# Lacewood



## antieuclid (Feb 6, 2010)

I'm still resawing and sanding it, so I haven't actually tried making anything yet, but I'm blown away by the grain pattern. What's it like to actually work with?


----------



## woodspark (May 8, 2010)

You are already working with it and it sounds like you are having fun!


----------



## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

I've worked with it a little. If you look at project 25277 you will see a table I made with a lacewood trim.

Lacewood and Leopardwood are often confused because they look so much alike. The scales on leopardwood are just a little bigger. Lacewood comes from Australia and Leopardwood comes from South America. I've worked with both.

I don't think there is anything particularly significant about working with it. For me, it is like most other hardwoods. In terms of working qualities, I would compare it to hard maple.

I think a key question is how to finish it. Normally, I don't like stains but with lacewood you may want to really bring out the grain. Stains can do that. I have not used a stain on lacewood yet (just poly). However, the next time I work with lacewood I may experiment with a stain. If you don't get the grain to pop out, it looks like any other wood until you get close.


----------



## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

I've worked a little bit of lacewood. The pieces I used were prone to some tearout during planing. Keep the blades sharp and moisten the surface to reduce tearout. It's pretty amazing stuff to look at!


----------



## fussy (Jan 18, 2010)

It's amazing stuff, but be careful. Some people have reported alergic reactions to the dust-some severe. Wear a dust mask and be alert.

Steve


----------



## soccer2010 (Oct 1, 2011)

Lacewood is very, very bad. At least for me. I had a terrible allergic reaction where my eyes swelled shut.


----------

