Palisander

[MinotBob]

I have been having lot of problems trying to find quality and different wood here in Taipei. I recently found a furniture shop that makes a lot of massive furniture out of Palisander. According to a website I found it comes from Madagascar and it charastics are:

The wood is very hard and contains a natural oil as found in rosewood. Flitches are generally very thick and wide, with 16 foot lengths being common. Because of its age this wood has developed an extremely warm and rich patina over time.

Has anyone worked with this before or know anything about it? It is a very beautiful heavy wood. It's also a bit wet with the moisture content at about 14-16%. Other names for it is Padauk or Narra.

[lucky788scroller]

Padauk is used very much in scrolling here in the US. Although pretty hard, it scrolls good.As for the oilyness, I once did a clock using padauk, and it took months for my finish to dry. Partly from poor ventilation, but I blame most of it on the oils within the wood. Many wipe the wood down with mineral spirits before finishing to help get rid of some of the oils. Dale
Thanks for the facts on the names used, I never knew that!

[Trout]

Palisander the same as Padauk?

I've been looking at Padauk and almost bought some instead of the cherry that I'm using for my horse project but the guy at the lumber yard didn't know anything about it so I passed on it...it was about $7 per foot for a 6 inch wide board..

I did get a hardwood fact sheet on it...

Description:
often called Vermilion, Padauk is found in Africa and the Andaman Islands with one major somewhat harder variety native to Burma.
Padauk is characterized by its crimson, brick red color, sometimes having darker red to purplish streaks. The color is bright when first sanded or surfaced but oxidizes and fades after prolonged exposure to open air. The grain is open and relatively soft, can be straight, mottled or curly in appearance. weight is 43 to 48 pounds per cubic foot..

Working:
Machines and turns well, although some grain tearing may be evident. Glues well.

Uses:
furniture, flooring and architectural accents, turning and decor items...

I know...this is no help.....

Trout

[bearfretworks]

Sounds like some interesting wood. A quick search shows that Palisander, Padauk, and Narrah a re three different species of tree.


Palisander (Dalbergia baronii) is one of several rosewood species from Madagascar. It has beautiful color and grain, a sweet smell, and is very easy to work and stable in use. It is a very close match to true Rio or Brazilian Rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) and as such is much in demand for musical instruments, especially guitars.

Padauk, covered above in Trout's post is Pterocarpus soyauxii

and Narrah is Pterocarpus Indicus (Narrah, Narra, Mai Pradoo, Pradoo, Amboyna, Burma Padouk).

Growing Region: New Guinea and Solomon Islands as well as some in the deciduous forests of Thailand.

Availability: Good availability, but exploitation can be problematic. Our drum is made from sinker logs salvaged from river bottoms.

Weight/Hardness/Density: Narra has a Janka rating of 2170. Hickory/Pecan scores 1820, Maple 1450, Red Oak 1290, and Cherry 950. The Janka scale is a measure of how much force is required to drive a .44” steel ball ½ of its depth into the wood. The higher the number, the harder the wood.

[MinotBob]

That all interesting. I also found out after a little more research that these were three different species but all seem to be related to Rosewood. It is a very deap red with some very pretty deap purplish grain pattern.

[CanadianScroller]

I have used padauk for a few smaller projects.
It has a distinct smell when you cut it, I have heard it is an irritant.

The wood has almost a metallic sound when you rap it.

I found it very easy to cut and I think it would be great for intarsia.
Online I have seen it used on musical instruments but I can not tell how it would sound.

My source, like any other exotic wood I have tried, was a local highschool.
I did a couple of scrolling demos and in return I got to rummage through the scrap pile.
If the kids only knew what they had!