Thread: Tiny bit of rosewood

I hope this is not a stupid question or in the wrong forum. Where (near Brisbane) should I search for some small off cuts of rosewood?
They do not have to be dressed but I only want a very small quantity. 1 small board.

In about a month or 2 I'll start on this little project and so I'm starting to gather information in advance.

My elderly father has a very ornate cabinet/bar that requires some TLC. I have offered to help him repair the most urgent parts. This is a fold down shelf that forms the bar table when folded out.

Here is the front of the table part:Preview attachment 20170902_123612.jpg




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Over the years the brass straps have pulled out of the table.
Preview attachment 20170902_123530.jpg




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I have two or 3 questions about this. The first is where to find very small quantities of rosewood?

Once the straps are screwed back into the table, they should be covered by these two small rosewood plates. I will measure them later but they are roughly 200mm x 30mm and 6mm thick each.
Here is a pic of one side unscrewed and the plate placed upside down. The plate should not have that notch in it. That part is rebated but should be the full width. That has been ripped out of it by the brass strap screws coming away from the table and then ripping out of the wooden plate.
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This part looks darker than rosewood because it has been stained and varnished.
The raw wood is lighter and more reddish.

I will find some timber merchants and see what I can buy there but I am assuming I will need to buy a quantity far bigger than I need. So I thought I would check with you guys about where I should be looking.
I am talking with Lindsay Myers in Clontarf to see what they might have and that is as far as I have got so far.

I expect I will need to buy at least a board and use some for this project and some to make a box or something. That will be fine. I just don't want to have to buy meters of the stuff if it is going to be costly. (I don't know what rosewood costs).
I'd prefer a darker shade but obviously I am going to have to stain to try and colour match anyway so perhaps the colour is not important?

Or since I'll never get an identical colour match perhaps I should be aiming for a contrasting colour? Make the difference a 'feature'?

The other approach might be to use some other hardwood for these parts. What would be a good option?

The only hardwood I have at the moment is some nice red gum and a fair bit of rough sawn messmate.
The red gum is heavy and seems close grained (although I have not worked with it yet). I did have other plans for that piece but I might be able to redesign so I get some small off cuts for this purpose, if I need to.
I also have some red cedar but I have assumed I need something quite hard and close grained for these parts. Obviously the rosewood eventually failed. Should I look for something stronger - like Jarrah?

I don't mind buying some small quantities of hardwood and finding some small project for it. It's all part of the learning experience for me.