Borneo Ironwood anyone?

[Jeff Childs]

Good day 'Creekers -

Wondering if anyone has had the opportunity to turn any Borneo Ironwood (Eusideroxlyon zwageri). I have a local gentleman offering a 4"x6"x5' piece that is just waiting to be resourced. Appears to have some checking on the ends, but otherwise appears acceptable. I find myself too easily swayed at times to 'horde' more wood, so thought I would ask around before spending another $100. I have read all about its characteristics (dense, fine texture, darkens w/ age, natural high luster) but also read it easily 'chips' when turning in one publication. Was thinking some tool finesse may overcome that issue. Anyhow...any thoughts welcome. Thanks in advance.

[matteo furbacchione]

Pretty much any wood can be turned, especially with todays HSS tools, so the question I'd be asking is what's the wood look like and how far do the cracks extend into the wood. Is it spectacularly grained or dead boring... Seen plenty of extremely hard woods that were so bland they were essentially not worth the effort. Can you take a block plane around and shave a bit off to expose the grain. What's it look like with a bit of water on it. What's it look like after a few days, or a week... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so you're the only one that can determine if it's a piece worth $100. A quick google search showed up a dark red wood with not a lot of variation is grain. In the US $100 for a 6x4x5' piece may be too high where as here they'ed be asking 5x that so 100 would be a deal not be passed on.

[John Keeton]

At $10/bd ft, it would have to be really special wood to picque my interest - particularly with some apparent waste from checking and limitations from the dimensions. If you yield 10 blocks of 4x6x6, are you going to get bored turning similar pieces from this wood? What one does with the wood is far more important than the wood itself, so an important question would be “do you have the skill set to do justice to this wood?” Exotic does not always mean exceptional.

[Jeff Childs]

Thank you gentlemen for you suggestions. I will indeed follow up to evaluate its aesthetic appeal (grain, color) as well as any deeper 'age related' issues (cracks) that may produce excessive waste. It's dimensions are not an issue if its in turnable condition. I enjoy doing boxes, have 7 granchildren who all are requesting one, so 'getting bored' does not seem to be an option for me! As this seems to be a very old piece of wood, I find enjoyment in resourcing wood that has some history to it. I am also slowly attempting to learn some embellishing techniques that might add to any possible blandness. Thanks again for your thoughts Matt & John.