Question about working with jatoba

Jatoba, or brazillian cherry, works easily enough but it is a very hard wood. It is about twice as hard as oak and will dull your saw blades much quicker than oak. But other than that it works pretty much like cherry. It doesn’t need any stain because, like cherry, it is gorgeous enough on its own. Like cherry it will darken with exposure to light.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Jatoba can twist and move quite a bit. It is OK to use for furniture and cabinets. However, I recommend you plan your projects so as to be able to glue the pieces as soon as possible after milling. This will give you the best results.

-- Oldworld, Fair Oaks, Ca

+1 on the moving and twisting…...

JC

-- Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -Carl Sagan

i don’t like jatoba much. i don’t really like the grain of it. its really really hard though. dulls tools very fast and when crosscutting chiping is very common.

-- check out my amazing woodburning , Pat

Thanks for all the tips guys. Much appreciated…moving and twisting, chipping…all good to know ahead of time. I do like the look of it, and will likely just use a clear finish.
thanks again, Devin

-- If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

Devin, your question about using Jatoba was so useful for everyone. I thank you and all the expert and experienced LJs for providing such valuable information about the wood. More expert comments are awaited.
Sharad

-- “If someone feels that they had never made a mistake in their life, then it means they have never tried a new thing in their life”.-Albert Einstein

Drilling is also tough in jatoba: it can burn a drill bit fast. If you’re using a forstner bit, take “small bites” at a time, pulling the bit out to clear the chips often or it will burn. Make sure to lubricate any screws with soap or wax or they will break for sure. I put up some pictures of a sofa base I built: see my projects if you’re interested.

Cheers
Marc in Aylmer, Qc

-- www.marc-prevost.com

Sharad, I agree, LJ’s is truly an amazing resource for us woodworkers. The information that experts are willing to provide is incredible and such a valuable learning experience for me.
Thanks for the tips Marc, and thanks for loading the pictures of your sofa base. Looks very nice, and it really shows me what the wood looks like all finished.

-- If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

Jatoba is extremely hard and does dull cutting toold quickly. Crosscuts will inevitably incurr chipping.All of this has already been stated along with the tight grained charecteristic. What has not been said and I’ve experienced is that it has open pores also, which when finished initially with tung oil alone will cause spotting. I believe that it is the woods propensity to absorb too much oil at first and then try to dry from the surface first and underneath the finish later? This has been my observation when using 2parts tung oil and 1part mineral spirits.Possibly pure undiluted oil finishes would not exhibit this same result? I’m still planning to use a lot of Jatoba in other projects however! I just have to overcome the finishing nuances of this particular wood.Good luck and keep those cutting tools sharp!
Sincerely,
Ken McGinnis

-- woodbutcher north carolina

COURBARIL (H)
Commercial Names: Locust (west Indies); West Indian locust (UK, USA).
Other Names: jutaby, jatoba, jatai amerelo, jatai vermelho (Brazil); locust (Surinam); copal (Equador); marbre (Guataloupe); guapinal (Mexico); agarrobo (Puerto Rico)
Distribution: Central and South America and West Indies
General Description: The heartwood is salmon red to orange-brown marked with dark brown and russet brown streaks. The wood has a golden lustre. The grain is commonly interlocked with a medium to coarse texture. Weight 910kg/m3 (56lb/ft3); specific gravity .91.
Mechanical properties: Very strong, hard and tough with very good bending classification
Seasoning: Rather difficult to dry, tends to be rapid with moderate surface checking and warping and a liability to case harden. Slow drying will overcome these tendencies. There is small movement in service.
Working properties: Moderately difficult to work because of its high density. It nails badly but has good screw holding; glues well. It has a moderate blunting effect on tools which must be kept sharp, and a reduced cutting angle of 20 degrees will provide a smooth finish on the interlocked grain. The wood stains well but does not take a high polish.
Durability: Moderately durable, but non-durable when a high proportion of sapwood is present. It is very resistant to termites and extremely resistant to preservative treatment.
Uses: Furniture, cabinetmaking, joinery, and turnery. Its high shock resistance makes it ideal for tool handles and sports goods; excellent for flooring, stair treads, ships planking, gear cogs, wheel rims, looms, general building construction. Used for steam bent boat parts in place of oak. Lock gates in waters free from marine borers. Second growth timber has a wide sapwood of greyish-pink colour, and is sliced for decorative veneers for panelling and furniture.
Note: Hymenaea davisii, Sandw., grows in Guyana and is similar in all other respects.

Source: World Woods in Color (William A. Lincoln) 1986

-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~

I have used quite a bit of jatoba with good results. You really should not have much problem with the wood twisting and moving since you are using flooring. If it is straight now, it will probably stay straight. It does dull your tools as everyone else has said. Don’t use a stain since the wood itself has a nice color and will change a lot (to a nice dark burgundy color) in a year or so. I like a wipe on varnish or a clear shellac.

-- "A goal without a plan is a wish."

Dev,

The only thing I have really heard about jatoba is that is splinters easily. Make sure you’re working with the grain while planing and jointing and that will help.

My two cents, for what it’s worth… actually, it’s worth 2 cents.

-- - If my wife asks, I got ALL of my tools on sale.

I have a wonderful jatoba counter that, alas, needs refinishing – - including some sanding. Even a little sanding brings out the significantly lighter wood underneath. I was wondering if the color change could be speeded up if I illuminated the wood with a heat lamp or a UV or conventional light. I have tested the refinish in a relatively dark area and it is getting its color back slowly if at all. There will be hell to pay if it takes a year or more to get back to the original coloring.

For what its worth, here’s some nightstands with Jatoba tops. I sanded to 220 and finished with GF Seal-A-Cell and a couple of top coats with GF Gel Stain. I really like the Jatoba. It finishes up real nicely. I also made a mantle with it.

-- tim hill www.newcalshop.com

Hi… was doing some research about something else and came across this thread.

I live in Brazil and work with Jatoba a lot, and have some experience as a result.

As most have seen, it’s incredibly hard. If you try to nail it be prepared for heartache from splits unless you predrill the holes to almost perfect nail diameter. The older and more cured the wood the worse it is. On the flip side, it handles a close thread screw extremely well, though you can forget about driving a screw into the wood without splitting the wood or stripping the screw-head, unless you drill the hole sufficiently deep and sufficiently wide.

As far as cross-cut chipping goes, this is not a problem if you use a new, sharp and very high speed blade, and the wood is guided correctly.

To finish, I usually sand to 180/220 and then due to the darkening, just finish using a clear finishing sealer (the best one here is made by Bona, and is called Clear Nitro 5200) and then sand each coat to a finish with 360 grade. The finish after 3-4 coats is incredible, and very durable. Never seen a bug have a chance on this wood. To my mind it is one of the most beautiful furniture woods in existence.

I think in general using stains (it is virtually never stained down here), may cause heartache due to the color changes in the wood over time – you may end up with something darker and different to what you expect.

I never use a gloss finish on this wood, but that is a personal preference.

Down here it is the rolls royce of cabinet making wood. There are of course other more exotic woods but not nearly as popular or as available. Jatoba is relatively a very expensive wood here, though what we pay for it and what you pay for it is quite funny, when you do a comparison to the USA. Obviously much cheaper here.