For the sake of simplicity and common understanding, I will refer to L. sagotii<\/em> <\/em>as Hububali from here forward.<\/p>\n The heartwood of Hububali is generally a light reddish brown which common features darker streaks which provides the appeal in this wood.<\/p>\n The grain of Hububali is generally straight, but may also be interlocked or wavy. Hububali presents with an uniform medium texture with good natural luster.<\/p>\n In terms of resistance to rot, Hububali is rated as moderately durable to durable, however, Hububali has only moderate to poor resistance to insect attacks.<\/p>\n Overall, Hububali is easy to work with both hand and machine tools.<\/p>\n Hububali is reported to glue, turn, and finish well, and Hububali is able to take a good natural polish.<\/p>\n Hububali presents with no particular odor when worked.<\/p>\n Hububali is not frequently imported or available. When available, it is generally only as smaller turning blanks.<\/p>\n Prices for Hububali are low to moderate 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 Of my favored wood vendors, only Amazon Exotic Hardwoods is currently offering Hububali and they have a range of sizes from pen blanks up to a 6″ x 6″ x 3″ bowl blank for only $17.50.<\/p>\n Woodfinder<\/a> is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers. In your search for Hububali 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 Hububali is commonly used for furniture, cabinetry, flooring, veneer, and turned objects.<\/p>\n Hububali 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><\/p>\n To the best of my knowledge, the United States government does not place any restrictions on Hububali.<\/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 Hububalli, however, other species in the Loxopterygium<\/em> genus have been reported to cause skin irritation.<\/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 Hububali.<\/p>\n For an exotic hardwood, Hububali is quite soft and of low density. This makes Hububali easy to cut and to turn but it also means that the cuts are not clean and a fair amount of clean up sanding is required, especially on the cross grain areas. I also found Hububali to be rather splintery as well. These are not major draw backs but when compared to other exotics there is more work involved when working with Hububali.<\/p>\n Hububali<\/p><\/div>\n Hububali is attractive enough, especially for the price and I think it is a good entry level wood for those experimenting with working with imported exotics since it is reasonable in terms of density, hardness, and is not heavily oily.<\/p>\n I am glad I had the chance to work with Hububali but I don’t think I will be seeking it out especially in the future.<\/p>\n All major cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool<\/a> system on my Robust American Beauty<\/a> lathe, although I do use Robert Sorby bowl gouges<\/a> for light final passes before sanding. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck<\/a>, while reverse chucking was done using a Nova Chuck with Cole Jaws<\/a>. 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":" Hububali is attractive enough, especially for the price and I think it is a good entry level wood for those experimenting with working with imported exotics since it is reasonable in terms of density, hardness, and is not heavily oily.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":3705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,128,136,137,129,138,139,130],"tags":[154,168,171,181,183,188,200,217,226,230,239,240,241,247],"yoast_head":"\nGeneral Characteristics:<\/h2>\n
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