Tulip Wood normally refers to domestic Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), and East Coast hardwood of moderate density and hardness but with interlocked grain and excellent stability. It's a little soft on the surface for use in gunstocks, and is commonly used as a secondary wood in furniture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liriodendron_tulipifera

Your pics show a tropical hardwood that's probably much more hard, dense and heavy, as it was intended for flooring. The good news is that it's stable vertical grain, but the bad news is the grain isn't very straight. You can overcome that by making a lamination, or if the stock you show is 3" thick, by highgrading a blank so the grain from the rear action screw to the end of the forearm is dead straight.

As Bubinga, Brazilian Cherry, Rosewood etc, et al, are marketing names often consisting of several species, the only way to determine the species for sure is to mail a sample to the USDA forest products lab for testing, a service they offer to the public.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/research/centers/woodanatomy/wood_idfactsheet.php

 

Thanks Bob! The lumber I have is finished at 3/4", so a lamination will be necessary.
I appreciate your thoughts.

Here's the Tulipwood reference I found that states that it comes from NE Brazil:
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/tulipwood/

Regards,
Dave

 

Because some tropical hardwoods don't like glue because of their oil, I'd use an epoxy specifically formulated for them.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1265

Vertical-grain laminations are ideal, I'd just be sure to match the grain so each lam is dead straight from rear action screw to forearm tip. 3/4" lams are too thick to risk any cupping that breaks the glue joint. You can see this lam on the right failing because of internal cupping caused by too-thick lams, mismatched grain and a difficult-to-glue wood:

FYI those are boat parts shown.

 

Totally off topic, really, but...

Bob -

a) Loved the blog about the Linder rigging knife - decent ones are hard to find.

b) What is the boat in the pic above? My Dad, Robert (Bob) Baker, used to design, restore and build classic boats, and I have at least followed in the design part.

 

Once again, very much appreciated!

Regards,
Dave

 

I've worked with the exotic Tulipwood quite a lot, and it usually has more of a cream white look with reddish and pink streaking that tends to fade a bit over time. As mentioned, it is very oily and mushy feeling and does not glue well. What you have could be Tulipwood, which is really more of a rosewood variety, but I doubt it.

TBR

 

The Tulipwood that I have used, for turning, was the same as you describe.
I have used it for bottle stoppers, and back scratchers. Even in those 1 1/2" to 2" diameters, the color variation was very distinct.

 

That could very well be Bubinga. Google Bubinga flooring and you will see many examples that look like what you have. The slab AZ has isn't particularly interesting to me. There are grades of all woods. Just because it has an exotic name doesn't make it anything other than wood with an exotic name. Google waterfall bubinga.

 

Just because it has an exotic name doesn't make it anything other than wood with an exotic name.

Exotic depends largely on location. Teak is an exotic here, but when I was in Thailand teak was equivalent of pine here, even entire homes were built from it. And what pine was available there was considered an exotic. I got around all worries about choice of wood, many years ago. Now the only wood I purchase is wood native to North Carolina, and plywood, and don't really care where the plywood is made, altho pretty sure it is made here. And free wood, from I don't care where, unbelievable the wood you can get from a free pallet upon occasion.

 

Guys,

Thanks for the continued help. I'll do as GH41 suggests.

Edit: After Googling Bubinga flooring, I think I've changed my mind. Perhaps the sellers actually knew what they had.
Once I get a cutoff, I think I'll do as Bob Smalser suggests and have it tested so that I know for sure.
The epoxy that he suggested is no longer available. Does any else have a glue/epoxy suggestion for oily exotics?

Cheers,
Dave

 

West System. After planing run it through a drum sander with an 80 grit drum, Flood and wipe the mating surfaces with acetone. As soon as the acetone evaporates apply the catalyzed West and clamp. You won't have any problems.

 

We always used Resorcinal glue for oily woods on projects. Bubinga and most rosewood species fall under this category.
In searching for Resorcinal, I find it is made under a different name by another manufacturer and called Cascophen. It is also quite a bit cheaper. I believe it is the same product, but not 100% sure.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/wppages/cascophen.php

http://aircraftproducts.wicksaircra...ateg=100&keyprod=2560&SchType=2&refer=http://aircraftproducts.wicksaircraft.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00DP5VQD2/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new

And an explanation of what it is and what is has been used for for many years-
http://christinedemerchant.com/adhesive-glue-resorcinol.html

Bob

 

Resorcinal

Resorcinal is fundamentally the family name for a specific type of white powdered resin which crystallizes from Benzene. It has it's own CAS number which is 108-46-3.

If the product has that name it or in the description or that Cas Nbr in the MSDS sheet then it does not matter what the brand name is.

noremf(George)

 

Many, many thanks to all!
This place is quite the treasure trove of info. :bthumb:

Dave

 

Berea Hardwoods

That is definitely not tulip wood. You can also send an Email to Jim Husinger at Berea Hardwoods at:

18745 Sheldon Road
Middleburg Hts., Ohio 44130

Phone: (216) 898-8956
Toll Free: 1-877-736-5487
Fax: (216) 898-8962
Email: customerservice@bereahardwoods.com

They are exotic hardwood dealers for the past 35 or 40 years and Jim is very knowledgeable on all kinds of exotics.

 

Watch out using Resorcinol glue. The fumes are toxic. Use outdoors in a well ventilated area.

 

Cascophen is one of the newer formulations of user-friendly resorcinols, although it still requires perfect wood fit and high clamping pressures during its 70-degree F cure. You'd need at least 8 steel clamps to lam a stock blank.

Great stuff, but the showstopper for your purpose is they all have ugly purple glue lines, and they can't be dyed.

http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/bSmalser/glueTest/glueTest1.asp

 

Bubinga Wood

I've got a couple of Stocks , laminated and the outer wood is Bubinga . 40 grit sandpaper and the BUBINGA just laugh and laugh and laugh ......... It was more like polishing stone then sanding lumber . Once got past the router marks from where it was carved ........... it turned into a beautiful stock . I've got couple more boards and one that might be thick enough as it is for a rimfire stock . Just need to finish the stocks I've had made first , then wait in line with the rest on my gunstock carver's friend list for the next ones .

 

experiments are in order

Check the end grain. to see if it matches up with the large open pores that are characteristic of Bubinga. you can blow through a 1 inch piece of end grain.

Here are some ideas for ID, but since you have it and seem to like the appearance, just cut a few pieces and figure out the characteristics that you need to work with. Experiment with gluing, cross cuts, rips, routing, sanding, finishes. Your time shaping a stock is worth the pre-work to know what you have to deal with. Epoxy, resorcinol, acrylo-phenolic, Polyurethane, etc are all worth trying on samples, as are penetrating oils, poly, lacquers, etc.

More likely it is a Gum - very common flooring woods imported.

Jarrah was available in the trades for a while and is a very nice wood to work with - Heavy, tonal, machines well, holds grain, no feathering, glues very well, open pore, fills with finish.

Lyptus is a trade name for a whole bunch of Australian gums - Heavy, non tonal, machines well, holds grain, some feathering, glues OK, tight open pore, fills with finish.

Jatoba - "Brazilian Cherry" - V heavy, tonal, machine poorly, splinters, no feathering, end grain polishes , glues poor to OK, open pore, fills with finish

Search here http://www.wood-database.com/

 

Bubinga

I agree that is Bubinga based on color and grain pattern. Unlike tropical woods, African Bubinga is not an oily wood like cocobolo, rosewoods from Central or Souuth America, etc. It is dense and despite having perfectly straight grain will make a solid (heavy) stock. You should be able to use normal wood glue, but epoxy will also do the job.

Tulip wood is creamy white with raspberry red coloration. It also has a distinct floral smell to the wood.

If you want to see Bubinga at its finest look up figured Bubinga or waterfall Bubinga. A few years back (like 8-10) Woodcraft commissioned the harvest, transportation, and milling of a large Bubinga tree. They then sold the slabs as a promo through their woodworking retail stores. Each slab was around 8'x4' and somewhere around 2"-3" thick and priced $2K-$3K.

 

Thanks to all for the continued education and ideas.
I had read before that Rescorinol is toxic, so if I use it, it will be outside with a proper respirator!
Oso makes a great suggestion about experimenting with adhesives.
I'll give Titebond III a try on some small pieces.

Regards,
Dave

 

Titebond



PVA adhesives and that include Titebond III won't work well if at all for a lamination. They creep over time and are not very moisture resistant. If you look at their website you will see this warning.

Laminations are considered structural applications because you have to bond under extreme pressure....need lots of clamps and need em fairly close together. In addition, relative to gunstocks, they are subject to considerable vibration from the harmonics and sudden shock from recoil and neither is distributed evenly across the substrate.

As a matter of fact from a woodworking standpoint it is recommended that a mechanical fastener be used with any PVA glue and that is on furniture which does not face the stress and or sudden shock or harmonics a rifle stock does. Biscuits, dowels etc. are considered mechanical fasteners and if you have ever watched Norm Abrams you will see either screws or brads being used on glue joints.

PVA glues are not used on plywood for that matter. The bonding chemicals in plywood are all resins of one type or another. Epoxies are not used either.

Might never separate with epoxy but if it does you are screwed. The ONLY adhesive that reconstitutes and thus bonds to itself is Hide glue.

IMO I would not be testing different adhesives. I would either listen to Smalser or call up like Boyd's and ask them what chemicals their suppliers use.

Not an expert on adhesives but one of the guys in our car pool when I worked for The Sherwin Williams Co. managed Hadley Adhesives which is owned by SW and we exchanged "trade" talk quite often.

noremf(George)

 

It looks like bubinga to me. Laminates well with epoxy.

 

Boat builders down here use resorcinol glue such as Aerodux or a high grade epoxy such as such as that made by West System.

 

Ok, I'll skip the tests with PVA.
Any particular recommendations for epoxy, such as from West System?

Thanks again to all,
Dave

 

I'd try the TotalBoat version. Same as West System but cheaper. Here is the kit that includes the metering dispensers for accurate mixing.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HR8515W?psc=1

 

Thanks for the recommendation.

Dave

 

Tulipwood

Hi Im a cabinet maker and I think your timber is bubinga.I have some very similar boards and used some in the past.It's quite dense and polishes very well.It will make a heavy gunstock,ok for benchrest but a bit heavy for hunting.I've made gunstocks from quite a few different timbers but not bubinga.

 

Hi Im a cabinet maker and I think your timber is bubinga.I have some very similar boards and used some in the past.It's quite dense and polishes very well.It will make a heavy gunstock,ok for benchrest but a bit heavy for hunting.I've made gunstocks from quite a few different timbers but not bubinga.

The weight was the reason I was so interested in this lumber. Perhaps not the nicest grain pattern, but I think making something that's different from the norm will make it stand out as a bench stock.

Cheers,
Dave

 

Tulipwood

If you plane a small piece of the timber and pour a little white spirits on it it will give you a good idea what the finished timber will look like.The white spirit will not do any harm and will evaporate quickly.