Maximum wood hardness?

[DickB]

I got a request from a customer to do a project in epay wood (Janka hardness 3680). The hardest wood that I've ever carved is hickory (about 1800). What experiences have you had with wood of that hardness? The project would entail a carve up to 1/2" deep at times and centerline text, mostly small.

[lawrence]

I've carved lots of mesquite and some bloodwoood and ebony and while they are not as hard as ipe (ebony is close), they carved VERY nicely. In fact I would say that the harder the wood, the nicer it carved (use a very sharp bit though)

Just my experience... and here's a list of the janka scale
http://www.woodstockflooring.com/index_files/Janka%20Scale.pdf

Lawrence

[Capt Bruce]

I can echo Lawrence's comment having carved ipe and a lot of other Brazilian woods. Carves beautifully with a sharp tool. Curiously the sawdust is like talcum powder while the CW is carving so dust collection was an absolute necessity. Having tried several, Tigerwood remain my favorite for its tight and dramatic grain.

59600

[TerryT]

Good information! Capt Bruce, that is impressive. Thanks

[mtylerfl]

Gorgeous spoon, Bruce! One of the nicest choices of wood I've ever seen on a decorative spoon carving.

[Capt Bruce]

Thank you Terry and Michael,
I appreciate your feedback, and should note that several people have advised me they suffer extreme allergic symptoms when cutting lots of ipe as deck boards so a dust mask may be a good precaution. I never felt any ill effects but appreciated the warning all the same.

[jmoriearty]

I have to agree with Lawrence and Capt. Bruce. I've only been using the CW for a couple of weeks, but so far none of my exotics have been beyond it's capabilities. It seems similar to lathe work, the harder the wood, the better it works. Of course, the tools pay the price in dulling. Bruce, I'm with you on the tiger wood, the dramatic grain patterns are breath taking. My supplier just got a shipment in with a 30" wide 8/4 plank in it. I WANT IT! My favorite though is and probably always will be cocobolo for the finish. I'm even thinking of making some micromesh mops for finish work on some of my tight grained exotics, may as well make them all they can be. Has anyone tried Dymondwood? I have a chunk of it left over from fundraiser pens I made. Not sure how it is going to work....lol.

[ktjwilliams]

The harder the better !!!! And a lot less sanding !!!! Keep ur compressor handy as you will need to keep blowing that POWDER aka sawdust out of the machine !!!!

[DickB]

I don't like the idea of blowing powder around in the machine. The board sensor, bearings, and optical encoders all suffer from fine dust particles. I rely on my top-mount dust collector to extract most of the fine particles. I'm less concerned about the larger chips, some of which are not collected, as these cannot get into the parts that I described, and will blow those out after every forth carve or so. I have carved and cut MDF, which makes a fine powder, but most of this powder packs itself in behind the bit in what I find to be a very peculiar manner, and gets removed when the board is removed. The top-mount dust collector is effective at collecting the airborne particles. I haven't had any dust-related issues working MDF despite the very fine particles created.

[ktjwilliams]

Sometimes I think people baby these machines to much !! I never had a dust collection system and only use compressed air.. I have an old A machine and have never had many issues.. The only parts I ever had to change were the bearings in the Y gear box, one sanding belt and a flex shaft ... I don't go crazy with all those maintance things i read that people do.. I put some grease on the up and down rails once in a while, I spray WD40 to clean things up once in a while and thats about it... when you keep messing with these machines thinking that your doing good, you may actually be doing more harm then good.. I run mine with no sides so the machine can breath, my switches are bypassed so I can keep top open also and I have small wood pieces under the machine at the corners to make more clearance for air flow under the machine.. I heard of folks not running there machines when it cold,,, I have run mine when the temps in my shop were in the teens and in the summer over a 100 in the shop... No problems !!!

[unitedcases]

Sometimes I think people baby these machines to much !! I never had a dust collection system and only use compressed air.. I have an old A machine and have never had many issues.. The only parts I ever had to change were the bearings in the Y gear box, one sanding belt and a flex shaft ... I don't go crazy with all those maintance things i read that people do.. I put some grease on the up and down rails once in a while, I spray WD40 to clean things up once in a while and thats about it... when you keep messing with these machines thinking that your doing good, you may actually be doing more harm then good.. I run mine with no sides so the machine can breath, my switches are bypassed so I can keep top open also and I have small wood pieces under the machine at the corners to make more clearance for air flow under the machine.. I heard of folks not running there machines when it cold,,, I have run mine when the temps in my shop were in the teens and in the summer over a 100 in the shop... No problems !!!

Amen.

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