Does anyone know the properties of Granadillo (Platymiscium yucatanum) and its suitability as a tone wood? Not to be confused with Grenadilla which is (apparently) African Blackwood.
I’m only Googling, I know, so not exactly anything that you probably haven’t already seen, but …
… have you had a look at this lot? It might be worth getting in touch with them and asking what they know about the wood, at any rate.
I tried to find some granadillo bagpipes, but everywhere that I’ve found so far (still just Googling) is in fact Grenadilla (African blackwood), misspelt.
By Googling “Platymiscium yucutanum as a tonewood” I got this discussion on the Acoustic Guitar Forum http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-112310.html. Looks promising. There were several other hits with this search.
Bob
I did something similar, Bob, and I got guitars, ukes, lutes & mandos. But precious little in the way of woodwind or pipes. Did you find any windy stuff?
Thanks for the link Ben. I’ll give them a try.
There does seem to be a bit of confusion between Grenadillo (the Mexican Rosewood) and Grenadillo/Grenadilla (African Blackwood) and then there’s Granadilla (the Passion Fruit-like fruit). I know about African Blackwood, so in this threa d I’m intersted in the red-coloured Mexican rosewood.
Thanks too An Seanduine , I had seen that forum post. However it’s a very different ballgame between guitars and pipes, but at least they seem to be on the money in terms of the right wood, not confused with ABW.
Cheers,
Yup. The pro’lem is. . .the folks who are selling it are saying things like “works great. . .finishes beautifully, tight grain etc.”
Why would they misrepresent it. . . 
I’ve been aging several different kinds of Mexican rainforest woods on speculation. I thin I passed on this one 'cuz of the cost. Got my eye on one that goes by the moniker of Mexican Pernambuco ( isn’t really a true Pernambuco, 'cuz the Brazilians would shoot you for harvesting their wood 
) Sometimes its called Chakte Viga.
They’re breaking into the more common canopy trees in the Yucatan since they are abundant and prolly sustainable. Seems the Mahogany is in some kind of culture war with the Mayans and the Federals.
Bob
You’ve probably already been down this tunnel of love, but here goes: A quick and dirty way to test suitability of a wood for dryblown pipes like the Uilleann variety. Quick in this instance is only relative. Get a suitable billet, doesn’t have to be a full length billet, say half the chanter length. We’re really only concerned with the area from the back ‘D’ to the reed seat. Put a pilot hole through it ( ya gotta season it sometime. . .) I’d use nothing bigger than a 4 mm bore. I suppose a gun-drill would be OK, but I’ve got some hand reamers with extended shanks. Get a nice polished bore. Test it with a ground drill rod to see if it will easily pass through (easy is a relative term here, but if you use something that easily can slide through you have a better bench mark. Wait. Do your usual weight checks to test for changes.
Periodically check to see if you can still slide your drill rod through your bore. Re-bore if necessary.. If your weight stops changing but your bore still changes with humidity variation, it’s probably only good for the bin. . .
YMMV
Bob
Brian Bigley has made at least one chanter from granadillo. You could ask him about it.
Thanks Elbow…I’ll check it out.
Periodically check to see if you can still slide your drill rod through your bore. Re-bore if necessary.. If your weight stops changing but your bore still changes with humidity variation, it’s probably only good for the bin. . .
Is the suggestion here that any wood that does not change with variations in humidity (and/or heat) is not worthy of being made into pipes? I have a set made of ABW that is about 20 years old and every winter the wood shrinks a bit, loosening the ferrule on the bottom of the chanter - so much that it broke the glue that held it on years ago. Even the Delrin mainstock seems to become loose in its brass cup every winter though this is probably the ‘hemp’ drying out.
Another set in ebony, maybe not as old, has similar issues and actually seemed to shrink slowly after its purchase from the Pacific NW (US). My guess is that it was close to 10 years old when I bought it and it took a few years to reach equilibrium in my climate. I live in a hot, humid climate and this happens despite central air conditioning/heat, though last winter I hardly turned the heater on and generally don’t turn the AC on until late May.
Is there really such a wood that is not as you describe?
Every woodworker has to make decisions and choices whenever close tolerances are involved. I think it is important that those choices and decisions be made on an informed basis.
Bob
this site is a good source of info on wood
gives weights and density etc (v useful for judging the suitability of a wood for various tasks
unfortunately Platymiscium yucutanum isn’t yet listed
http://www.wood-database.com/wood-identification/
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/macacauba/ is in the same genus, which gives you a general idea . And its also called grenadillo.
Interesting resource. Thanks gwyatt.