However, due to the commercial scarcity of some woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay or Etsy may be the only way to obtain some desirable domestic, or in some cases exotic imported, species that are not routinely commercially harvested. The potential risks of buying in these marketplaces have to be balanced against the desire to work with a specific species of wood. That is inherently an individual decision.
I also realize that many, if not most, wood workers do not have endangered species lists memorized, therefore I think it worthwhile and important to do even a small amount of research before purchasing any lumber, domestic as well as imported, to be certain of the potential impact you are having, even in a small way, on threatened or endangered populations. This information is easy to come by and takes only minutes to locate through any Internet search engine, including those you can access on your phone as you are standing in the lumber yard or store. Unfortunately, you simply cannot count on a vendor to tell you a product they are selling is endangered.
Health Hazards:
Besides the standard health risks associated with any type of wood dust, no further health reactions have been associated with Hububalli, however, other species in the Loxopterygium genus have been reported to cause skin irritation.
It is important to remember that although many people may, or may not, be sensitive to any given wood, the only experience that truly counts is your own, so use reported side effects as guidance but not as a substitute for cautious and safe practices.
Appropriate protective equipment is therefore always recommended when working with this, or any other, wood, exotic or domestic, unless you have worked with the species before and are certain you are not sensitive to it.
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 significant difficulties while working with Hububali.
My Personal Experiences:
For an exotic hardwood, Hububali is quite soft and of low density. This makes Hububali easy to cut and to turn but it also means that the cuts are not clean and a fair amount of clean up sanding is required, especially on the cross grain areas. I also found Hububali to be rather splintery as well. These are not major draw backs but when compared to other exotics there is more work involved when working with Hububali.
Hububali
Hububali is attractive enough, especially for the price and I think it is a good entry level wood for those experimenting with working with imported exotics since it is reasonable in terms of density, hardness, and is not heavily oily.
I am glad I had the chance to work with Hububali but I don’t think I will be seeking it out especially in the future.
All major cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool system on my Robust American Beauty lathe, although I do use Robert Sorby bowl gouges for light final passes before sanding. 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.
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!