Replies

1. 
   saschafer | Sep 21, 2007 05:39pm | #1

   Can you describe in more detail the kind of jewelry you're interested in making? When I think of "jewelry" I think of relatively small pieces with fine details. If that's the case, then you want a wood that has fine grain and will hold those details without them getting "mushy." You want a wood where the scale of the grain matches that of the scale of the piece. A wood like oak or ash would typically be too coarse for a small piece, for example.

   Many of the tropical hardwoods (some of which are native to Florida and the Gulf Coast, in fact) have the kinds of characteristics that I think of when I think "wooden jewelry." They tend to be quite hard as well as heavy, but I think they're probably easier to work with than softer woods when you're trying to maintain crisp details.

   -Steve

    

1. 
   8318Pioneer | Sep 22, 2007 12:33am | #2

   Thanks for the reply. I am looking at making wooden earings, bracelets, and necklaces. I've seen several of these three types of items in half of dozen of the more popular stores [ie. Dillards] that are made from wood and they're really nice; not too heavy but I don't know what type of wood they're made from. I am thinking that soft wood might be lighter weight than the typical hardwoods such as oak and ash. But you probably know a lot more about this than I do. What do you think?

1. 
   saschafer | Sep 22, 2007 01:07am | #3

   You definitely want to go with a dense hardwood for these. Most softwoods (and softer hardwoods) would be far too fragile. The jewelry you've looked at feels light because the pieces are small, and even the heaviest woods are lighter than metals, especially precious metals.

   Being in Florida, you potentially have access to all kinds of interesting woods that would fit the bill, if you can find someone who harvests storm-killed trees and the like. There are native ebonies and mahoganies, and just about every exotic species you can imagine, many of which have spectacular figure.

   For getting your feet wet, I suggest trying Honduras mahogany (or Cuban mahogany, if you can find it) or black walnut. These are both medium density and medium weight, so they're relatively easy to carve, but are hard enough to hold detail. They also polish up nicely. If you want a light-colored wood (for contrast, perhaps), maple is a good choice.

   One of my favorites for fine detail work is cocobolo. It has beautiful figure, and is one of the least threatened of all of the commercially-available rosewoods (trees in the genus Dalbergia), so it's a reasonable choice from an environmental point of view. The downside is that people are often allergic to it.

   Osage orange is a very nice looking domestic wood, bright yellow in color. However, it's very hard, so it will take some additional effort to carve.

   If you have a Rockler or Woodcraft or other similar store nearby, you can get small pieces of various kinds of woods in the form of pen blanks. You can also find pen blanks, knife scales, and other small pieces of wood on eBay. (Sometimes, though, the shipping costs are more than the cost of the wood.)

   Whatever wood you decide to try, be sure to wear a dust mask when working with it. Even if you don't have an immediate reaction, there are compounds in many woods known as sensitizers; over time and repeated exposure, your body's immune response builds and builds until it boils over into a full-fledged allergic reaction. Jewelry-making really puts your face right into the work, so to speak, so you are especially susceptible.

   -Steve