaw the cold sweats.  A 5 inch diameter tree will ruin a chainsaw blade faster than cutting pavement......After it dries out it still is very hard wood.  I dont recall seeing sparks, but I did see tears from my chainsaw....LOL.....

I have turned some York Gum Burl that was pretty tough, and some Red Morrel Burl that was hard.....


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## randyrathbun

Granted, I have not made many pens yet, but the worst so far was a chunk of pink ivory. The blank had a nice crack in it that I figured I could work around. Well, I did for a bit as I had pretty much filled the crack really well with CA. 

Then when turning it the blank pretty much exploded. It just blew apart right on the lathe. After a lot of griping and cussing and stomping my feet, I glued it back up and put it back on the lathe. No more chunks of wood flying around, thankfully, but then the gouges had to keep being resharpened. After two and a half hours of this, I had the first of the two peices done. 

So, I did the second part of the pen. Again, the chunk blew apart and again I fixed it. Another two hours of this and the pen was ready to be sanded. 

I must say, all the trouble was worth it. It came out really well - the wood around the cracks turned a much darker color so it makes them stand out. I don't know how to describe it really, other than to say it almost looks like a chunk of marble.

I made the pen for a friend of mine and she seemed to really like it.

But, for now, I refuse to work with pink ivory for a while.


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## Glenn McCullough

I have some OAK beams (2.5" x 15" x 5')from a dismantled barn that was built in the late 1800's. I have to sharpen my tools 2-3 times per pen. It seems almost like petrified wood! 
   Not the most colorful wood but when it is done, it has the nicest chetoyance, just incredible!
   I have more of this wood if anyone is interested in a trade. 
   One of my earlier photos, not the best!


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## jeffj13

Crosscut macassar ebony.  Exploded two blanks before I was able to actually get a pen.

jeff


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## ctEaglesc

If you were to ask me this a year and a half ago I would have said x-cut palm red palm.
Tday I would say any of the softer woods.
X-cut, bias cut woods con't bother me, I don't flinch at any of them.With the way I do glue ups there isn't any particular direction that I can count on.
Toothpicks are sort of tough because the end grain with CA is so much harder than the rest of the blank.
The most difficult stuff I have turned to date is plexiglass with a laminated wood glue up in it.
Using Ca makes the difficult woods"easy"




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## TellicoTurning

The hardest for me is desert ironwood.  I've had some trouble with wenge, but it turns out pretty good.  Most Osage I've turned has been green since I had a source from a live tree.  I have the most failures from Dymondwood... if I get too agressive I lose the blank every time.


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## laurie sullivan

i can say the today the hardest turning wood was old fence post osage orange. i'll bet that it was out in the elements for years and years, it was a  dark coffee brown in color and as hard as a rock. i need to sharpen every chisel i used, twice. desert iron wood is hard, but not as hard as this OO was.

laurie


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## martyb

Crosscut desert ironwood here.  I think I'm turning too slow. (did I just say that?!)
I have a stock of blanks, going to try again at a step faster spin.  Moving slowly, the roughing gouge had too much chance to grab which split the crosscut grain.


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## JasonF

I tried cross cut Black Palm. Did not like it.


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## johncrane

lv'e had a bit of drama with a segmented black palm/osage orange s/line.


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## WWAtty

Tried crosscut ipe, tore out huge chunks no matter how sharp my chisels were.  Wasted 2 blanks in this attempt and finally gave up.  Too bad really, as the blanks I cut from this particular block of ipe had a nice greenish chatoyance.  Maybe I'll use the rest for door stops.[)]


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## clement

I don't like turning purplehart, gives too much dust but the finish is beautifull.
I've tryed cross-cut zebrawood, every time when i came near the good diameter it blows []
Had no problem with Wenge, but difficult to finish, i was'nt able to seal the grain correctly, by the finishing i had white spots into the grain. Maybe i do'nt use a good sealer.
I've buyed a couple of black palm blanks straight cut, is this even difficult as cross cut ??
Nice day everyone and good turning


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## clement

Hi everybody,
In the saga of difficult woods i can add apricot tree.
I've turned yesterday a piece of this wood, not for pens, it's for a gobelet. Not easy to turn, no scrolls only dust [] Even with the skew it was'nt realy easy to obtain a nice surface. Even after sanding and sealing 3 times the wood looks as not turned but scraped [!]
I've got 1 piece of it over, but i think that it will stay in the storage corner


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## pmpartain

Marblewood.  I bought some stabilized Marblewood.  Sharpened the tools, Took as light a cut as I could.  Blows off in big chunks.  Glue on chunks.  Blows off other chunks.  Of 3 blanks, I got 1 pen.  The last one started blowing up.  I was so frustrated that I took huge bites and smiled as it flew apart off of the lathe.  The one pen that turned out has three patches on it, but looks incredible.


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## TellicoTurning

I must be one of the fools that likes Wenge.. it's hard, but I get good results.. just don't think it's all that pretty.  I tried black palm one time, wound up with many more pieces than I started with... this may have been the blank that convinced me to buy a face shield instead of just safety glasses..


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## wade

Only wood that i've turned that really gives me fits is Ebony.  It's so soft, i've managed to bork about 3 out of 5 blanks. I did get a nice set out of it tho, but boy did it take some time and finesse.

Wade


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## Rifleman1776

> _Originally posted by RonMc1954_
> <br />Smoky10 wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dry osage orange, make two passes and sharpen your tools.
> 
> 
> 
> Smoky I have never turned osage orange but I have cut alot with a chainsaw. It is the only wood I have cut that can produce sparks when cutting with a chainsaw. IT'S HARD
> Ron
Click to expand...


OO has a high silica content. That is what makes the sparks. I love turning it. Sell some too, customers are happy. [8D]


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## TellicoTurning

I make duck calls from OO... usually sell as soon as I show it.. 
The pens do well also, but don't make as many of them.


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## bob393

From what I have done so far definatly Spalted Maple. 
It just kills me with tearout. 
Needs way too much CA.


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