For the sake of simplicity and common understanding I will hereafter refer to the Platymiscium spp.<\/em> as Hormigo with the awareness that other common names are in use.<\/p>\n The color of the Hormigo heartwood can be highly variable ranging from a bright red to a darker reddish or purplish brown, frequently with darker stripes. When the wood is referred to as “Hormigo,” various suffixes are used to describe the heartwood color: “Hormigo Negro” for darker pieces or “Hormigo Rojo” for orangish red pieces.<\/p>\n The clearly demarcated sapwood of Hormigo is yellow to white.<\/p>\n The grain of Hormigo is straight to interlocked, with a medium to fine texture.<\/p>\n Hormigo features a high natural luster.<\/p>\n Hormigo heartwood is rated as durable to very durable regarding decay resistance, with good resistance to insect attacks as well. The sapwood however is perishable.<\/p>\n Overall, Hormigo features good working characteristics for both hand and machine tools, though areas of interlocked grain should be approached with care to avoid tearout.<\/p>\n Hormigo is able to take a very high natural polish.<\/p>\n Hormigo turns and glues well.<\/p>\n There is no reported characteristic odor associated with Hormigo although to me the wood smelled distinctly sweet and spicy with strong floral tones.<\/p>\n Hormigo is commonly imported under a variety of common names, and in a number of forms (lumber, turning blanks, flooring, etc.). Hormigo prices are generally moderate for an imported exotic hardwood.<\/p>\n In this blog, I almost always recommend several vendors with whom I have done considerable business and in whom I have great confidence. These vendors are: West Penn Hardwoods<\/a>, Bell Forest Products<\/a>, NCWood<\/a>, WoodTurningz<\/a>, Amazon Exotic Hardwoods<\/a>, Griffin Exotic Wood<\/a>, Exotic Woods USA<\/a>, Got Wood?<\/a>, and Wood Turning Blanks 4U<\/a>. Note: ALWAYS green turn wet blanks from NCWood and Wood Turning Blanks 4U as their wax will not hold for extended drying periods.<\/p>\n At this time none of these fine vendors is offering Hormigo under any common name. A simple Internet search returns some vendors with pen blanks but few, if any, selling bowl sized blanks. For a commonly imported hardwood, it proves elusive.<\/p>\n Woodfinder<\/a> is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers. In your search for Hormigo, 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 in person to hand pick pieces at a comfortable price.<\/p>\n A significant problem with using Woodfinder is that many vendors are listed for woods that, upon further investigation, they do not offer. I don’t know if perhaps once they did and they didn’t update their listings or if some vendors use a standardized list of woods that include most everything conceivable with the idea that once you land on their page you will find something you want to buy even if you didn’t know it beforehand. It happens to me all the time!<\/p>\n Hormigo finds use in the following applications: Furniture, cabinetry, veneer, musical instruments, turned objects, and small specialty wood items.<\/p>\n Hormigo is not listed with the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices<\/a>, nor is it on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.<\/a><\/p>\n To the best of my knowledge, there are no special restrictions placed on Hormigo by the United States government.<\/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. 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/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 Aside from the common risks associated with exposure to wood dust of any species, Hormigo is not known to pose specific health hazards. As always, caution is essential until you are certain you are not sensitive to Hormigo.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Complete information about health hazards<\/a> associated with a wide variety of exotic hardwoods is available from The Wood Database<\/a>. Additional information about how to best use a dust collection system and personal protective equipment<\/a>, such as respirators, can also be found through this excellent and comprehensive resource.<\/p>\n Fortunately, I experienced no negative side effects when working with Hormigo.<\/p>\n I found Hormigo easy to work with. It is on the harder side of the tropical woods and it cut reasonably cleanly and it required only minor clean up sanding on the cross grain areas. Hormigo sanded nicely to a good natural shine when sanded to 800 grit. Hormigo wood finished quite nicely with no splotching. It measures 11.5″ x 3″.<\/p>\n Hormigo Interior<\/p><\/div>\n My piece of Hormigo was especially interesting because at least half of it is clearly demarcated sapwood which is heavily spalted. The contrast between the very red heartwood and the spalted almost white sapwood is striking and is one of the most intriguing pieces I have ever turned.<\/p>\n Hormigo Reverse<\/p><\/div>\n I enjoyed working with my piece of Hormigo and I am quite certain that I have much more extensive stocks of Hormigo in my wood inventory. I do not believe I will have anything as striking as this piece mixed with sapwood but an entire piece of the very colorful heartwood will be interesting in its own right as well.<\/p>\n Hormigo Side View<\/p><\/div>\n All cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool<\/a> system on my Robust American Beauty<\/a> lathe. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck,<\/a> while reverse chucking was done using a Easy Wood Tools Easy Chuck with Big Easy Jaws and Extension<\/a>. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks<\/a>. Final finish is Shellawax<\/a>. Note that this time I applied and buffed a coat of Shellawax EEE Ultra Shine<\/a> as an under layer before applying the Shellawax.<\/p>\n 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!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My piece of Hormigo was especially interesting because at least half of it is clearly demarcated sapwood which is heavily spalted. The contrast between the very red heartwood and the spalted almost white sapwood is striking and is one of the most intriguing pieces I have ever turned. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":3178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,128,136,137,129,138,139,130],"tags":[154,161,168,171,181,183,188,200,217,221,226,230,239,240,241,247],"yoast_head":"\nGeneral Characteristics:<\/h2>\n
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