Which woods are easier to work with?

I'm interested in making another western handle soon. Which woods sand easier? My first try was with Madagascar ebony and boy was it a beeaatch to work with. Are all stabilized woods going to be like this?

If you want something easy to work with that will give nice results pretty much guaranteed then look at stabilized maple.

Dave Martell said:

If you want something easy to work with that will give nice results pretty much guaranteed then look at stabilized maple.

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+1. I love maple!

Walnut is very similar.

I agree about stabilized maple, with the exception of heavily spalted stuff.
With Maple you can rub it on a rock and smear it with bacon fat and it will still look good.

If you have difficulty working with any woods send me a PM or call me and I will do what I can to help.

Redwood is very easy to sand.I find for myself the softer the wood the more difficult it is to work with.

Bocote is a dream to sand and doesn't require stabilizing due to its oil content , just seal it with 2 coats of ca glue. Preferable zap.

If you have a respirator, I like Cocobolo or other rosewoods. They polish up SO nice without needing to mess with a finish. Just don't grind the end grain fast with a dull belt (which goes for maple and most other woods as well). I'm also surprised that more people don't work with olivewood.

Burl Source said:

With Maple you can rub it on a rock and smear it with bacon fat and it will still look good.

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That's an innovative finish I agree with the maple, stabilized koa is not too fussy either. Redwood burl can be so different, I had it from soft like a sponge to very dense, all after stabilizing. But maybe the heart wood is more consistent. I had used some olive a few years ago but ran out, didn't find a good source, and then forgot about it, thanks for the reminder. The blanks I had at the time were so dense that I didn't bother with stabilizing, but it may be the smarter thing to do. I never had much luck with walnut, for some reason I find it more difficult to finish to a shine than most other woods. And rosewoods, while dense, can be easy but nasty. Today I just drilled into a piece of ebony without a mask and had to sneeze for a minute... Definitely use at least a good mask for fine particles.

Stefan