Wenge?

[mattyts]

I have a friend of a friend who does bespoke counter tops and such things,He has given me a few offcuts of Wenge (2 pieces of 5'' x 1'' x 10'') and Im planning on cutting it lengthways into 1'' x 1'' blanks and turning some pens from it.

Has anyone worked with it? from what I can gather,its expensive and looks very opened grain,any tips?

 

[Jim]

It is expensive wood Matty, it looks nice if you can get a good finish on it my friend .. Using CA can be tricky ..

 

[mattyts]

It is expensive wood Matty, it looks nice if you can get a good finish on it my friend .. Using CA can be tricky ..

It looks very nice from what I've seen on it,would it take a finish using regular friction polish and wax?

 

[Neil]

Matt,

Firstly be warned. Wenge, (prounced Wen - gee,) can give you blood poisoning if you get splinters of the stuff. It is very tough, yet brittle wood. Sharp tools are necessary, more than normal, to get a decent finish.
The black one here is a letter opener in Wenge. Needs a good sanding and a liquid (as opposed to spray) sealer to fill the grain.

 

[Woody]

You will need very sharp tools that will slice through the wood as the fibres can break away quite easy it will take a very nice polish or lacquer finish

 

[jameshj]

Wenge has a soft summer growth and hard winter growth, therefore it tend to go Oval if you sand it to much. Also agree with all the other comments.

 

[Neil Lawton]

It looks very nice from what I've seen on it,would it take a finish using regular friction polish and wax?

Wenge is beautiful to turn and has an aroma of chocolate.
I posted a pen where the finish went badly wrong after the pen had been in a very hot environment.
I've oil finished bowls with no problem, but wouldn't put wax or friction polish any where near it without grain filling it somehow first.

 

[keithkarl]

It can be quite brittle and splinters a good bit. I thought the bog oak pens I made were tough to turn but were nothing compared to the Wenge. As said before a splinter in your hand would get infected quite quickly. Three guys I worked with made a stairs in Wenge and they all ended up needing to see a doctor.

 

[Jim]

It looks very nice from what I've seen on it,would it take a finish using regular friction polish and wax?

It is the lighter grain that is the problem Matty, using wax is not a good idea as it sticks in the grain and shows up on the pen ..

 

[TK woodman]

Hi there. The comments are correct - I posted a pic of a potpourri bowl made from Wenge yesterday. The photo is not so good but you can see the grain. I only ever use carbide cutters when making the bowls. When I make pens in Wenge I always sand the blanks round first before putting it on the mandrel and only ever use a very sharp skew chisel whilst sanding between cuts. I find that this tends to stop break out. I also finished a pen in Wenge the other day with a final sanding of 1200 grit and finished with CA. I'll try to post a photo of this pen tomorrow...hope this helps!

 

[TK woodman]

Managed to take a pic from my phone the image is not the best but it gives you some idea of what they look like..

 

[paulm]

Yet again, a lesson about wood and I don't go to bed having learned nothing. Thanks all that was very informative.

 

[chas_41_uk]

Sounds like a very difficult wood to work. Good luck with it

 

[brody2123]

It is a tricky customer, very open grained and brittle, and as Neil said a liquid sealer is best. But when you get it on it's sweet spot, it's one of the most beautiful woods there is.