Lagerstroemia spp.<\/em> is native to Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n For the sake of simplicity and common understanding I will refer to Lagerstroemia spp.<\/em> from here forward using the common name Pyinma.<\/p>\n The heartwood of Pyinma is typically golden to reddish brown, with paler yellow\/gray sapwood. As is almost always the case with colored tropical woods, the color tends to darken with age upon exposure to light. Pyinma commonly features a curly grain figure, more pronounced in some examples than in others, but very commonly present to some degree.<\/p>\n Pyinma Large Interior<\/p><\/div>\n The grain may be straight but as noted above wavy and interlocked grain figure is common in Pyinma.<\/p>\n The texture is moderately coarse and uneven but Pyinma does show a good natural luster when finely prepared.<\/p>\n Pyinma is rated as moderately durable in its resistance to rot with an intermediate resistance to insect attacks.<\/p>\n Pyinma is considered to be generally easy to work with, although as is the case with any wood, pieces with curly grain will be more difficult to machine or plane without tearout. There are simple to follow guidelines to help prevent this problem.<\/a><\/p>\n Fortunately, Pyinma does not have the same blunting effect on cutters that a true Satinwood would exhibit.<\/p>\n Pyinma Small Interior<\/p><\/div>\n Pyinma is reported to turn, glue, and finish well, taking a high luster when properly surfaced and finished.<\/p>\n Pyinma does not have a distinct odor when cut.<\/p>\n Pyinma prices are generally moderate for an imported wood. Pieces exhibiting an exceptional amount of figure may be more expensive, but Pyinma is generally priced very reasonably, even for figured wood.<\/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>, NC Wood<\/a>, WoodTurningz<\/a>, Amazon Exotic Hardwoods<\/a>, Griffin Exotic Wood<\/a>, Exotic Woods USA<\/a>, Got Wood?<\/a>, and Wood Turning Blanks 4U<\/a>.<\/p>\n At this time, I am only able to source Pyinma in pen blank sizes. I don’t recall which vendor sold me the two, albeit small, bowl blank sizes that I had but I am not able to find more.<\/p>\n Woodfinder<\/a> is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers. In your search for Pyinma 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 Common uses of Pyinma include, but are not limited to: furniture, boatbuilding, general utility work (within its native range), turned objects, and other small specialty items.<\/p>\n Chechen is not listed as being endangered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices<\/a> nor is it listed 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 Pyinma 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 Besides the standard health risks associated with any type of wood dust, no further health reactions have been associated with Pyinma. The most common reactions include eye and skin irritation. As always, caution is essential until you are certain you are not sensitive to Pyinma.<\/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, 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 Pyinma.<\/p>\n If ever there was a wood to love it would be Pyinma. Pyinma cut very cleanly and required only light easy sanding to achieve a nice smooth finish. While the “experts” say that there is no distinct odor I would dispute this as even the finished pieces still feature a delightfully sweet odor which was very pronounced when cutting the wood. Pyinma finished beautifully with the curly striped figure becoming even more pronounced. I would gladly work with Pyinma again.<\/p>\n Pyinma Bowls<\/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 Nova Chuck with Cole Jaws. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks<\/a>. Final finish is Shellawax<\/a> with an underlayment of EEE Ultra Shine.<\/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":" If ever there was a wood to love, it would be Pyinma. Pyinma cut very cleanly and required only light easy sanding to achieve a nice smooth finish.\u00a0 While the \u201cexperts\u201d say that there is no distinct odor I would dispute this as even the finished pieces still feature a delightfully sweet odor which was very pronounced when cutting the wood.\u00a0 Pyinma finished beautifully with the curly striped figure becoming even more pronounced.\u00a0 I would gladly work with Pyinma again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":3252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,128,136,137,129,138,139,130],"tags":[148,154,168,171,181,188,200,217,230,239,240,241,247],"yoast_head":"\nGeneral Characteristics:<\/h2>\n
Working Characteristics:<\/h2>\n
Pricing and Availability:<\/h2>\n
Common Uses:<\/h2>\n
Sustainability:<\/h2>\n
Health Hazards:<\/h2>\n
My Personal Experiences:<\/h2>\n