anyone ever use the extraordinary "african blackwood"????

bruin70

bruin70

don't wannabe M0DERATOR
Silver Member
i had a chance to play with a libra about a dozen years ago that had african blackwood points...

it played very nicely and was sharp. had a ping to it. i'm actually kinda surprised though, that this wood isn't used that much. it puts ebony to shame if you ask me,,,,black from far away but up close it has a gorgeous dark dark dark dark smokey warm charcoal coloring with a teeny, black, hash mark grain pattern. apparantly it's used quite a bit in musical instruments for it's native resonance(BONUS!!!).

i think it has limitless possibilities for wood combinations because of it's color breadth, and it is so deep it draws you into it's charcoal/ebony lustre.....and it makes gaboon look like cheap plastic. it's my pick for my next cue(hercek hopefully, if he uses it).and if hercek doesn't, i'm forgoing my place in line to find someone who does....and THAT'S what i think of this wood!
 
anyone ever use the extraordinary "african blackwood"

All the time...........I love this wood for fronts and backs.
Dave
 
African Blackwood is a true rosewood, Dalbergia melanoxylon, so yep, it has a nice resonance.

Kelly
 
BarenbruggeCues said:
All the time...........I love this wood for fronts and backs.
Dave
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i love this wood so much i had to use the frenchy chicque word "lustre" instead of "luster".
 
Kelly_Guy said:
Don't forget "chatoyance"....
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that one too :):)

here's a sample. this one is lighter than the libra blackwood, as THAT was as i described, but this is one helluva piece of wood. this photo probably photographed lighter than normal because of the source light, so i imagine under normal room light it takes on a deeper glow.
 

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It's one nasty dirty wood to work with.
Just like zircote.
Freakin black acidic dust.
 
Its also heavier than ebony but often as black as the ace of spades!

Martin


bruin70 said:
i had a chance to play with a libra about a dozen years ago that had african blackwood points...

it played very nicely and was sharp. had a ping to it. i'm actually kinda surprised though, that this wood isn't used that much. it puts ebony to shame if you ask me,,,,black from far away but up close it has a gorgeous dark dark dark dark smokey warm charcoal coloring with a teeny, black, hash mark grain pattern. apparantly it's used quite a bit in musical instruments for it's native resonance(BONUS!!!).

i think it has limitless possibilities for wood combinations because of it's color breadth, and it is so deep it draws you into it's charcoal/ebony lustre.....and it makes gaboon look like cheap plastic. it's my pick for my next cue(hercek hopefully, if he uses it).and if hercek doesn't, i'm forgoing my place in line to find someone who does....and THAT'S what i think of this wood!
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jazznpool said:
Its also heavier than ebony but often as black as the ace of spades!

Martin
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It's fairly hard to find Black Wood in large enough peices. Most is cut for the music instrument trade and is cut into 9" lengths. In Afrika they burn tons of it if it isn't perfect so what makes it to this continent is very expensive. All that has been said of it's properties is true, very heavy and when turning round it's hard to see across the room for the black dust in the air. I've got one peice stashed away around 24" or so long that when I turned it I was a little dissapointed because it wasn't as black as Ebony and I had paid a premium price to get it. After looking it over I was very surprised to find that it is full of Birds Eyes. I've had other cuemakers try to snag it off of me but it's stashed and awaiting a special occasion.

Dick
 
jazznpool said:
Its also heavier than ebony but often as black as the ace of spades!

Martin
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is it more playable as a nose or in prongs? i guess it could be cored, i guess.
 
I have plenty of it and rarely use it because I feel it should have been called African Brown Wood. Most customers prefer the black ebony. African Black wood is anything but black. Dark brown with very little pretty grain like rosewoods have. To me it just falls into a bland category. Not black like ebony, no pretty grain like striped ebony, cocobolo or many rosewoods. On top of that it is more expensive. I bet my opinion will raise someones blood pressure.
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
 
anyone ever use the extraordinary "african blackwood"

I use it quite a bit in 8-Ball and Snooker cues. I was able to buy a bunch of it from a furniture factory. They were cut offs but were only 10" long. It varies from black to grainy similar to macassar ebony.
 
interesting,,,cuz the libra cue was quite diff. like i said,,,black and ebony-like from afar, but up close it was a dark dark dark smokey charcoal. the beauty, imo, was not that it had or had not a fancy grain(it didn't btw), but it was the depth of coloring, most evident in the knife samples..

if you're a grain man, then maybe this isn't the one, but looking at some image online and the libra cue i played with,,,it was the subtle coloring that struck me.
 
The weight problem is not that significant when used for pointwood and a buttsleeve. I haven't seen the guys I work with use it for a forearm. It appeals to me because what I have had is straight grained and dead black like premium ebony. Most people wouldn't know the difference. IMO, Lots of ebony available today is too brown or streaky. Severe checking and cracking can be a problem too. I don't mind some light streaking, but I do prefer ebony that is real black. Its part of the fun/risk of looking for, selecting, and buying ebony billets.

Martin


bruin70 said:
is it more playable as a nose or in prongs? i guess it could be cored, i guess.
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I dunno but striped ebony looks better to me as a forearm.
Blackwood looks great if it has inlays or points.
 
This is a chunk I got from Bell Forest...
________
 

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TellsItLikeItIs said:
To me, Blackwood should be black, same as you might see a Clarinet made from. I understand it's used to make other woodwind instruments
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not hijacking the thread, but Clarinets are most often made with Grenadillo wood,,,(was a band parent for years & still do a jam-up job of repairing clarinets)

bought some African blackwood and haven't yet decided where I plan to use it,,,have an idea Grenadillo might work in cues, too.....JMHO :confused:
 
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