A. odoratissima<\/em> is native to central and southern Asia (India and Sri Lanka primarily) but it has also been introduced into Eastern Africa.<\/p>\n For the sake of simplicity and common understanding I will refer to A. odoratissima<\/em> from here forward using the common name Black Siris.<\/p>\n The heartwood of Black Siris tends to be of a medium to dark reddish brown, frequently with bands of lighter and\/or darker colored wood. The sapwood of Black Siris is a contrasting pale yellow. As is common with tropical hardwoods, the heartwood color can be expected to darken with age and while nothing can stop this process completely, storage out of bright direct sunlight, or other sources of ultraviolet radiation will help slow the process as will the use of UV inhibiting finishes.<\/p>\n The grain of Black Siris is almost universally interlocked. Black Siris presents with a uniformly coarse texture but a good natural luster when finely polished and prepared.<\/p>\n Black Siris is rated a non-durable again rot but the dry wood is reported to be resistant to termites.<\/p>\n Black Siris is reported to be moderately easy to work with. That said, the interlocked grain can cause significant tear out problems during planing operations.<\/p>\n Black Siris has a moderate blunting effect on cutters so frequent sharpening, or the use of replaceable carbide cutters, will be rewarded.<\/p>\n Black Siris is reported to turn, glue, and finish nicely.<\/p>\n Black Siris has no reported characteristic odor.<\/p>\n Black Siris is not commonly imported to the United States except as turning blanks and even those are not easy to find. When it is available, one should expect the prices to be in the moderate to high 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, only NCWood is selling Black Siris, which they call Ceylon Rosewood or Bilwara, in both spindle and bowl blank sizes. Their price for an 8x8x3″ bowl is currently $48.<\/p>\n Woodfinder<\/a> is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers. In your search for Black Siris 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 Black Siris include: furniture, veneer, tool handles and other turned objects.<\/p>\n Black Siris 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 Black Siris.<\/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, Black Siris has reported to cause non-severe respiratory irritation. As always, caution is essential until you are certain you are not sensitive to Black Siris.<\/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 Black Siris.<\/p>\n I had no idea what to expect from Black Siris, or Ceylon Rosewood as it was identified and sold to me, so I was beyond pleasantly surprised when I turned it. It cut simply beautifully. I can think of few other woods that cut so smoothly, even across the grain, as Black Siris does. This meant that I had to spend very little time sanding to achieve a very smooth and lustrous finish. The swirling streaks of color were greatly enhanced by the application of a finish which went on flawlessly. I am sad to report that I started out with two blanks but the I managed to cut through the bottom of the smaller one even though I had been careful to measure the thickness with calipers. I have had concerns about that caliper set and I may need to think about replacing it if I cannot rely on its measurements.<\/p>\n Black Siris<\/p><\/div>\n If anyone is familiar with Mimosa wood, also in the Albizia<\/em> genus, they will likely recognize the open porosity and general appearance of Black Siris.<\/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 had no idea what to expect from Black Siris, or Ceylon Rosewood as it was identified and sold to me, so I was beyond pleasantly surprised when I turned it.\u00a0 It cut simply beautifully.\u00a0 I can think of few other woods that cut so smoothly, even across the grain, as Black Siris does.\u00a0 This meant that I had to spend very little time sanding to achieve a very smooth and lustrous finish.\u00a0 The swirling streaks of color were greatly enhanced by the application of a finish which went on flawlessly.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":3354,"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
Pricing and Availability:<\/h2>\n
Common Uses:<\/h2>\n
Sustainability:<\/h2>\n
Health Hazards:<\/h2>\n
My Personal Experiences:<\/h2>\n