Hi everyone,

I would need your suggestions as to what particular types of wood are good for DURABLE wands (wands that can stand a beating), beside cocobolo.

As I found a woodshop, and they sell their leftovers for a cheap price!!!

And also what kind of finish (varnish, etc...) would you suggest for each wood you might recommend.

Your help will be appreciated.

Thanks

Ronnie Lemieux
Montreal
Canada

There are myriad species that are durable and good looking. Purpleheart (starts out a rich purple color, changes over time to a rich brownish-red), bubinga can have stunning grain and is very hard and heavy, rosewood and ebony are the kings of exotic wood, dense and gorgeous when finished, ziricote has wonderful variegated grain, also dense and able to take an excellent polish, bocote has a striped grain pattern if quartersawn, which looks fabulous with ebony tips, snakewood, desert ironwood and various burlwoods have wonderful grain and hold up well. Gilmer Wood (can be found in the back of Fine Woodworking or on the net) has a large selection of small pieces of exotics at reasonable prices, and they can be very helpful in letting you know what woods suit your purpose. As far as finishing goes, there are a number of options, from oils (tung oil, Tried and True flaxseed oil((a specially made oil that is completely non-toxic yet will not turn rancid, available from Woodcraft)) to shellac (a great finish that works on nearly everything) to varnishes and lacquers. One of the keys to finishing is not to apply too much finish at a time. Light coats are generally better than heavier coats. If you can apply the finish to the wand while it is mounted on the lathe, this allows you to burnish the finish into the wood and polish it up. Tabman may have some finishing tips for you, as he is a master with wands (as well as other magic and non-magic woodworking). The beauty of wands is that they require a minimum of material, so you can splurge and go for the nicest wood you can find. One tip I have is to work your way through the various sanding grits, 120 grit up through 1000 or 2000. Once you are past 300 or 400 grit, you are merely polishing, but this makes a huge difference in the appearance of the wand. This also helps to seal the pores and the wand will require less finish. Best of luck -
Bill

And please, if you are not familiar with working in the exotic woods, take a few minutes and review the dafety information about the dusts that you might not want to breathe as you are sanding and finishing things up, you should be able to last at least as long as your wands! A GOOD dust mask or filtering mask is a small investment for your health-provided it fits and is used correctly.

Thank you kaytracy for this precious safety advice.

And thank you Bill for your inputs, you named some woods I never even heard of before, so I will do some research!

Ayone else????

Ronnie Lemieux
Montreal
Canada

Are you a turner? Or do you know one?

Any of the aforementioned woods should suffice. I wonder about your "take a beating" requirement, tho. I usually just wave my wand, I don't beat the magic into submission...

If you mean during handling/packing/transport, virtually any wood should stand up if you give your wand the respect it deserves.

I have made a few for myself and friends. I glue up blocks of contrasting woods for a zebra-like effect. With all the glue joints, you'd think they'd be fragile, but I haven't broken one yet (knock on...er....something durable!)

As to finish, I use plain, old carnauba wax. I run the lathe up pretty fast, then slide the wax block down its length. The friction melts a nice even coat onto the wood, and it hardens to a shiny and durable layer. It's also very clear and won't hide the beauty of the wood beneath. (This is a common practice among turners, for any project, so they should have carnauba on hand.)

I don't know what I can really add here. Everyone's advice has been excellent. Personally, I hand rub with oil after a final 600 grit sanding. The oil I use is my own mixture of linseed, tung, lemon, shop dust, spider webs and an natural corn alcohol accelerant since a couple of my ingredients take forever to dry on their own.

Then after Ive rubbed several coats of oil in over a two or three day period I use some 0000 steel wool to do an oiling before rubbing it down with some 100% cotton material like jersey or t-shirt. I use oil as opposed to wax because I like them to feel really smooth to the touch. The oil is absorbed into the wood while the wax is applied over the wood. Just my personal preferences.

Wand making is fun for sure. Good luck with it. Shoot us a picture when you get done too. I love to see everyones work as making magic is usually a labor of love.

-=tabman

Doctor Amazo wrote:
"I wonder about your "take a beating" requirement, tho. I usually just wave my wand, I don't beat the magic into submission... "

This made me laugh!

If I wasn;t clear I apologize. What I meant by "take a beating" is that I sometimes strike the wand on my table (for noise), so I wouldn't like to see it break after a short period of usage.

Thanks everyone for your advices!

Ronnie Lemieux
Montreal
Canada

Viking Magic Uses Walnut in most of there tricks. I use it often, it is very hard. I made a quarter box and when you shake the box the quarter cant even dent the wood. And the finish looks beautiful.

Yes, Walnut is The King of American hardwoods. I use it too and have some nice old walnut logs cut in the 1960s. Michael Baker who is another wand turner just aquired a couple of my logs a few days ago. While I was in Alabama, Michael showed me a wand he had turned from South American Cherry, something I was unaware of. Quite beautiful.

American Black Cherry is rapidly becoming the money wood in the USA itself. Ive got a large stand of it in my woodlot which covers about 30 acres and I'm thinking of dropping a couple of them to dry before spring starts the sap running.

I've got several Walnuts growing here in the forest too. The cherry reproduces well but rarely do I find a walnut sapling. I guess the squirrels must eat most of the nuts before the get a chance to hatch.

-=tabman

Balsa

I think you were being humerous but I once made a balsa wand to use for a floating effect for a magician from NYC. He used it in a show off broadway for about six months.

-=tabman

This may be off the topic a bit-

I love the various wands offered through Malloy and Viking; however, I would really like something that not everyone has... Is there anyone in here that is willing to turn one or two wands out for a decent price? Please contact me and let me know.
Magically,
Bryan

Try PM'ing Tabman or check out his web site: http://tabmantables.com .

Slightly off topic, but this thread has reminded me of Billy McComb's gag with the award wand. He brings out a wooden wand a tells a story about how he was awarded this wand by the magic circle. He tell how much an honor it is to receive such a wand and how special it is. "It's just beautifully handcrafted," he says. Then he suddenly snaps it two. "And look at the grain in this wood!"

Richard

Some hardwood dealers offer drumstick turning blocks in most of the exotics.