Rosewood

[Steve Sheehan]

Recently I was gifted a piece of Brazilian Rosewood that’s 2.6 inches x 3.6 inches x 6feet. I work in American hardwoods and don’t have a clue about this stuff , other than it may be valuable. Any ideas ? Worth?

[Matt Lau]

Brazilian rosewood is the holy grail for guitar builders.
As a guitar builder, I would implore you to save it for your most special project as you *can't* buy that wood.
Do NOT cut it up without good reason.

If it were me, I would pay someone to have it resawn into multiple guitar backs/sides.

Depending on how it's cut and sold, I would estimate it to easily fetch $10,000- much more depending on figure, cut, etc.
Conservatively, I'd estimate $500+ per set. Yours would be a 4-5 peice back, which would reduce the value significantly over a 2 peice back....but it's still Brazilian Rosewood! Probably the Old Growth stuff too.

[Tyler A Anderson]

Brazilian Rosewood is a highly regulated wood, you will likely have a hard time selling it unless you have the requisite paperwork to go along with it. I agree with Matt, Guitar builders would love to have it!

[steven c newman]

Maybe Rob Lee would trade you for that wood.....would make a few tool handles...

[Jim Koepke]

Maybe Rob Lee would trade you for that wood.....would make a few tool handles...

There would likely be a problem getting across the border due to CITES status.

jtk

[John K Jordan]

Recently I was gifted a piece of Brazilian Rosewood that’s 2.6 inches x 3.6 inches x 6feet. I work in American hardwoods and don’t have a clue about this stuff , other than it may be valuable. Any ideas ? Worth?

I love turning it on the lathe. I have a number of pieces of Brazilian and other rosewoods and the Brazilian is my favorite. Even pieces that size as short as 6" would be useful to turners for small items - I'd be tempted to buy a couple of feet if you advertised it on Classifieds here.

As for the price, I understand the problem is (as mentioned) you can't take it or anything made from it through customs without the proper paper trail which probably wouldn't be available for your piece. Best thing may be to just use it and enjoy it.

JKJ

[Stew Denton]

Steve,

I saw a few very small pieces on that auction site a few years ago. I was thinking of making a replacement plane tote, If I recall, I saw the price, and said "forget that," as it was about $300 a board foot at that time, and these were very small pieces.

Stew

[Andrew Hughes]

I have a wood turner friend that has several nice pieces of Brazilian rose wood. He thought about selling it but got cold feet with all talk about its ban and protection. How in the world would someone know what it is. Is there wood police?
Its nice looking wood and smells great but if he didn't clue me in I wouldn't have known what it was.

[John K Jordan]

I have a wood turner friend that has several nice pieces of Brazilian rose wood. He thought about selling it but got cold feet with all talk about its ban and protection. How in the world would someone know what it is. Is there wood police?
Its nice looking wood and smells great but if he didn't clue me in I wouldn't have known what it was.

I don't have direct experience but I read that to be on the "safe" side customs inspectors were confiscating guitars (or anything) with wood that looked like rosewood to them. This was a couple of years ago so maybe they have it figured out now.

I've turned a number of things from brazilian rosewood and at least from the stock I have the raw and finished appearance is distinctive. I have used at least seven different species of Dalbergia and they all look quite different. At least the stock I have - I individual pieces can vary widely. For example, one piece of indian rosewood I have looks close to the my brazilian stock but others look nothing like it. However, in looking at the pores under the microscope brazilian is usually easy to distinguish from indian and other rosewoods.

This article might be useful: http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/distinguishing-brazilian-rosewood-from-east-indian-and-other-rosewoods/

JKJ

[William Fretwell]

Useful article. I've had a piece I bought at least 25 years ago sitting on a shelf. The end pores confirm it's Brazilian. At 2.5"x3.5"x16.5" it's not that large but I've yet to find a worthy use for it. After reading this the dilemma is worse!.

[Matthew Hutchinson477]

Recently I was gifted a piece of Brazilian Rosewood that’s 2.6 inches x 3.6 inches x 6feet. I work in American hardwoods and don’t have a clue about this stuff , other than it may be valuable. Any ideas ? Worth?

So...how about a picture?

Ha, I've never seen a piece of rosewood longer than a guitar back. A piece that big would be a sight to see.

[Rob Luter]

Rosewood guitar fingerboard blanks are approximately 2 1/2 x 18 and 3/8 thick. Brazzy boards sell for about $150. Do the math.

I have some old Brazilian fingerboard stock I got from from the Gibson Guitar factory (I used to live in Kalamazoo). It's not suitable for use as fingerboards for one reason or another so use it for pegs in arts and crafts styled woodworking projects. It goes well with QSWO. It's a warmer look than ebony.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4083/4964851812_36d8449481_b.jpg

[Steve Sheehan]

Thanks for the replies. Useful stuff. I guess I better think hard about this chunk. I’d post a picture, if I knew how. ��

[John K Jordan]

I’d post a picture, if I knew how. ��

Take a digital picture with camera or phone. Put the file on your computer. When composing a message, click the little "insert image" icon in the row of icons just above the text box. (It looks kind of like a little picture.)

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Browse to the image file, select, and click "Open". Then back in the file upload dialog click the "upload file(s)" button. Your photo should be shown as an icon inline in your message when you click "Go Advanced" or "Preview Post."

If you get an error because the file is too big, you may have to reduce the size it before uploading. However, as a test I've uploaded some large files and the SMC uploader reduced them automatically.

There are other ways to upload pictures, for example as attachments, but I think they they take more effort and are less useful to readers.

JKJ