The species name of this wood gives us a good clue as to where it is found. E. paraensis<\/em> is found almost exclusively in the Brazilian state of Para, in the south-west of the country, also the location of the famous wetland known as the Pantanal.<\/p>\n E. paraensis<\/em> may occasionally be referred to as a “satinwood” although this is technically not an accurate botanical description.<\/p>\n For the sake of simplicity and common understanding, I will refer to E. paraensis<\/em> from here forward as Yellowheart.<\/p>\n Yellowheart Interior<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n As would be expected given the common name of Yellowheart, the heartwood color ranges from pale to golden yellow. Unlike many other strongly colored hardwoods, Yellowheart will darken only slightly with age. The Yellowheart sapwood is variably reported to be distinct pale yellow or white, while some others have reported that there is little to distinguish the heartwood from the sapwood.<\/p>\n In general, the grain of Yellowheart is straight, however, on rare occasions, a specimen may appear that features strong figure such as a wavy and\/or interlocked grain.<\/p>\n The texture of Yellowheart is quite fine and when properly sanded, Yellowheart shows a very high natural luster and shine.<\/p>\n The end-grain of Yellowheart will be diffuse and porous. The large pores have no specific arrangement. On occasion, there may be mineral deposits present in the heartwood.<\/p>\n Although I cannot imagine that it would make much difference for the most common uses of Yellowheart in North America, it is considered to be moderately durable in terms of decay resistance. Depending on which “authority” you ask, Yellowheart may be resistant to insect attack or it may be susceptible. The consensus seems to be out for the present.<\/p>\n Most users report that Yellowheart is easy to work with both hand and machine powered tools. However, as is always true with any wood species, if there is interlocked grain or significant figure present, then difficulties may be encountered, especially tear-out during plane operations.<\/p>\n Probably due to the occasional mineral deposits, Yellowheart can have a moderate blunting effect on cutting surfaces. Frequent re-sharpening or the use or replaceable carbide, or similar, cutters, is recommended to help compensate for this tendency.<\/p>\n Yellowheart is reported to both glue and finish quite well.<\/p>\n Yellowheart is very dense and hard, considerably harder than Oak and quite close to the hardness of Hickory.<\/p>\n Some authorities claim that Yellowheart features a mild, but unpleasant, scent when being worked. However, my experience was that while there decidedly was an odor present, I found it to be spicy and not at all unpleasant. A visitor to my shop thought it smelled vaguely soapy but agreed with me that the odor was best described as spicy and not at all unpleasant.<\/p>\n Yellowheart Bottom<\/p><\/div>\n Yellowheart is wood that is commercially important in Brazil and it is therefore widely harvested and exported. There is a good availability of lumber in a range of widths as well as wide availability in a range of turning blank sizes. In general, the pricing should be fairly inexpensive for an imported hardwood.<\/p>\n I always recommend both West Penn Hardwoods <\/a>and Bell Forest Products<\/a> as excellent sources of both domestic and exotic hardwoods. I have had multiple dealings with both vendors and have always been very satisfied.<\/p>\n West Penn Hardwood sells a good deal of Yellowheart in a wide range of formats including dimensional lumber, including thin dimensions, as well as a variety of turning blank sizes ranging from pen blanks through larger spindles up to bowl blanks. On the top end of the scale, West Penn Hardwoods is selling an 8”x8”x2” bowl blanks for only $14.69. In my experience of bowl blank pricing, this is incredibly reasonably for an imported tropical hardwood.<\/p>\n Bell Forest Products is selling Yellowheart in turning blank sizes from pen blanks up to 5”x5”x2”, the later size selling for $10.00. They also have some dimensional lumber as well as specialty boards that you can hand-pick.<\/p>\n While the two dealers above are personal favorites, Yellowheart is readily obtainable from other dealers in tropical hardwoods, probably including one near you. If you don’t have a favorite supplier that you have worked with extensively in the past, by all means shop around for the best prices and the best selection to meet your particular wood working needs.<\/p>\n Woodfinder <\/a>is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising exotic wood dealers. In your search for Yellowheart, this can be an invaluable resource provided you use multiple search terms to capture all the possible listings. I can’t speak to the quality of any of the listed dealers, but Woodfinder does have the advantage of allowing searches to be performed based on location which might allow an interested buyer to visit a listed wood dealer near their home in person to hand pick nice pieces at a comfortable price.<\/p>\n Yellowheart is most commonly used in several specific applications including, but probably not limited to: Flooring, high-end furniture (especially as accent pieces to add color), boatbuilding, other architectural or furniture accents, and turned objects.<\/p>\n Personally, I cannot imagine an entire floor made of a wood that is so yellow, but to each their own tastes.<\/p>\n Yellowheart Sidewall<\/p><\/div>\n At this time, Yellowheart is not listed in the CITES Appendices<\/a> or on the IUCN <\/a>Red List of Threatened Species.<\/p>\n However, at least one reporter claims that Yellowheart has been placed in the conservation status of “vulnerable” without stating which agency or authority has so declared this status. Without more specifics, I have to question this claim.<\/p>\n Given the extremely limited range of the Yellowheart tree and its considerable popularity, I can easily imagine that Yellowheart could become overharvested and endangered in relatively short order. We as wood turners who like to use Yellowheart will have to hope that this situation is slow to come to pass, if it ever does, and we must also be certain to only purchase Yellowheart from reputable importers and dealers who are likely to have adhered to any and all relevant regulations and rules regarding harvest and export.<\/p>\n 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. I am also very confident that the vendor from whom I purchased my stocks of Yellowheart sourced their material legally and responsibly. In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained exotic wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors. I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase exotic wood from auction sites, such as Ebay<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Yellowheart has been reported to cause skin irritation in some people.<\/p>\n Appropriate protective equipment is therefore recommended, as always, when working with this, or any other, exotic wood, unless you have worked with the species before and are certain you are not sensitive to it. Complete information about health hazards<\/a> associated with a wide variety of exotic hardwoods is available from The Wood Database<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, the known risks posed by prolonged and repeated exposure to dust from any wood species are still present when using Yellowheart. 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fortunately, I experienced no negative side effects when working with Yellowheart.<\/p>\n I had only a very small, perhaps 3”x3”x2” piece of Yellowheart to experiment with that I purchased, dry, from a national retailer many years ago. I was curious about working with such a highly colored wood and was excited to try it out after waiting for so long.<\/p>\n Yellowheart proved to be an absolute dream wood to work with. The wood cut with my Easy Wood Tools<\/a>, especially the Easy Hollower #1<\/a>, extremely easily and quite cleanly. There was very little sanding required, other than removing the stubborn fibers along the end-grain sections, and even those were relatively easy to tame.<\/p>\n I was very taken by the extremely high natural sheen and luster of the wood once it was sanded down to 800 grit. Actually, the fine appearance was evident even at higher grits of sandpaper but the effect when very finely surfaced was little short of incredible. I felt confident that I could have left the piece unfinished and anyone seeing it would believe that I had applied a high-gloss finish of some sort. Only rarely have I worked with wood with this fine of a texture and luster.<\/p>\n![\"Yellowheart](\"http:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/american-osage-orange-12.jpg\")
General Characteristics<\/h2>\n
Working Characteristics<\/h2>\n
Pricing<\/h2>\n
Uses<\/h2>\n
Sustainability<\/h2>\n
Health Hazards<\/h2>\n
My Personal Experiences<\/h2>\n