Lacwood Newbie questions

[Doug Shepard]

I've been picking up a few pcs of lacewood lately but I've never worked with the stuff. Any special tricks or problems I should know about?

Is it tearout prone for planing (both machine and hand)? I do have a Performax too if running it through the planer is likely to chew it up.

Any glueing or finishing issues?

[scott spencer]

Hi Doug - I've had some limited exposure to lacewood....it's a very pretty accent wood IMHO. It is prone to tearout and is rather brittle. Put the sander to work!

[Daniel Simon]

I'd watch for the allergic reaction that some people have to lacewood and work with it slowly at first to see if you break out. I'm highly allergic and can't work with it anymore. The bad part is that I didn't find out until I used several machines. My arms, face, and elsewhere were very bad for about three weeks. Then when all was clear, I cleaned my dust collector and it all started again...then again when I cleaned my planes...you get the picture. :( Matter of fact, I still have a few boards left and every time I touch the stuff I start itching.

[Doug Shepard]

I'd watch for the allergic reaction that some people have to lacewood and work with it slowly at first to see if you break out. ...

Good to know. I wasn't aware this was one of the potential problem woods for allergic reactions. So far I haven't had any problems with any of the other sometimes problem woods, so hopefully the lacewood wont cause me problems.


...It is prone to tearout and is rather brittle...

OK - How bad is it? I realize every board is going to be a little different, but if I was trying to thickness from maybe 3/8 or 7/16 down to 5/16 or so, could I get away with going halfway with the planer first before switching to the Performax? Or is it REALLY tearout prone and I should stick strictly with the sander? The Performax works fine but it's SO much slower than the planer.

I forgot to ask about movement issues too. The stuff I've been buying has all been kiln dried and 6-8% M.C. according to the sellers, but I haven't checked it myself with the moisture meter yet. How is lacewood on the wood movement scale?

[Brandon Shew]

Scott's right - it's brittle, but I don't find it too bad as far as tearout is concerned compared to some of the more stringy woods.

[Harry Goodwin]

For small turnings like pens a coat of CA intermitently thru the last few final cuts will help a lot. Sharp tools and light touch will help. Harry

[Vaughn McMillan]

The one box I've built with lacewood gave me no real problems. The softer parts of the grain tended to soak up BLO more than the harder parts, and they can also bleed the oil back out if you don't wipe it down enough. Planing-wise, I didn't have any problem taking light passes, and is sanded smooth pretty easily. All in all, I liked using lacewood.

Here's a pic of the box if you're interested:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=28117&d=1135377933

- Vaughn

[Dan Forman]

I got some tearout from my jointer planer, but turned out the knives were not very sharp. Here is some info on handplaning lacewood. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=31238

Turns out the key factors are a VERY sharp blade, and very fine shavings. Another factor which might play a role is the size and shape of the rays which create the figure. My sample had larger, more oblong rays than did Vaughn"s. Most of the tearout I experienced was in these larger rays, the smaller ones fared better.

Good luck.

Dan

[Larry Crim]

I am working with it for the first time as well and did get some tearout when running it through the planer last night but wiped it down with some water and ran it through again and it reduced the tearout to almost zero.
Pat

[scott spencer]

Good to know. I wasn't aware this was one of the potential problem woods for allergic reactions. So far I haven't had any problems with any of the other sometimes problem woods, so hopefully the lacewood wont cause me problems.



OK - How bad is it? I realize every board is going to be a little different, but if I was trying to thickness from maybe 3/8 or 7/16 down to 5/16 or so, could I get away with going halfway with the planer first before switching to the Performax? Or is it REALLY tearout prone and I should stick strictly with the sander? The Performax works fine but it's SO much slower than the planer.

I forgot to ask about movement issues too. The stuff I've been buying has all been kiln dried and 6-8% M.C. according to the sellers, but I haven't checked it myself with the moisture meter yet. How is lacewood on the wood movement scale? The tearout I experienced was on the quartersawn boards that have the heavy flecking....it wasn't terrible, so sharp blades and wetting it should get you pretty close.