Wood Identification

[William C Rogers]

I got this wood from a fellow turner. He did not remember where or what he bought. The blank was 8 X 8 X 4, but had a crackle defect in the center. I cut it in half and made a lidded box. I thought it might be desert ironwood, but the end grain did not match. Looking at the end grain I now believe it is cocobolo. It seems to match the wood database. Is there any other possibility?

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This is the turned lidded box

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[John K Jordan]

I got this wood from a fellow turner. He did not remember where or what he bought. The blank was 8 X 8 X 4, but had a crackle defect in the center. I cut it in half and made a lidded box. I thought it might be desert ironwood, but the end grain did not match. Looking at the end grain I now believe it is cocobolo. It seems to match the wood database. Is there any other possibility?
...

When I look at the cocobolo I have under the microscope I see amber-colored solid resin in every pore.

The orange and dark brown in your box certainly looks more like cocobolo than any other wood in my experience. Cocobolo also has a very distinctive and not-unpleasant odor when turned, once smelled can't be forgotten. I have various pieces of cocobolo that look quite different but smell the same when turned or sanded.

The dark top of your box is distinctive of aged cocobolo - it darkens from the exposed surfaces inward. I've seen some 4x4" so old it was dark almost to the much brighter center. Some I have is 4" to 8" and the the dark is "seeping" in on all surfaces but it must be very slowly since I've been cutting on these for about 15 years now.

One thing I learned the hard way - I put Watco "danish" oil on cocobolo once and over a relatively short number of months it turned black as ebony.

For comparison, a few cocobolo things I've turned:

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Cocobolo and Tulipwood:
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Cocobolo does have a wide natural variation in color. The second coffee scoop here is cocobolo; was a deep, dark color. The smell while carving was the same though!
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Edit: a couple more, the little vessel at the top and the box on the right is cocobolo (and brass).
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JKJ

[John K Jordan]

And these needle cases are cocobolo.

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The middle hand bell (not yet handled) is cocobolo as well as the bell on the far right in the second photo.

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Hopefully this will give you an idea of the general look and variability of the wood.

JKJ

[William C Rogers]

Thanks John. I have turned very little cocobolo, just pens years ago. I do remember the smell at that time, but now I wear a PAPR system and don’t get neat the wood oder when turning. I went with lacquer on the lidded box.