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I was cutting small pieces of ziricote for "patio stones" to be inlaid in a rosette. The wood actually started to smoke from the fret saw blade (honest, I wasn't sawing that fast).

Then I was putting the jointed ziricote back through the thickness sander, and after about 7 or 8 passes, it started to smoke too! Checked the sanding belt, it looked fine.

So today, I'm finally leveling the rosette, again with the sander, and after about 10 passes, the ziricote was HOT.

In every case with the sander, I was taking very light passes, trying to avoid gumming up the belt.

Anyone else ever run across this?

Steve

Geez, I thought maybe I was missing something from back in my teen years, Steve! Is that why they call it Mexican crack wood?
Sorry. Nothing intelligent to add, Steve.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Nothing intelligent here either but dang Alex, that made laugh

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

+1!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Nothing intelligent to add here either.... but Steve if you are going to be smoking the drapes at least have the decency to share????

Hope all is well with ya too Bro!

While enjoying an icy scotch and soda last night, I wondered if you had flooded the ziricote with CA glue, and if the heat from the sanding could have caused the CA to smoke.
I often ponder the mysteries of the universe after a (second or third) beverage. Usually, to no avail!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Steve,

Haven't worked with ziricote a lot, only a couple of guitars and headstock veneers, but haven't had that problem.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Have had similar problems with Ipe. Predrilling is mandatory and the wood would smoke and occasionally boiling oil would appear while at the drill press. Went through dozens of counter sink bits that summer.
The bocote I currently have seems like it is doing what you you describe on the sander.
I think I will switch down to 60 grit.

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Worst part about those smokes from dense hardwoods is that they seem to be poison. One breath of that stuff and I feel bad for days. Needless to say I try to use positive ventilation and/or slow down the tool enough to stop the smoke. The explanation I have heard is that trees make poison oils to stop bugs from eating the wood,

That is interesting Steve.

I don't have a clue but I will be starting a Zircote build soon. I'll pay close attention.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I had a similar experience with smoke and a gumming belt, but only in one particular piece of ziricote - another piece, cut from the same board, didn't give me any trouble


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Brian, Ipe is very hard wood. It is used for the floors of semi trailers because of the abuse it can take.

Bob

Depends on the piece... some dense ziricote with a lot of black can burn and gum things up. With sanding go fast and take very little off each pass... it takes forever but that's the way it works sometimes. Also feeding into a drum sander at an angle so the same width of sandpaper doesn't have to do all the work can help an awful lot.

Sharp edge tools are your friends for these woods... ideally using abrasives should be reserved for only the final finishing steps but that's not always practical.