Mimosa

To the best of my knowledge, there are no special restrictions placed on Mimosa by the United States government.

I realize that inherent in working with wood is the killing of a part of the natural world that may be slow to return and if I become deeply concerned about this fact, I will have to find a new hobby.  I hope that such a time does not come to pass or at least not any time soon.  In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors.  I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay, because of uncertain sourcing and documentation, as well as the potential, even likelihood, of material being misidentified in order to achieve a higher selling price.

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:

It is important to note that in addition to the usual hazards posed by wood dust, Mimosa has been reported to cause respiratory irritation.  As always, caution is essential until you are certain you are not sensitive to Mimosa.

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.

I can attest to the respiratory irritation reported by others when working with Mimosa.  During sanding I noticed a burning in my throat and a strong need to sneeze and cough.  I had to stop periodically to drink liquids to keep the coughing to a minimum.  The irritation wasn’t incapacitating but it was noticeable.

My Personal Experiences:

It was immediately obvious that Mimosa was soft since my rougher simply zipped right through it, but upon stopping the lathe it was also immediately obvious that the wood was of a very open pore coarse texture and as I would expect from such a wood the cross grain cut area were a mess.  But, the Mimosa is so soft that the sanding process was as fast as could be.  The appearance of the wood is, well, interesting, but it isn’t what I would call exceptionally beautiful.  It does show nice streaking and some figure through the growth rings.  It took a nice finish as well and I had been worried because oftentimes a soft porous wood will not take a finish evenly.