This piece of wood was sold to me as Orange Agate which I have come to discover is yet another name for Hormigo, about which I have already written twice. This is not an uncommon naming situation with exotic imported woods where trade names are created with the goal of generating appeal among buyers rather than being consistent, or even accurate, in the naming process. Hormigo is also known as Macacauba, Macawood, and apparently also Granadillo. It may, or may not, be the case that different names are applied to different specific species within the Platymiscium genus or to different grades and colorations of woods.
Orange Agate
My original experiences held true for this new piece of Hormigo by another name, especially true was the difficulty in sanding out the cross grain areas, although the areas with the grain cut super smooth and required little to no sanding at all. Orange Agate/Hormigo/Macacauba is lovely stuff but I think I have more than enough in my existing stocks, especially under the name Grandadillo, such that I don’t need to actively seek out more.
This piece measures 5.5″ x 3″.
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!