Hey Tom,
I aquired some Leopardwood a year or so ago. I have sent some to a knife maker friend who was intrigued with it. What I want to know is, have you ever turned any? And if so,what does it look like? The end grain is ugly to me but the face grain is beautiful and very interesting. I personally am not a turner and have to farm out my work. Also, you ever turn Bacote' or Mesquite ? Rusty

When you say "end grain" are you really talking about the edge grain? The end grain in most reel seats would be totally coverered and not visible. I have turned some leopardwood down, but have not yet finished it into a reel seat. I was somewhat disappointed with the look when it got down to the smaller diameter of a fly reel seat. Most of the figure just disappears. It might look better when the finish is on...

I have turned Bocote and it is decent to work with. It is, however, a very oily wood, and needs to be "degreased" with DNA or Acetone just prior to finishing. I used Tru-Oil on it and it is quite beautiful and very durable.

Never worked with Mesquite.


Walt



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2009 11:40PM by Walt Natzke.

Hey Walt,
Yes, I was talking about the edge of the wood. I noticed in the photo section yesterday that Tom Kirkman was turning down what appeared to be zebrawood full wells grip, and thats what promted my question about the leopardwood. It is striking on the face but very ugly on the end and the sides. You ever turn Tulipwood ? If so what does it look like?
Rusty

Bocote is a very nice looking wood and turns well [www.rodbuilding.org] , the center grip is made with Bocote. The reel seat on the second in on the right is made with leopard wood, it turns well almost looks like quarter sawn white oak. Mesquite is easy to turn and looks good, [www.rodbuilding.org] .Almost any wood will look great when turned, however when you turn on end grain you have to take your time and use light cuts or it will tear out. The fly rod in this photo uses both end grain and regular, [www.rodbuilding.org] the ends of the grip use end grain zebra wood. The sections between the dark trim rings is zebra wood run with the grain (regular). The end grain is much more dramatic than the straight grain, but cutting across the grain will make it harder to turn, but the results are much nicer.

When you work with thin sheets and cut and bore narrow squares, you won't have that nice figure that you find when you just look at a piece of wood. The only way to get some figure or pattern back is to alternate how you stack the squares - edge then end, edge then end. But you'll never have the wood face showing anywhere in the grip.

A regular piece of Leopardwood turning stock is going to look very nice. The same piece cut and turned from Leopardwood veneer or thin stock is going to look totally different. You will lose that natural figure and patterning of the wood and have to create your own by the stacking process. Frankly, if you have expensive and highly figured wood I'd use it as is. The end grain thing is really for bringing out a pattern in less expensive, and non-figured wood.

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i have worked with mesquite and bocote. they are both nice. bocote doesnt need any finish due to its high resin content. it can be buffed out. i havent worked with leopardwood. i have turned end grain and it is a different animal. end grain can really show off some interesting grain patterns. turning end grain can be very difficult especially with harder woods. like mark suggested, very light cuts are needed when turning end grain. if you cut too deep you will completely gouge out the piece(possibly beyond use) or have it blow apart. i dont say this too deter you, only to use caution and be prepared that every piece just doesnt work out.

I have turned a lot of Tulipwood, it turns very well and has both color and grain patterns that are attractive. There is a photo of one of my grips withTulipwood in it in the photo gallery.