Cocobolo ?

[Dick Mahany]

I was cutting up a few blocks of Cocobolo for a turned box project. I was surprised when I cut the block on the right because I have never seen this purplish color in Cocobolo (although I have not used a lot of it so my experience is limited). My experience has been more like the block on the left. Both pieces as shown are freshly sliced with the band saw.

I notified my supplier and sent them this picture and they confirmed that both blanks are Cocobolo. Is the purplish color typical in this species in your experience?

Mystery Wood .jpg

[David DeCristoforo]

As is the case with all rosewood, the color range is very wide. That is cocobolo. I’m betting that, once you cut into it and it is exposed to air, it will quickly turn a dark chocolate color.

[John K Jordan]

I've turned and have on hand a variety of Cocobolo and I've seen a lot of variation in color but none yet quite like that color. You can examine the end grain with a microscope. However, for me the litmous test for Cocobolo is the smell when it is cut or sanded, regardless of color. All Cocobolo I've ever cut had the same very distinctive smell. (Some people describe the smell as "spicey.") If the second block doesn't smell like the first one it might be something else.

Another thing you can do is measure the volumes and weights and compare the densities - they should be close if both are Cocobolo. A third test is kind of crude and inconclusive: I've lit thin pieces of Cocobolo with a match and they burned like a candle. Great fire starters for the wood stove!

It's impossible to ID by photo. I have blanks of several species that look very much like that, one is East Indian Rosewood. However it does not smell like Cocobolo when cut. I have some pieces of Kingwood that are close to that color but they lack the sharp dark lines. Again, I'd cut or sand with coarse paper and smell it.

JKJ

I was cutting up a few blocks of Cocobolo for a turned box project. I was surprised when I cut the block on the right because I have never seen this purplish color in Cocobolo (although I have not used a lot of it so my experience is limited). My experience has been more like the block on the left. Both pieces as shown are freshly sliced with the band saw.

I notified my supplier and sent them this picture and they confirmed that both blanks are Cocobolo. Is the purplish color typical in this species in your experience?

Mystery Wood .jpg

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I've turned and have on hand a variety of Cocobolo and I've seen a lot of variation in color but none yet quite like that color. You can examine the end grain with a microscope. However, for me the litmous test for Cocobolo is the smell when it is cut or sanded, regardless of color. All Cocobolo I've ever cut had the same very distinctive smell. (Some people describe the smell as "spicey.") If the second block doesn't smell like the first one it might be something else.

Another thing you can do is measure the volumes and weights and compare the densities - they should be close if both are Cocobolo. A third test is kind of crude and inconclusive: I've lit thin pieces of Cocobolo with a match and they burned like a candle. Great fire starters for the wood stove!

It's impossible to ID by photo. I have blanks of several species that look very much like that, one is East Indian Rosewood. However it does not smell like Cocobolo when cut. I have some pieces of Kingwood that are close to that color but they lack the sharp dark lines. Again, I'd cut or sand with coarse paper and smell it.

JKJ

Sometimes woods get minerals that change the normal colors dramatically. Cut a yellow poplar up years ago that was a dark red in streaks in side, not the normal bluish purple streaks. Had a piece of wild damson that looked like those fancy rainbow laminates some gun stocks are made of. It had red, pale yellow, dark purple, orange. Contrasting colors by the growth rings. It was only some of the larger branches, not the trunk. The tree was growing over a place where an old building had burned down. Maybe that played a part. I suppose I would have suspected the wood was mislabeled too.

[Dick Mahany]

Thank you for your insight and replies. I did sand the faces of the two different blanks as John suggested and they do have a slightly different "aroma". I'll likely turn the purplish block later on when I figure out what to do with it. For the interim it'll just go back into my small collection of turning blocks since I really need the brown-orange colors of the other block for my current project.

An interesting aside.......I've developed wood dust sensitivities over the years and routinely wear a Trend Air Pro for filtration. I have read that Cocobolo can actually be a sensitizer, but yet it doesn't seem to bother me.