How to Make Wood Jewelry

							                         How to Make Wood Jewelry
Wood jewelry is stylish, unique and very inexpensive to make if you have access to some
specific tools and materials. The first and most important question is what type of wood to
use and where to find it. Though you can in theory make wood jewelry out of any type of
wood it would be best to choose wood that is visually compelling and interesting in terms or
color, shape and grain of the wood. Exotic wood makes the best choice for making your own
wood jewelry as the contrasts in appearance, grain and texture vary dramatically from one
piece to the next.

The most common exotic woods used for jewelry making are ebony, koa, purpleheart,
zebrawood, zircote, wenge, pau amarello, reheart, rosewood, tulipwood and lacewood.
These exotic woods have dramatic colors and grain patterns making a great choice for
cosmetic value as well as being good overall choices for wood working. The denser woods
such as ebony are more difficult for wood working as they are harder to cut, sand and finish
than less dense woods. Some exotic woods are known to cause allergic responses in some
people, as are many common woods used for everyday applications. It is important to be
knowledgeable about each type of wood you use before beginning any cutting or sanding.

Burl is the term used to describe a naturally formed knot in the woo grain. These burls have
a unique and noticeable grain variation not found in other parts of the tree. Burls are very
expensive as a result of their slow growth and unique appearance and are fantastic for wood
jewelry making if you can find, and afford, them.

To buy exotic wood pieces you will need to find a supplier of exotic woods. You will not find
these woods at local hardware stores. You may need to find a wood working tool store local
to you and ask them about where to buy locally exotic woods for making jewelry.

The tools that you use will depend on your budget, skill level and workshop space. In its
most basic element you can make your own wood jewelry using a flat surface like a table, a
hand held pull-cut saw and a series of sandpapers that you can use by hand to step finish
the wood to a bright shine.

Cutting and shaping the wood jewelry can also be done with mechanical saw and sanders for
a faster process but great care must be used to protect yourself when working with small
items around machinery. making wood jewelry is a function of patience as rushing the step
sanding process can cause imperfections in the final product.

For many people it will not be practical to make their own wood jewelry since not every
person is comfortable working with saws and sanders and finding exotic woods to use as
materials can be difficult to locate depending on where you live. At least wood jewelry is
much less expensive than other forms of jewelry so you can buy what you cant build
yourself.