Reviews for Granadillo 4/4 Lumber

I got some of this for another project, but that’s on hold so I took some scrap and cut it to 3/4” for a little scroll saw project. It’s a beautiful wood and looks nice in small stuff, but it’s awful hard on scroll saw blade. I worked with some cocoboloa years ago, and they say this granadillo is the same stuff. This seems harder and heavier but its been a long time so maybe I’m wrong.

For turned pieces, they come out looking like swirled milk chocolate marble, smooth and shiny, and that's even before sanding! Where to be especially careful is with routing. Whenever possible, go with the grain. Splinters from handling the rough boards can get easily infected. Pull them out and wash your hands as soon as possible. The resins in this wood can interfere with the curing of polyurethane, so an undercoating of shellac is recommended. I usually use shellac and then one of the so-called water-based polys, which are really acrylic. They're fine as long as you're sure it will never come in contact with alcohol. A top coat of real polyurethane works well with grandillo, using shellac and acrylic as undercoats. This wood is so heavy that it's impractical for furniture that would need to be moved. I made a butler tray table with granadillo and it was way too heavy. Screws inserted into the wood can be a problem. If the pilot hole is just a little too small, it will crack the wood, unlike other less dense hardwoods. The boards tend to come in smaller widths, so if wider boards are needed, you'll be doing a lot of joining. If planing these boards, take it slow with smaller increments between passes. For sanding on the lathe, your final sanding should be 400 grit (the wet-dry paper works very well dry). Don't fret over the any fine, residual, sanding marks as they disappear when applying shellac. I am currently using this for a colonial spinning wheel. It will be 50% heavier than it's identical spinning wheel done in walnut.

Very nice grain pattern. Perfect for a small box

My specialty is making colonial spinning wheels, trying to sell them on Etsy and I actually sold one of them. The walnut ones seem to be the most popular but the sapele ones are much better as it's a denser wood. A few years ago, I made a butler tray table out of granadillo. It was very heavy. I made the mistake of lacquering it and it crazed, so I made another of sapele and used polyurethane instead - much better. But getting back to the spinning wheels, I thought that the increased mass of the granadillo would make for a better flywheel. Granadillo isn't easy to work with but on the lathe, it looks gorgeous before even being sanded smooth. It looks like a dark walnut with wavy, reddish lines in it. When planing it, take tiny bites or you will quickly wear out the knives. Coming out of the planer, it looks smooth, almost like a dark, polished marble. For pieces too wide for the planer, a drum sander works the best. Splinters from handling the boards have been a problem. They are more irritating than sapele and getting them out of my hands has required using a magnifying glass. When turning granadillo on the lathe, the increased mass of the particles is immediately noticeable. The particles travel further, bouncing off of my lab coat and then going up inside my face hood! Turning it is much easier than walnut and better than with sapele for a phenomenal appearance at the end. Granadillo boards are not very wide, so you will need to join them. Since the wood is so dense and heavy, I don't recommend using it for large projects like tables, which would be difficult to handle and move. You wouldn't want to stain it with anything. I'm not sure about varnishing it since the wood will be harder than any consumer-available varnish.

Very happy with the wood. The only issue was one end of the package was open upon arrival. May have been due to shipping during Christmas season and the associated handling "love". Anyway thanks again.

Wood arrived ahead of schedule and was in excellent condition