Abbreviations: HG – horizontal grain; VG – vertical grain; D – knob diameter (inches); H – knob height (inches); SG – generic superglue; JPW – Johnson’s Paste Wax, Original Formula (UPC 046500-002021)
Wood obtained from WoodCraft, Tulsa, OK. Images follow descriptions.
knob 0117 – VG Lahti, 5 June 2015, 0.860D x 0.658H, SG finish. Sanded off and finished with JPW. Lahti has jagged cream and caramel grain, somewhat like Marblewood, but cuts a bit finer. It has little or no iridescence.
knob 0118 – VG Lahti, 7 June 15, 0.856D x 0.652H, finished with combined SG & Liquitex Acrylic Gloss Gel Medium finish. The acrylic gel was an experimental grain filler, for which it works well. But gel darkens wood and blurs grain more than SG alone. Knobs 117 and 118 were sanded down and refinished with JPW.
knob 0119 – VG Lahti, 7 June 15, 0.872D x 0.652H, JPW finish.
knob 0120 – VG Lahti, 10 June 15, 0.856D x 0.659H, JPW finish.
knob 0121 – HG Lacewood, 11 June 15, 0.837D x 0.588H, JPW finish. Lacewood has some iridescence. It has rays that show up as strips or spots when the grain is slightly inclined to the direction of the cut. These knobs have been cut so that these rays show on top.
knob 0122 – HG Lacewood base with HG Osage Orange cap, 11 June 15, 0.875D x 0.684H, JPW finish. Osage Orange is highly iridescent.
knob 0123 – HG Lacewood base with HG Osage Orange cap, 11 June 15, 0.867D x 0.810H, JPW finish.
knob 0124 – HG Lacewood, 12 June 15, 0.879D x 0.583H, SG base w/ JPW finish.
knob 0125 – HG Lacewood, 12 june 15, 0.899D x 0.602H, SG base w/ JPW finish.
knob 0126 – HG Lacewood, 13 June 15, 0.864D x 0.593H, SG base w/ JPJ finish.
knob 0127 HG Wenge, 14 June 15, 0.871D x 0.558H, no finish. Wenge has tiger-striped grain with some open pores, dark brown-black and lighter gray-chocolate. The dark grain is harder and polishes well, but the light grain is softer, rougher, more reflective and can be sanded or abraded below the level of the dark grain. When finish is applied, both grains darken to nearly black, losing the tiger-stripe appearance. No finish has been applied to this set, to keep the striping. One might expect the grain to darken with time, as it collects oils from hand and fingers. As with many woods, denatured alcohol will leach natural dyes out of the wood, but in this case did not change the contrast of the grains much with a short dunking. Overall, Wenge polishes nicely, but has a somewhat roughened surface appearance, a bit like weathered wood.
knob 0128 – HG Wenge, 14 june 15, 0.898D x 0.556H, no finish.
knob 0129 – HG Wenge, 15 June 15, 0.846D x 0.600H, no finish.
knob 0130 – HG Wenge, 16 June 15, 0.870D x 0.612H, no finish.
knob 0131 – HG Wenge, 16 June 15, 0.850D x 0.601H, no finish.
knob 0132 – HG Wenge, 16 June 15, 0.842D x 0.574H, no finish.
© June 18, 2015