Tulip Wood

[Darryl Young]

Will the color of Brazilian Tulip wood hold over time or will it darken as some woods do? I'm curious what these bindings (below) would look like over time. Can you bend Tulip wood ok?

[Jim_H]

This is the first I've heard of this, but dang, it's absolutely beautiful!

[Ken Hundley]

I have a fingerboard I am planning on using that is made of tulipwood. It has been kicked around my workbench for over 2 years now, and hasn't changed much. It ambers a little very soon after a fresh cut,like within a month or two, but then pretty much stops after that.

[Darryl Young]

Thanks Ken.

I forgot about Ken's guitar Tony, thanks.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Darryl,
I use Tulip wood for knife handles. I have a 1" round piece about 6 in. long I turned on a lathe about 5 years ago, and it just about looks like it did the day I turned it, perhaps the tan wood is a little bit darker, but that is it. It should pretty much remain as it is, and that will be awesome binding. What are you thinking of putting it on?

Kevin

[Darryl Young]

Not sure Kevin......but I like the look of it. It would have to be the right guitar not to look out of place.

[sawdustdave]

All woods will, in time, darken. UV is the cause. If you finish with a UV inhibitor the wood will stay "light" much longer. Having said that, I have tulip wood tools I've turned which have never darkened. I think the reason is "in time" is relative - how long does it take? And how much UV will it be subjected to?

Personally, Tulip wood is beautiful. Don't worry 'bout it!

Dave

[Jim_H]

I just cut up some Black Walnut that has been stored on a shelf my Father's garage for about 30 years.

Before I cut it, the wood had a light brown, almost orange cast to it.

After I cut/sanded it, removing the oxidation, the natural color was much darker, with even a slight purple cast, almost resembling Indian Rosewood (but with more subtle grain markings).

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Jim, that sounds like nice wood!

Kevin

[Jim_H]

it is nice Kevin. I've been pondering slicing it up for a long time, and finally got the gumption to do it.

It's just under 8" wide and just under 2" thick. I sliced off about 34" to play around with trying to make some guitar sets out of it.

Unfortunately, it's probably not going to be very good for that purpose. It's a little too narrow unless I'm going for a small body, and the wood ranges from flat/rift on one side, to dead on quarter sawn on the other. The transition point between the two (where the grain is 45 degrees) is very prone to cracking once it gets down to a thickness that's usable for guitar.

I have about 46" left, and I think I'm going to save it for building other stuff.

Last weekend I built this bench hook out of some smaller off cuts from the same board.

(the piece of wood being planed is actually a Koa headplate that has been wetted with Naptha.. unfortunately the color on these pictures doesn't really do either wood species justice. I need to get out my 'good' camera and quit taking pictures with my phone :p)

benchhook.jpg

benchhook2.jpg