Official Luthiers Forum!

Just before i left for my vacation, i had received a sample of Yellow xiris from Robin at www.cloudforestproducts.com, the sample they sent me is big enough for either rosettes or headplate veneers and looks really nice, here are 2 pics of it, has anyone here ever built anything with it? What are the tonal properties of this wood? TIA





Serge

Hi Serge,

The name is actually Yellow Siris. Here's what my reference book says:

Siris, Yellow Albizia xanthoxylon

"A medium sized hardwood of the rainforests of north Queensland. Heartwood golden brown. Texture moderatley coarse but even. Grain sometimes slightly interlocked giving some ripple figure to the radial surface. Slightly greasy nature. ADD about 610 kg/m3. Dries quickly but care needed to avoid surface checking. Easy to work but the sanding dust is irritant. Because of its somewhat greasy nature some extra care in surface preparation is desirable when gluing. Heartwood moderatly durable. Sapwood susceptable to lyctid borer attack. Provisionally S6, SD7. Used in sills, joinery, panelling, boatbuilding. Mainly used in districts of occurrence."

Hope this helps. Maybe you should use a mask when sanding if it is an irritant, and give it a wipe with acetone before gluing.

Thank you very much Paul!

Indeed nice wood from your country and feels greasy to the touch, i'll follow your advice and be careful when sanding it, i'll probably use this sample for a rosette or 2! Thanks!