Anyone work with Narra or Indonesian Mahogany?

[sawnuts]

I have a person who claims he had this wood shipped from Papua New Guinea (South Pacific) when he worked there as a missionary. I have no reason to doubt him.
The Narra he called rosewood and the other he called Toona?

I do not these are really mahogany or Rosewood but still they look intriguing.

I can get the mahogany for $5 a bd ft and the rosewood for $8 or $9. I have yet to figure out if he has wide boards available.

They seem to work well and I am wondering if anyone has experience with these woods and if the price seems fair. I use hand tools and these seem to plan up rather nicely.

Thanks
Mark

[Pat Zabrocki]

sawnuts said:

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I have a person who claims he had this wood shipped from Papua New Guinea (South Pacific) when he worked there as a missionary. I have no reason to doubt him.
The Narra he called rosewood and the other he called Toona?

I do not these are really mahogany or Rosewood but still they look intriguing.

I can get the mahogany for $5 a bd ft and the rosewood for $8 or $9. I have yet to figure out if he has wide boards available.

They seem to work well and I am wondering if anyone has experience with these woods and if the price seems fair. I use hand tools and these seem to plan up rather nicely.

Thanks
Mark

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Narra is the lumber / tree that amboyna burl comes from. the scientific name for narra is Pterocarpus indicus so it is not a true rosewood which would be in the Dalbergia family. a related wood was Padouk.
an internet search tells me that toona is in the mahogany family.
cheers
pat

[sawnuts]

Pat,
So the question remains. Have you used it and is the cost reasonable?

I know the cost thing is tough to nail down. I have done my own research and I am pretty sure I know what I have and you nailed it. I do not see it for sale anywhere in board form only small pieces for turning and such.

[Pat Zabrocki]

sorry Mark, I misunderstood your post when I read it. I thought you were also looking for info on the woods. No I can't comment on the price. I've used Padouk and Mahogany which are siblings to these and they are of course excellent to work with but you knew that.
good luck
Pat

[DaveBeauchesne]

Mark:

I have only turned one tool handle from Narra - it turned quite nicely IIRC, and the finished product was well received by a fellow that has used a lot of Narra.

Krenov was a Narra fan; there are certainly different tones of it - the browner seems nicer. As you probably know, Krenov finished virtually everything with hand tools - it has a nice look to it for sure.

Give it a go I say!

Dave B