Rosewood Natural Finish

This is an earlier ring I made. It’s Bolivian Rosewood with maple and walnut layers and a natural bees wax finish. After wearing this ring for a few months, I suddenly broke out in a rash on my finger (think poison ivy). It seems that many of the exotic hardwoods contain oils similar to that of poison ivy that many people are allergic to. Over time, the bees wax wore off allowing the oils to sit against my skin and produce an allergic reaction. I made a similar ring for my wife and she has never had a reaction. Since, I have heard stories from other woodworkers about the allergic dangers of working with exotic woods. Fortunately, I test on myself first.

Needless to say, I will not make anymore natural finish rings out of exotic woods. I still make rosewood rings, but safely seal them in CA. As for natural finish rings, I stick to domestic woods only.

Of interesting note, when you seal Bolivian rosewood in CA, the first layer applied, you can see the oils from the wood rub off on the cloth. This only seems to occur when applying finish. Wiping the wood with a dry cloth or with bees wax does not produce them same result. Few other woods have I ever seen anything similar.