Wenge Mouldings

[RobynPlater]

Hi Again,

I hoping to hear from people who have used Wenge bare wood mouldings. I'm really keen to use this type of moulding but am put off by the supplier blurb of 'experience required and quality equipment essential'.

I use a morso and a CS79 (see other post tonight). Are these classed as 'quality equipment'?

Thanks
Robyn

[Jonny2morsos]

If you don't mind flat modern profiles Lion do a range of Wenge veneers which are easy to cut and join.

[Graysalchemy]

I use a barewood obeche moulding and stain it using Osmo polyx oil in Transparent black mixed with a spirit based mahogany stain. It makes a very convincing wenge.

[David McCormack]

Your Morso and your Cassese are most definitely quality equipment but you need to give them the wood they like to work with. Softwoods like obeche and pine are no problem but hardwoods like ash and oak need a bit more consideration particularly with the larger profiles. Wenge is even denser than oak. A large oak profile will test your leg strength and not make your blades happy... as for wenge

For large hardwood profiles I cut them on a hand mitre saw and then trim on the Morso. I then glue and clamp in a Bessey clamp and let dry before underpinning with hardwood wedges no bigger than 10mm. For deep profiles I also drill pilot holes and hammer in 2 brads per corner for extra strength.

I suspect you will need a similar approach for wenge but oak is a lovley wood to work with Wenge appears to be twice the price of oak, so to get used to working with hardwoods I would order in some nice oak and have a go cutting and joining and see how it compares to the wood you normally work with (probably obeche if you use a lot of pre-finished mouldings).

For a nice rich dark finish on oak you can’t go far wrong with some Van Dyck Crystals made from walnut husks (thanks fusionframer)

[RobynPlater]

Thanks everyone for some sound advice and suggestions.

[framemaker]

Not to keen on wenge; it's rather expensive, splinters are very common (and therefore waste), wildly varying grain patterns (this can be good or bad depending on customers expectations), and all round not the easiest to work with!
I prefer walnut, not as exotic looking but finishes beautifully.
As suggested use oak or other less expensive woods to see how you get on with your equipment, and it can be finished beautifully.