To be frank and honest, I don’t care to work with Wenge. I think that was already clear, but just in case there was any doubt, I won’t be purchasing any more of it and I wouldn’t be opposed to selling whatever small stocks I have left over. For me, the challenges and frustrations of working with Wenge simply are not outweighed by the complexities and challenges of working with it. There are too many other beautiful, and reasonable to work with, non-endangered, and inexpensive woods in the world (cherry and maple both come to mind) for me to struggle with a material as obstinate as Wenge. To its fans I wish much luck and joy, but I will not count myself amongst you.
As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever their wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!
*I am aware that the correct spelling of the modern nation state of Gabon lacks the second “o” that is found in the spelling of the common name of the wood yielded by Diospyros crassiflora. However, the common name of the wood came into widespread use before the spelling of the modern nation state was standardized, instead being taken from the spelling used by the then French colonial powers.