bois de rose, indian rosewood and cocobolo

[goku]

Anyone know where I can get either bois de rose or cocobolo in australia?

To be more accurate Dalbergia martime or dalbergia maritima and
dalbergia latifolia and dalbergia retusa.

If not, is there anything that compares aesthetically?

aside from price and cocobolo's oily nature, would there be anything wrong with making furniture out of them?

cheers

[Arron]

would there be anything wrong with making furniture out of

Well, yes, consider the environmental cost.

Arron

[goku]

Well if I can get the seeds I am willing to wait till they grow.

Are they legal and are they available?

[kiwigeo]

All these woods used by luthiers for guitar building....esp in US. Allied Luthery usually has all three available as guitar back and side sets. These are 3-4mm thick sheets and theyre not cheap. Would hate to see price of furniture sized pieces.

Allied also have some Brazilian Rosewood back and side sets going for up to US$1200 a set.

[kiwigeo]

Well if I can get the seeds I am willing to wait till they grow.

Are they legal and are they available?

If youre about 4 years old now you might have some millable sized trees by the time they ship you off to the nursing home

[LuckyDuck]

I have purchased various lengths and cross sections of cocobolo from Lazarides Timber Agency here in Brisbane. Mostly, they stock material for turning, including lengths of 300-500mm and cross sections of 50x50 and more rarely up to 50x 150. But I have not seen board lengths or the quantities required for making even a modest sized piece of furniture.

And I second the comment about environmental cost. It is so expensive because there is so little left. As I get older, I must say I am far more sympathetic to the catch-cry: "We need to maintain the earth (i.e. environment) so that our children can enjoy it too!" Respectfully, Luckyduck

[goku]

Thanks all. I'm happy enough inlaying the more exotic materials as accents as it seems improbable that I can do anything else.

I am seriously considering a plantation, I guess it wont be for me but for my children or my childrens children.

I might not be able to do what I want but maybe they will. Wish I was -40 then and that might work

Any suggestions for a material that looks similar but is not endangered? I was thinking of staining but its just not the same.

I wanna a real look something like the pics below. (different design of course). I dont wanna even think of what this cost to build based on the pricing i've got now. As from the website description, its solid cocobolo.

[Arron]

I cant think of anything close. Perhaps it would look just as nice in black walnut, or maybe Queensland walnut. Both are dark with strong feature. I dont know about the environmental status of Queensland walnut.

A lot of the regulars on this site are getting into veneering. If done probably, you cant tell veneer from solid. I'd investigate veneering as a cheap and environmentally acceptable alternative.

Arron

[Lignum]

Goku, great pic of the desk. Where did it come from?

[goku]

http://tropicaltreefarms.com/

its a reserve where you can sponsor conservation of several exotic species.

Wonder what that table's worth?

[Zed]

ive seen redgum and jarrah tables that look similar... why not use one of these instead - you could be paying a premium for your species....

[Arron]

I've often wondered about the practicality of setting up a small plantation of exotic very-high-value trees too. I know its been tried a bit here in Australia with poor results. Apparently there is a lot more too it then just getting the tree to grow. When a tree grows outside its home environment it can often look OK but have very second rate timber - due to differences in climate and soil etc. Also, native-country old growth is nearly always better then plantation grown timber, as can be seen with the plantation mahogany which is colourless and coarse grained – rubbish compared to the old growth stuff. You can greatly shorten the growing time of most trees by better husbandry in a plantation situation but this is at the cost of timber quality. As the tree grows faster, it consolidates less, so has coarser grain and less colour.

I wouldnt want to wait thirty years only to find my cocobolo is worthless.

I know sandalwood has been tried here – it grows well for a couple of years then drops dead. Aus cedar doesn’t work in plantations because it gets an insect pest that only becomes a problem when grown close together. Apparently exotic plantations work better on far-flung islands because the biodiversity is reduced and the diversity of insect pests is less. That’s why mahogany plantations work on Fiji but done grow too well in continental landmasses.

I don’t know where you would get the seeds. I think you would have to import. I would be interested to hear too.

Arron

[goku]

I'm going to have a go at growing a few species and if it doesnt work then the worst I've done is wasted some time.

In the meantime, how do redgum and jarrah fair over time? Do they fade or darken? Do they lose contrast or gain it?

Cheers

Ben.

[Arron]

You might have seen this already. If not, it might be useful to get this report, though its more oriented to the tropical parts.

http://www.afg.asn.au/resources/pdfs...6,4-p14-24.pdf

Jarrah doesnt fade or darken much over time. It's contrast doesnt change much either - there isnt much to begin with. However it is a poor substitute for the timbers you are talking about. It's more of a construction timber then a cabinet timber.

Arron

[reeves]

try http://www.exoticwoodgroup.com/
http://www.gilmerwood.com
www.anexotichardwood.com
http://www.eisenbran.com/WoodList.htm

also if u r into 'other' woods why not try various australian species, NSW rosewood or the desert acacias, Solomon Island rosewood or NG is pretty well available...also there nothing to fear in a good chunk of Myrtle ;-) to some figured Eucalypts


cheeeeeers
john