Cocobola and Bocote help

[Mark Rios]

Any tips for gluing and working with these two woods? Do they glue well to other hardwoods say, for example, maple?

I got a little of each from The Woodsman hardwoods and I'd like to try to use them in a project or two.

One thing the owner told me was to wipe the surface to be glued with non-chlorinated brake cleaner. I assume to remove the natural oils from the wood and not leave any residue. I've only used "regular" hardwoods, i.e. maple, walnut, purpleheart and oak, plus some softwood as well but never any exotics. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Andy Hoyt]

Mark - I've turned both with great results. And I once had great success gluing a cocobolo bowl back together with plain old yellow glue after it exploded on me. The wood was dry. Click here to see it.

[Jim Tobias]

Mark,
I have used both on numerous projects and they are great woods take a beautiful finish. 2 things to be concerned about wiht them: 1) allergic reaction - cocobola, in particular, causes an allergic reaction in a lot of people- wear mask and wash dust off of skin. 2) wipe them down with naptha prior to applying finish. This will take off some of the natural oils and allow them to a) dry quicker(finish) and b)adhere better

Jim

[Jay T. Marlin]

I use acetone to wipe off all the oils. My blue shop towels turn brownish red afterwards, kinda like ATF.

A coat or three of dewaxed shellac sealer will pretty much guarantee good adhesion of other finishes. I like varnish.