Anyone used Idigbo?

[8squared]

I'd never heard of it till yesterday when I went to see what nice small cuts of lumber my stockists had.

Have any of you used it, and is it a wood that suits one project better than others.

I've got 2 6ft lengths of 2x1 to play with.

 

[Chrispy]

It's quite soft generally speaking and doesn't hold screws very well, but it is quite durable so is used for joinery, it is a bit like Iroko in that it is very variable some much heaver than others.

 

[PAC1]

I have made windows with it. It is quite soft but machines well. I understand the end grain does not paint well.

 

[blackrodd]

As I remember, it was smelly timber and a bit dusty in use and used in some joinery jobs as already mentioned. Haven't seen it for quite some time.
Rodders

 

[geordie]

I,ve turned a small bowl from it the grain tearout was horrible carn,t comment on flat woodwork

Geordie

 

[8squared]

Well it doesnt sound too good, I'm not looking at making any windows or furniture, it was just cut offs from someone's special order and I thought I'd give it a try.

Looking at candle holders, it doesn't have much detail so will be interesting to see what the finish is like... will post a few pics when I do.

 

[AndyT]

I was given some wood salvaged from a conservatory company which I am pretty sure is Idigbo. According to previous discussions on here it is reasonably durable so I used some of it to make these barge boards on a friend's summerhouse. Six months on, they still look fine.

I also turned this bowl which wouldn't win a turning competition but is good enough for my standards.

 

[mailee]

I have made a set of gates out of it in the past. I agree with all of the above and add that it smells like Cat pee when cut. :lol: It also stains a green colour if you don't remove PVA glue from it.

 

[lincs1963]

The only good thing about it is that it burnt well to heat the workshop! I recently made 4 windows and a set of trifold doors out of it, not my choice architects spec. Nothing but trouble, especially the painter and the customer moaning about the colour bleeding through the paint.

 

[Steve Maskery]

It can be wooly and if you want to paint it you have to buy a special primer, ordinary paint just smears around on it.
Wear breathing protection if you are machine sanding it and barrier cream is advisable too.
It's also brittle. I machined a French window transom about 3m long. I dropped it and it sheared along the grain line, which ran out a little. Fortunately, it was a long clean break and it glued back together just fine.
But it is durable and not too expensive, IIRC.
Not nice, but it has its place.

 

[8squared]

I'm not sure about it smelling like cat wee I got a smell of forest mildew/wet lettuce either way i wasn't too keen on it and the fine dust when ripping is also an added nightmare in a small workshed like mine.

I made a small candle holder but it's too plain, yet to put a clear varnish on it but doubt it will change the look.


Now that is a very nice bowl and the grain really shows up so for that purpose it's more than suitable... sadly I don't turn.