Anyone used Idigbo?

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8squared

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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.
 
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.
 
I have made windows with it. It is quite soft but machines well. I understand the end grain does not paint well.
 
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
 
I,ve turned a small bowl from it the grain tearout was horrible carn,t comment on flat woodwork

Geordie
 
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.
 
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.

20140801_124649_zpsvd76ij9w.jpg


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

20150125_114031_zpsitxomz2m.jpg
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.

 

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