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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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1309779 No.1309779 [Reply] [Original]

Hello /diy/, As the title gives away, I'm looking for a hardwood as white and resistant to any kind of abuse as possible.

I intend to fashion knob and furnishings for a walking stick from it, and I possibly want to make them look like bone or ivory.

Which woods do you suggest, and what tips and tricks do you have to share for working it?

>> No.1309785

>>1309779
Maple...

>> No.1309798

>>1309779
>white and resistant to any kind of abuse as possible

just get some HDPE round stock and machine it on a wood lathe

>> No.1309846

WOOD BLEACH

>> No.1309869

>>1309785 is correct
>>1309779
Hard maple is what you want

>> No.1309879

>>1309785
>>1309869
I'll look into it. What about hornbeam?

>> No.1309884

>>1309779
Maple is good, for hardness sugar maple specifically, but for the whitest white you won't beat Holly. It's also about the sweetest wood to turn that you'll ever set a gouge to. For hardness it's okay, but not as hard as hard maple. Dogwood is another excellent turning wood, harder than Holly, but tends to not be so white.

>> No.1309905

Ash

>> No.1310400

both ash and maple darken with age, sunlight speeds this quite abit, even the whitest maple or ash will not stay white for long.

My question would be, why not use bone? It is not so hard to get.

>> No.1310586

>>1310400
Would need an extraordinarily large bone to use as a walking stick or cane.

>> No.1310599

>>1310400
Yes and no. The larger the bone, the more difficult it is to acquire. Age is also a concern. The older ones tend to be more seasoned, but are more brittle as well. If you don't work them right they can crumble. Younger bones have to be worked faster to get the most out of them, but are tougher and can usually be counted on for a couple of attempts. With both, the application of heat gives the best results, makes them pliable without breaking.

>>1310586
Size doesn't really matter in this case, since it's a pure white bone that OP is looking for. They all tend to give the same results.

>> No.1310618

>>1310599
>The larger the bone, the more difficult it is to acquire.

I think that is true for most everything, but OP just needs the knob and furnishings for the cane, not the cane itself, so it should not be difficult to source. Perhaps I am spoiled by easy to acquire bone?

The base of of many antlers would probably do fairly well, they were a common cane topper in these part, mainly moose and deer.

>> No.1310619
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1310619

Whitewood.

Don't stain it.

>> No.1310622

>>1310619
>Don't stain it.
Oils from the hand will darken it on its own, along with exposure to sunlight.

Corian might be an option, turns well, can get in white, sturdy, easy to acquire.

>> No.1310638

>>1309779
Imitarion crab meat, fiber glass resin and a shot of black

>> No.1310639

>>1310622
As soon as u put anything on that wood the grains stand right out. Customer wanted these bare to be bleached or left alone themselves.

>> No.1310645

>>1310639
Than I would lean towards bone.

Sweat from the hand raises the grain on unfinished would, most people dislike such things.

>> No.1310654

>>1309779
All woods discolor with age, no exceptions. Your best bet to look like bone is to use 2 part wood bleach and then seal it.

>> No.1310757

>>1310645
I purposefully wore gloves on that job because of that reason. But I bet you could bleach and clearcoat.

>> No.1310787

Tagua nuts