General Category > General Discussion

Exotics

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fuzzyturns:
Firstly, I do second GBF's opinion that we have wonderful woods here in the UK. There are however situations where I see the use of small amounts of tropical hardwoods is justified, to provide an accent without having to use artificial colouring ( and I am not an enemy of colouring, it's just that some pieces call for natural colours).

With regards to the clearance of tropical forests, I do not think that even if all woodturners in the UK stopped buying tropical hardwoods it would make any difference at all. Where illegal logging is going, most of that wood goes into China for furniture, or is consumed locally for the same purpose (or for boat building or construction purposes). Illegal logging should not be confused with complete clearance, which is done to create space for farming, and in that case most likely the trees are just burned. Also, make no mistake: only a small percentage of trees in a tropical forest are actually valuable timber trees.

So if anyone wants to completely stop using tropical or exotic hardwoods to find peace of mind, go right ahead. Just don't delude yourself that it makes any difference to what happens all across South America, Sub-Saharan Africa or South East Asia.

bodrighywood:
The biggest problem is not the waste of timber by harvesting for use but the environmental result of mass deforestation. The rate at which the tropical forests are being cut or burned down is nothing less than enironmentally criminal. Species of wild life becoming extinct and the consequnces on the pollution problem is horrific. We live comparitively comfortably here in western society and just see the occasional images but the fact of the matter is that we are fast approaching a point of no return. If not for ourselves then for our children and grandchildren we need to change our attitude. Use of 'exotics' for the small amout of decorative work we and other turners and cabinet makers do is not the problem it is the gross indifference from most of us the the real problem.

Climbs off hobby horse.

Pete

GBF:
To be honest I am not entirely against using Exotics  i just dont find them more attractive than our own native timbers.
One thing I have noticed is when we start out on our Woodturning journey we all use a lot of exotics but as we move on we start to appreciate our native woods for one thing they are a damn site cheaper.
I did not start this thread to give Members a guilt complex I just thought it would be a thought provoking subject and I think it has been.

Regards George

Twisted Trees:
Hope that hobby horse was made from FSC timber :)

You are right, trees and timber are only indirectly related especially the interesting grain we tuners want, or the wide boards and repeating grain pattern that cabinet makers desire. Most of the destruction is fire to clear the land for palm oil or grass land.

But it is good practice not to be wasteful, and respect the attempts to control deforestation.

Paul Hannaby:
George, you still haven't told us what you mean by "exotics".

Do you mean any imported wood?
Or wood from specific parts of the world?
Or just specific types of wood?

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