Best Glue for Cocobolo?

[Ron Ford]

I visited Diamond Tropical Hardwoods in Sellersvillle, PA earlier this week and picked up (among other items) several very nice pieces of cocobolo for bowl blanks. Given the relatively high $$$ of these pieces, I'd like to conserve as much as possible for the finished work. Knowing cocobolo to be somewhat oily, what is the best glue to use to bond it to a poplar or maple glue block?

Thanks everyone.

Ron

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Hello Ron,

I have glued Cocobolo with regular yellow wood glue as well as epoxy. All I did was wipe it down lightly with a rag lightly soaked in acetone before gluing. This step may even be too precautionary, as I have glued it without doing this, but for "important" glue-ups I did so because that is what is recommended for teak and other oily woods.

Cocobolo is amazingly beautiful when you cut into it- exhibiting yellows, purples, browns, and even reds. It darkens rapidly with UV exposure and turns brown with some purple streaks showing up.

Enjoy!

Malcolm

[Ron Ford]

Thanks Malcolm. A pretreatment with acetone makes sense, and I'll do that on this next project.

I agree with you about the beauty of cocobolo. I like to find and use a wide variety of woods in my projects, and cocobolo is clearly one of my favorites.

Ron

[Chuck Darney]

I've used Titebond II and III as well as CA glue for Cocobolo. All seem to work well. Wiping it down with acetone or alcohol first really does help. Make sure you wear a mask. Some people have a sensitivity to the rosewoods. If you don't now you probably will after working with it a few times.

[Wally Dickerman]

Cocobolo is one the beauty woods of the world.....unfortanately I developed an allergy......there are two kinds of people....those who are allergic to cocobolo and those who will be.

If the cut is fresh, just glue it. I use med CA for glue blocks