Value of Rosewood lumber?

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

Where I come from it is very difficult to find out the reasonalbe value of exotic hardwood as it is very seldom it is found for sale.
Now I have acces to a piece Rosewood lumber measuring 60x10x8 inches. The price is about 100$ Does that sound cheap to you ?
I have not yet seen the wood not even a picture of it so I cant tell anything about the condition of the piece.

[Wade Lippman]

Assuming it is real rosewood and in decent condition $500 would be a great buy. Get it just as fast as you can. Even if it is something kinda looking like rosewood it is worth more than $100.

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

It is coming from an old closed cabinetmakers shop, and there is more with similar pricing. Im pretty excited about it, but Im not the only one interested unfortunately. If Im lucky I will get to buy it. Holding thumbs...

[Bill McNiel]

Lasse - that is an unbelievably low price assuming you have to resources to resaw it into usable pieces. Buy it and every other piece that is similarly priced.

[Wade Lippman]

Lasse - that is an unbelievably low price assuming you have to resources to resaw it into usable pieces. Buy it and every other piece that is similarly priced.
I was thinking it would make half a dozen great turning blanks.

[Cody Colston]

Brazilian Rosewood aka Rio Rosewood has been CITES listed since 1967...it's illegal to export. That makes existing quantities extremely valuable, especially for prime lumber.

If that plank is Rio Rosewood of good quality, you could sell it to Luthiers for 10x the price you quoted.

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

I have not yet get to grab it, but if I do, how do I determine what kind of Rosewood it is ?

[John T Barker]

Brazilian Rosewood aka Rio Rosewood has been CITES listed since 1967...it's illegal to export. That makes existing quantities extremely valuable, especially for prime lumber.

If that plank is Rio Rosewood of good quality, you could sell it to Luthiers for 10x the price you quoted.

I have a friend that is a lawyer (I try not to admit such things) and I had showed him a piece of rosewood I acquired years ago as we often discuss guitar building. IIRC he stated that the laws are very strict about rosewood, for example musicians that travel with their instruments are not permitted to travel out of the country with a guitar made with rosewood. I doubt the rosewood police check such things at the airport but according to him the law exists. He plays guitar and has worked for Martin guitar here in Pa.

[John T Barker]

Anyone else surprised at the dimensions of this lumber. Eight by 10"? That's a fairly short timber. I've only purchased a little myself but I'm trying to figure out why the average cabinet shop would have something that thick.

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

Anyone else surprised at the dimensions of this lumber. Eight by 10"? That's a fairly short timber. I've only purchased a little myself but I'm trying to figure out why the average cabinet shop would have something that thick.

The numbers are converted from centimeter by my self to make it easier for you americans to know how big it is. The original numbers was 150x27x22 cm I was (and still is) a bit suspicious about the thickness and I called the seller to ask if the thickness should have been written i mm. It turned out that the seller who was a cabinetmaker was in hospital and I only talked to his wife. She was sure the measurments were correct. It was her husband that put up the advertise before he went to the hospital. One would think that a cabinet maker should be able to measure lumber in a correct manner, but perhaps if he is old and ill he might missed that the thickness should have been in mm. He is back from hospital on Saturday and then I will speak with him, then I should know for sure

[Cody Colston]

I have not yet get to grab it, but if I do, how do I determine what kind of Rosewood it is ?

If that old cabinetmaker has had it a long time, it is most likely Rio Rosewood (Dalbergia Nigra). As for positive identification, I can only refer you to the Wood Database http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/brazilian-rosewood/ and other internet sites.

Also, according to the Wood Database, it is indeed illegal to transport even finished products of Brazilian Rosewood (like guitars) across international borders.

BTW, Rio Rosewood aka Brazilian Rosewood was a favorite of Jim Krenov.

[glenn bradley]

If Im lucky I will get to buy it. Holding thumbs...

OK, unrelated but, I have to ask . . . is the expression "holding thumbs" similar to the western expression of "crossed fingers"? We say "I'm keeping my fingers crossed" to indicate that we are hoping for good luck. Thanks.

[Skip Helms]

Rosewood isn't always easy to identify but I can tell you from the guitar side of the situation, any true rosewood would be worth many times the asking price. If it is Brazilian rosewood, many times many times. The beauty of the timber is that you can get quartersawn widths in dreadnaught dimensions from either angle.

The CITES regulations do allow transport of woods cut before certain dates if you can prove that. You might check if the seller has any records. Check YouTube for the Gibson factory raid by the customs department if you want to know about enforcement.

Finally, how that wood is cut matters a lot. Specialty luthier suppliers have bandsaws that can take perfect passes for maximum yield. If (big if) it is Dalbergia Nigra (Brazilian), you'll want to investigate somebody who does it all the time. Think of them as diamond cutters. That's assuming you don't have plans to make something else out of it. Right now, a well-quartered old-growth set of back and sides for a classical guitar comprised of two pieces at 7.5" X 20" x 3/16" and two pieces of 5" X 32" x 3/16" would start at $600-700 and could go a lot higher if it is magic. Indian, Cocobolo, Honduran rosewood and several others would start at $250. Of course, you could cut into it and get nothing but rot and checks so don't count your chickens too soon.

If you can post a picture of a planed section, I can probably tell you what it is. Skip

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

This is very funny. I actually used this expression because I learned it from an American in another thread. Where I come from we also say "fingers crossed" :-)

Edit; i just went back to look at that thread and he was not American, but from South Africa