Just got my order from Rockler today.
Man.....that's some pretty wood.....even if it is purple!?
I kinda got bored of going the walnut or pine route all the time.
Gotta get strange sometimes to break out of a building rut.
Anyone else use "exotic"....or just freakin' strange wood.....in a project!?


Steve :yes:

veneers all the time. I build the boxes out of birch ply.

A few years ago I built my preamp out of solid Purple heart.

I have a piece of "art" hanging in my living room that's made of Purple Heart and brushed metal of various types....does that count? Agreed, the PH is a beauty of a wood specimen.

P.H. ,Jatoba ("braz. Cherry") , padauk ...are beautiful, but some of the most difficult
to machine . fine -tooth saws, carbide teeth +router bits , very sharp drills....wood
is hard and brittle and abrasive. will split/crack/tearout just by thinking about cutting
it!

i do all my cutting using solid carbide endmills on a bridgeport milling machine, a dewalt
metal chopsaw fitted w/ a 12" 120T carbide tipped blade.

tom1356:

I just fell in love/lust with your preamp.....beautiful job!

Steve

In shop class, I made a simple hinged box out of purple heart....it's still sitting on the dresser of my old room at my parents' home. For being 20+ years old, it still looks awesome. I love the color - very regal. :yes:

Veneer is nice for pieces that are larege or require MDF construction, but for all others the solid woods are nicer. With solids you can make dove joints and compound corners.

That purple heart is beautiful! I bet you're going to be very pleased with the new project.

I used Zebra wood for my monoblocks. Don

OOooo. . . . thats a nice looking preamp ! :thmbsp:

I'm ever-so-slowly getting into making trim bases for tube amps . . . I used teak for this one, which was a cutting board at one time - snagged the wood for CHEAP at a thrift shop :yes: haven't actually finished the amp yet, but it's a start :D

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=93832&highlight=teak

http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=34909&d=1167314917

http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=34706&d=1166974841

Funny- I just bought some purpleheart and paduak to build a case for my boring looking Ah Toeb CD player. Used Cocobolo recently for another amp project......the dust from some of these woods is really nasty (especially the cocobolo)- I had the mother of all allergic reactions to it. From now on I will only sand these things outside with a hefty breeze

..the dust from some of these woods is really nasty (especially the cocobolo)- I had the mother of all allergic reactions to it. From now on I will only sand these things outside with a hefty breeze

the teak was a bitch too during sanding :thumbsdn:

I did a speaker project here back in 2004 and used Gaboon veneer. They still sound good and the wood just glows.

I did a speaker project here back in 2004 and used Gaboon veneer. They still sound good and the wood just glows.

Nice!

If you are looking for an unusual wood, check out curly etimoe. All the depth of teak and mahogany with the grain of a really figured walnut.

It should be said that a lot of tropical woods are oily, and can be more difficult to glue.

dew.

Check out Sapele- Looks a lot like mahogany, nice depth when it's finished. I want to make faces for my amp & pre-amp out of it. Speaking of mahogany- the Joiner who makes these refuses to work with it, he says it's a carcinogen!Check his website for pics: www.indiespinzone.com/magnestand.html

Don't know if anyone else mentioned it, but most of the exotic hardwoods can be toxic when sanded. Make sure you wear a GOOD resperator when sanding that stuff. I don't mean the flimsy rubber band type, but the two pod form fitting type. They cost about 20 bucks from HD or Lowes. Beautiful wood though. Cheers.

I just worked with some purple heart recently. It was scrap wood that had been outside in the Florida sun for a couple of year and it look very faded. The result were spectacular when I applied some tung oil. The wood just came alive with a rich reddish color with yellow streaks. No stain was applied. Gorgeous stuff and is also more resistant to bugs and rot than cedar.

Don't know if anyone else mentioned it, but most of the exotic hardwoods can be toxic when sanded. Make sure you wear a GOOD resperator when sanding that stuff. I don't mean the flimsy rubber band type, but the two pod form fitting type. They cost about 20 bucks from HD or Lowes. Beautiful wood though. Cheers.


I worked with some cocobolo a year or so ago. Beautiful wood--but I turned out to be allergic to it. The next day my face was burnt and my eyes were swollen shut. Not fun.