WTB: Rare rosewoods
- Thread starter Big Ry
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- #42
I've seen the name macacuba used interchangeably with granadillo, but then I've also seen it used separately. When i first started woodworking 1.5 years ago, i bought a turning blank of each. They were advertised as 2 distinct woods. And what i got were vastly different. The wood called granadillo was a beautiful chocolate brown with hints of red and some black contrast... Very smooth grained. The macacuba on the other hand is butt ugly vomit colored wood with no color variation and wide open grain. Its one of the ugliest woods I've ever seen. I didn't end up using it in the project I'd purchased it for after cutting it and seeing that nothing gets any better inside. But i did slap the remainder together with some scraps of purpleheart and tossed it in an epoxy mold as a cheap throwaway cutting board. Ironically we use this cutting board more than probably any other one we own lol. But that's simply due to the convenient size, certainly not due to the ugly wood.
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Then the "granadillo" was likely the dalbergia while the "macacauba" likely was a really sad piece of macacauba. Even the most beautiful species can have boring pieces of wood. Paul's site has a particularly sad looking piece of BRW. I have some very nice looking macacauba from paolo somewhere in the depths of my shop. You should definitely try to get some nicer macacauba.
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- #45
Not the best photo cause it's zoomed in, but this small spatula is solid granadillo. The tongs are granadillo with Argentine Osage base.
And the there's this butt ugly macacuba that I mentioned before:
I bought the macacuba based on all the other photos I see of that wood with beautiful red swirls. I was seeking colorful woods for a color gradient serving board. But the piece I got looked nothing like the photos I was seeing online - not only the color but the texture as well.
Thank you
@Big Ry @daniscool the macacuba looks like it is likely Platymiscium ulei or Platymiscium fragrans.
the spatula looks to be Platymiscium yucatanum, a little denser wood that’s darker and I agree with big ry that it’s also much prettier
the spatula looks to be Platymiscium yucatanum, a little denser wood that’s darker and I agree with big ry that it’s also much prettier
Here is a bowl of Dalbergia Granadillo that. After it oxidizes it turns a dark red with black/dark streaks I believe to be along the growth rings. But here it is fresh cut, freshly oiled, then oxidized for several months.
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- #49
I think you hit the nail on the head, Fred
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- #50
Wow that is very pretty...definitely nothing like the granadillo I was thinking. That almost looks like d. nigra.
Thank you, the wood was so oxidized when I got it, that it was almost pure black. I was like idk about this before I cut into it. It does look a bit like really nice D. nigra. I couldn’t imagine what Brazilian rosewood with that much figure would cost now a days
@300LW i got your message. That D. granadillo is spoken for, but I have more. If you are looking for other rosewoods I can start a separate thread for you? Please let me know if you are interested
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- #54
I have a small block of camatillo, but it's a species i like outside of this sourcing of rosewoods. I'm always after purple woods, and camatillo is one of the few purple ones out there. It tends to be cost prohibitive to buy it from vendors, hence why i only have a small blank at the moment.
I'm not familiar with Siamese rosewood. Is that really rare?
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- #55
I just got 28lbs of d. Nigra on eBay. There's 1-2 pieces that look like they might be crotch grain and seem to have some figuring, though i haven't sanded and oiled them to see for sure. They're checked up pretty good unfortunately, but they might make a good piece to stabilize if d. Nigra can be stabilized.Thank you, the wood was so oxidized when I got it, that it was almost pure black. I was like idk about this before I cut into it. It does look a bit like really nice D. nigra. I couldn’t imagine what Brazilian rosewood with that much figure would cost now a days
I’d say Siamese rosewood is the most common of the SE Asian rosewoods. Still not super common, but should be findable. I did a quick eBay search and found a few smaller blocks at what I’d consider a good price also
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- #57
Well in that case, I would put that species off until a later date. Though I am still curious about your camatillo, provided its purple.
If they are checked I recommend first putting thin CA glue on the cracks, then medium if they are bigger cracks. You can blend some fine saw saw dust into the cracks, atleast if they are larger to blend it in. I honestly have no idea if you can stabilize Brazilian rosewood. I imagine you could. I have a few other pieces of intact Brazilian I was planning on selling I could show you.
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- #59
These cracks are a bit too wide for the sawdust fix. That would just make it look like crap. They would look better filled with clear resin, which wouldn't hide them but would simply stabilize them.
As much as Id love to get more d. nigra right now, I think Ive probably spent enough between the ebay purchase, the block from you, and a couple scales from vendors. Unless you're talking about "cheap" d. nigra, I should probably hold off on more of that right now.
I did the Ca glue and sawdust on one piece of D.nigra. I’ll send some picks later