Has anyone used Goncalo Alves before?

[Dale Morris]

Any hints on using Goncalo Alves? I just bought a beautiful piece and have never worked it. Any suggestions for using it and finishing it would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks


Dale Morris

[David Keller NC]

Yeah. Hate the stuff, personally. It will take a high polish, similar to maple, and can be sanded through 600 grit.

Oil for a finish doesn't seem to do well, as with most dense tropical woods. Shellac is recommended, as it will stick to anything. In my case the one piece I made from it before I got rid of the rest of the lumber was a jewelry box that got a coat of shellac and then a few coats of laquer (nitrocellulose).

Be cautious around this wood and catch all of the dust. It's nasty and can provoke a severe allergic reaction.

[Brian Frances]

I have used this in the past and as was said previously, use a coat or two of shellac prior to your other finishing schedule. It is extremely dense and has very tight grain. I personally like it but it can have quite severe internal stresses so I would recommend a riving knife or splitter to keep it away from the blade. What I have noticed is that the internal stress tends to follow the dark streaks in the grain...ie straight dark lines usually tend to cut straight.
It will darken over time similar to tiger wood or cherry so factor that in.

Hope this helps.

[Dale Morris]

David, You didn't mention why you hate it. The board I bought is gorgeous, of course I haven't done anything with it yet, Thanks for your feedback

[Terry Beadle]

I've used it for wooden plane soles. It's very tough. You can machine it but if you have to do any manual tuning, be prepared to spend a lot of time sharpening your blades. It's natually oily and was originally used for bearings on power shafts in boats.

Doesn't chisel easily. Chisels create a power push through the material and you have to approach the cut brom both sides when chiseling.

Very tough stuff.

Can be beautiful too.

[David Keller NC]

Dale - I don't like it for some of the reasons cited in the thread. It's extremely hard, the dust is very irritating (I've been told it has some of the same chemical constituents as poison ivy, so that might explain a few things), it tends to check/warp and split with changes in humidity, and I've also found it to be somewhat abrasive to tooling.

Personally, I'd much rather work with a species that's friendlier, and if it's a tropical species, that'd be cocobolo or one of the other rosewoods (which, by the way, are still unbelievably hard).