Rosewood

[Patrick Walsh]

Not without papers it can’t.

I’m sitting on like 40bf of really big long 4/4 and 5/4 wide “think almost slabs of BRW” it’s worth nothing without papers. I’ll probably spend the rest of my life just looking at it.

I wouldn’t say a goldmine. But $2000 + worth of wood depending on how pretty or bad it looks. Indian rosewood is much harder to find in large wide pieces. I make electric guitars in my spare time and a 20 Long x 13-14” Wide x 1 3/4 thick body blank is probably worth 300-350 to the right buyer. Simply because it’s 1 piece. You could cut up those larger pieces for guitar blanks and that’s 6 x 300, $1800 or so right there.

A lot would depend how much clean up is needed and if it’s warped or twisted. And is it flat or quarter-sawn. That could make or break how much a buyer would pay. I’m just thinking like a guitar builder but other possibilities exist as well. If you don’t need the wood, you need to maximize what it can be sold for.

I doubt that’s Brazilian rosewood, but if it was, then 2000 could turn in 12000.

[John K Jordan]

Not without papers it can’t.

I’m sitting on like 40bf of really big long 4/4 and 5/4 wide “think almost slabs of BRW” it’s worth nothing without papers. I’ll probably spend the rest of my life just looking at it.

I understand it's not illegal to have in one's possession nor use it to make things, you just can't ship them across international borders. You can even make personal things (up to about 22 lbs) and take them with you internationally. Since even 4 and 5/4 rosewood can be useful to a woodturner who doesn't sell things I'll be glad to take some of your stash so you don't have to get depressed sitting for years and staring at it. That is, if you don't live out of the USA.

Rosewoods and the like including brazilian, cocobolo, kingwood, and others are some of my favorite to turn. I wish I could find some more kingwood - love the way it looks.

JKJ

[Robert London]

Hey Patrick, that is not true and Brazilian is still crazy valuable. In the acoustic guitar making world, most builders and buyers do not care about CITIES paperwork. You just can’t sell items overseas and must be kept in the United States. Most people don’t want to risk shipping valuable items out of the county anyway. So it becomes a mute point. The value of your wood can vary greatly depending on whether its flat or quarter sawn and the degree of figuring.

A very small piece of Brazilian 20 x 3 x 3/8 is perfect for a guitar fingerboard and can cost 50 even for lower quality and closer to 100 for nice QS grain. A block of 4/4 Brazilian say 6-7 inches wide x 5 feet long could yield 15-18 fingerboards.

Whats 15 x 60 bucks each as an average? That’s almost $1000 right there. A guitar builder would buy that from you in a snap. But once again, the flat vs quarter sawn and not having any cracks or splits may be tough. A lot of Brazilian can’t be used for fine guitars if it’s cracked or split. I would love to see what you have.




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