Alan Lightstone
04-10-2022, 8:11 PM
So, I'm in the final stages of building a cutting board for a BBQ cart I built last month. I've copied the general design of an intricate one I found online, and just needed four 2.5" x 2.5" x 1" squares for the corner of the design. A dark wood would work well in the design.
So I ran down to Woodcraft, and low and behold, they had some 6" x 6" x 2" blocks of this pretty dark wood labelled Patagonian Rosewood. Now I've never worked with this before (or heard of it, I think), but I buy it, and need to get it cut to the correct size blocks. Now is when the fun begins.
This stuff is hard. I mean, absurdly hard. Now I've never worked with Ipe, so I don't have that for comparison, but at first I wanted to remove the wax that was thickly applied to it. Tried scraping that off with a small metal spatula, and that took off most of it. But some still remained. Mineral spirits - took off most of the remainder of the wax, but I needed the surface to be flat and smooth. So, I figured, put it through my wide belt sander. The sander made strange noises, and didn't sand it at all. It was a small piece, but I have put smaller pieces through my wide belt.
New approach - lets grab a plane and plane it a few times. Well, the wood laughed at the plane. It did nothing. Didn't even dent the surface. And this plane blade was very sharp.
OK. Time to try a different approach. So I took out my Festool 150/3 sander and 80 grit sandpaper. The wood laughed at the sandpaper. It did nothing. 50 grit - same thing.
Well, time to start getting nuclear. I took out my Rotex and 50 grit sandpaper, it the wood laughed at that too. Literally sanded nothing off it. OMG, this is getting crazy.
OK, still need flat sides and 90 degree angles. So I took out my shooting board and my absurdly heavy Lie-Neisen shooting plane. This also did nothing.
So, using my 5HP Sawstop table saw, I was able to cut it into pieces, although getting perfect right angles, even with my accurate crosscut sled wasn't really possible.
Well, it's glued up now, in clamps. And tomorrow I'll have to try to send the whole cutting board through the wide belt with the four Peruvian Walnut corner blocks a little proud to get them sanded to match the thickness of the remainder of the cutting board. Just nuts.
And I have to remember not to cut anything on the four corners of the board when using it as a cutting board. Even well made knives don't stand a chance against this wood and stay sharp.
And I have to wonder what will happen when I try to ease the corners with my router.
Anyone ever work with Patagonian Rosewood? Or is it "avoid it like the plague" wood.
So I ran down to Woodcraft, and low and behold, they had some 6" x 6" x 2" blocks of this pretty dark wood labelled Patagonian Rosewood. Now I've never worked with this before (or heard of it, I think), but I buy it, and need to get it cut to the correct size blocks. Now is when the fun begins.
This stuff is hard. I mean, absurdly hard. Now I've never worked with Ipe, so I don't have that for comparison, but at first I wanted to remove the wax that was thickly applied to it. Tried scraping that off with a small metal spatula, and that took off most of it. But some still remained. Mineral spirits - took off most of the remainder of the wax, but I needed the surface to be flat and smooth. So, I figured, put it through my wide belt sander. The sander made strange noises, and didn't sand it at all. It was a small piece, but I have put smaller pieces through my wide belt.
New approach - lets grab a plane and plane it a few times. Well, the wood laughed at the plane. It did nothing. Didn't even dent the surface. And this plane blade was very sharp.
OK. Time to try a different approach. So I took out my Festool 150/3 sander and 80 grit sandpaper. The wood laughed at the sandpaper. It did nothing. 50 grit - same thing.
Well, time to start getting nuclear. I took out my Rotex and 50 grit sandpaper, it the wood laughed at that too. Literally sanded nothing off it. OMG, this is getting crazy.
OK, still need flat sides and 90 degree angles. So I took out my shooting board and my absurdly heavy Lie-Neisen shooting plane. This also did nothing.
So, using my 5HP Sawstop table saw, I was able to cut it into pieces, although getting perfect right angles, even with my accurate crosscut sled wasn't really possible.
Well, it's glued up now, in clamps. And tomorrow I'll have to try to send the whole cutting board through the wide belt with the four Peruvian Walnut corner blocks a little proud to get them sanded to match the thickness of the remainder of the cutting board. Just nuts.
And I have to remember not to cut anything on the four corners of the board when using it as a cutting board. Even well made knives don't stand a chance against this wood and stay sharp.
And I have to wonder what will happen when I try to ease the corners with my router.
Anyone ever work with Patagonian Rosewood? Or is it "avoid it like the plague" wood.