Panopsis spp.<\/em> is native to a South America but is especially common in Brazil, in fact, one of the many common names of Panopsis spp.<\/em> is Brazilian Lacewood.<\/p>\n For the sake of simplicity and common understanding I will refer to Panopsis spp.<\/i> from here forward using the common name Lacewood.<\/p>\n Lacewood features a very conspicuous flecking that gives this wood its name. The wood itself is a reddish brown with grey or light brown rays, which result in a lace pattern when quartersawn. Like other woods that exhibit the strongest figure in quartersawn pieces, (such as Sycamore), Lacewood has the most pronounced figure and displays the largest flecks when perfectly quartersawn; this is due to the wood’s wide medullary rays, whose layout can be seen the clearest when looking at the endgrain.<\/p>\n Lacewood has a fairly coarse and uneven texture due to the difference in densities between the regular wood tissue and the rays.<\/p>\n The grain of Lacewood is usually straight.<\/p>\n Lacewood is rated as non-durable in its resistance to rot and is also susceptible to insect attack.<\/p>\n Overall, Lacewood is a fairly easy wood to work with. Lacewood is reported to take glues, stains, and other finishes well. There may be difficulty in planing, with tearout occuring, because of the high degree of figure in Lacewood. Some of the species harvested as Lacewood can have a moderate blunting effect on cutting edges to frequent sharpening or cutter replacement will be rewarded.<\/p>\n Lacewood is not reported to have any characteristic odor.<\/p>\n When available, Lacewood should be in the moderate to high price range for an imported 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>, 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, three of the above vendors (Bell Forest Products, WoodTurningz, and Exotic Woods USA, offer Lacewood but only in spindle, especially pen blank, sizes.<\/p>\n Woodfinder<\/a> is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers. In your search for Lacewood 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 The most common uses of Lacewood include: veneer, cabinetry, fine furniture, musical instruments (guitars), and turned objects.<\/p>\n Lacewood is NOT listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices<\/a> nor is it listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature<\/a> Red List.<\/p>\n To the best of my knowledge, the United States government does not place any restrictions on Lacewood.<\/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 In addition to the standard health risks associated with any type of wood dust, related species have been reported to cause eye and skin irritation. It is important to note that have been no been no adverse health effects reported for Lacewood in the Panopsis genus itself. As always, caution is essential until you are certain you are not sensitive to Lacewood.<\/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 significant difficulties while working with Lacewood<\/p>\n I had no actual intention of working with Lacewood but it was mixed in with Leopardwood, in fact it was marked as Leopardwood, when it really wasn’t Leopardwood at all. At this point, I no longer remember if I labeled it Leopardwood as a guess or if it was sold to me as Leopardwood. Either is possible as there is often confusion between Leopardwood and Lacewood. In fact, Griffin Exotic Woods has a link for Lacewood which they claim is synonymous with Leopardwood even though it really isn’t at all the same thing, not even being in the same genus. I covered the look-alike various genera and species in my article on Leopardwood<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lacewood (left) versus Leopardwood (right)<\/p><\/div>\n I knew immediately that the Lacewood was NOT the same as the Leopardwood because Lacewood is considerably lighter in color and notably less dense than Leopardwood.<\/p>\n I have to say that working with Lacewood is a great deal easier than working with true Leopardwood. The Lacewood cuts super fast and easy and it requires only minimal sanding to achieve a nice surface finish. The Lacewood took the finish very nicely and evenly. Overall, I have no complaints when it comes to Lacewood and I preferred working with it to working with Leopardwood.<\/p>\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><\/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":" I have to say that working with Lacewood is a great deal easier than working with true Leopardwood.\u00a0 The Lacewood cuts super fast and easy and it requires only minimal sanding to achieve a nice surface finish.\u00a0 The Lacewood took the finish very nicely and evenly.\u00a0 Overall, I have no complaints when it comes to Lacewood and I preferred working with it to working with Leopardwood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":3344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,128,136,137,129,138,139,130],"tags":[154,168,171,181,188,200,226,230,239,240,241,247],"yoast_head":"\nGeneral Characteristics:<\/h2>\n
Working Characteristics:<\/h2>\n
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Health Hazards:<\/h2>\n
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