- Joined
- Wednesday September 23, 2009
- Location
- Almere, Netherlands
Jeltz said:When I make some brushes I will be using Padauk for one. Heavy and finishes beautifully, its a very dense African hardwood so slow to work in comparison with oak.
You sure it is Padauk you're thinking of? Bright orange-red when cut, but browning quickly upon exposure to oxygen and light? (Can delay turning brown with a good varnish finish though).
It is an excellent wood for brush handles, is very hard, and reasonably dense, but not overly so (specific weight / volumetric mass around 0.8). Used to make sound bars for xylophones. But: at least when turning it works very easily and fast, much better so than e.g. oak. Polishes beautifully, even though it has some open pores.
My personal preference for handles is olive. I also have a lignum vitae handle, but I wouldn't do one again I think. There's no way to finish it right, so the wood gets soaked repeatedly. While lignum vitae is somewhat water resistant, I fear that it will fail eventually.