Complete information about health hazards associated with a wide variety of exotic hardwoods is available from The Wood Database. Additional information about how to best use a dust collection system and personal protective equipment, such as respirators, can also be found through this excellent and comprehensive resource.
Fortunately, I experienced no negative side effects when working with Chechen.
My Personal Experiences:
I greatly enjoyed working with Chechen. It cut cleanly with only slight sanding effort required to achieve a nice natural luster. Chechen took a wax/shellac finish beautifully and it really enhances the natural color and vibrancy of the wood including a nice degree of chatoyance on two of the three bowls.
That third bowl is a bit of a red-headed step child. It was clearly labeled as Chechen when received from the vendor but the color is considerably different, being more consistently reddish with black streaks instead of the more golden color with reddish streaks that are present in the other two bowls. I realize wood, being a natural material isn’t always consistent between pieces so I am trusting in the identification provided upon sale.
Chechen Bowls
While at least one wood turner passionately disagrees with me and others about this point, I did not detect a specific odor when working with Chechen.
All cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool system on my Robust American Beauty lathe. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck, while reverse chucking was done using a Nova Chuck with Cole Jaws. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks. Final finish is Shellawax with an underlayment of EEE Ultra Shine.
As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever your wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!