Advice Needed: Using Hardwood in Place of Plastic or Metal

i-robot wrote: : Hello:

: I am developing a product where the use of semi-exotic hardwood : (wenge, etc.) would make it far more appealing to the eye than if I : used aluminum or delrin. How dimensionally stable will the heavy : hardwoods be once cut to final size/shape? Is dimensional shift even : an issue? Are there other aspects I should be considering?

Depends on the species. Mesquite is extremely stable, ebony is very unstable (in terms of dimensional change with humidity). Try getting a copy of Hoadley's book, which is the classic on these issues:

Andy has the right of it. However, the corollorary to Andy's statement is that if the wood has been conditioned to the environment in which it will live, and that environment is stable (eg a temperature and humidity-conrolled office), then the wood will be dimensionally stable.

Cheers

Frank

Thank you for the replies. This is exactly the type of information I needed.

mech_robot

Depends on function. If the wood plays a fuctional role in the use of the tool it(the tool) has to be designed to accept its idiosyncrasies. If it's decoration, you can get away with a lot. An example: At the