My latest Rocker completed - warning pic heavy

[FrankAtl]

Man that is nice! The wood is beautiful. A rocker is on my to-do list.

[deeno]

Probably varies wildly depending on what type of chunk you have in your hands.

"Grain/Texture: Grain straight to interlocked or wavy. Fine uniform texture with low natural luster." That interlocked may prove difficult trying to finish it down with hand tools.

"Workability: Despite its high density, Bulletwood generally produces good results with both hand and machine tools, though it does exhibit an above-average dulling effect on cutters. Responds well to steam-bending. Can pose challenges in gluing due to high density and oil content." Sounds like a lot of resharpening.

Plus looking at that curl in the grain, this could pose a little extra toward getting a smooth finish.

Thanks for the complements!

Working wood this hard was a whole new learning curve for me.   Lots of frustration in the beginning.   I held off building the rocker unil I had a couple of projects under my belt with Massaranduba.   More use of rasp's and scrapers.    The wispy shavings that is so easy to get when working maple, oak or pine was just not happening.   Ended up adding a few planes with high bed angles to see what worked.   Blades have to be kept really sharp.   With the curly wood it tends to chip if you go at it to agressively.   All screw holes have to be piloted with a size close to the bolt your using.  This wood will grab on to a screw over time.    When I tried to remove the headrest screws that were on for a few months for final fitting 2 of them broke off.   Termites wont touch it.  It is very heavy and carves well, picture below of an earlier project on another sofa chair I built with the same material.

To lazy to start a new tread.  Not sure if I already posted this in the past.   WIP pics in photobucket for those interested.

<img src="http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o31/ddeen/carpentry%20projects/carved%20%20bench/IMG_2230_zps021635c4.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2230_zps021635c4.jpg"/>

<img src="http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o31/ddeen/carpentry%20projects/carved%20%20bench/IMG_2267_zps39b5033a.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2267_zps39b5033a.jpg"/>

<img src="http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o31/ddeen/carpentry%20projects/carved%20%20bench/IMG_2249_zpsacd72c72.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2249_zpsacd72c72.jpg"/>

<img src="http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o31/ddeen/carpentry%20projects/carved%20%20bench/IMG_2279_zps8d050142.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2279_zps8d050142.jpg"/>

<img src="http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o31/ddeen/carpentry%20projects/carved%20%20bench/IMG_2269_zpsb7d22464.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2269_zpsb7d22464.jpg"/>

<img src="http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o31/ddeen/carpentry%20projects/carved%20%20bench/IMG_2268_zpsff6d65ec.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2268_zpsff6d65ec.jpg"/>

[Ken Vick]

Deeno, both pieces are fantastic.  And then to do those with hand tools on that hard wood--my hats off to you.  Ken

[Steve N]

I am usually not a big fan of exotics, but I like that wood. Will the red stay? Or is it one that turns brown after a while?

The bench is as beautiful as the chair.

[vapochilled]

I am usually not a big fan of exotics, but I like that wood. Will the red stay? Or is it one that turns brown after a while?

The bench is as beautiful as the chair.  

It will turn if out doors
I built my deck using the same wood, destroyed many a drill bit !
I use a colored oil to protect from UV damage but it still needs doing every few years.

[Aram]

Tremendous craftsmanship. Fantastic work.

[ez-duzit]

Lovely work.

[Big Dave]

Beautiful work, Deeno!

[camp10]

Wow, that's some beautiful work!