What to do with my Brazilian rosewood???

Sorry, they are not done moving.
I've had a few run-ins with 2 by 2 BRW.
Most were re-claimed woods.
Most were crooked and off-grain.
That will still need to be looked at .
Good thing is it's large.
To cut a forearm piece, it will likely have to be sawn along the grain.

Send it to a maker of your choice and have him look at it.
He can then tell you what can be done with it.

I have pieces here that have to be sawed and cross-laminated and used as core wood.
Joey~Not watching grammar~

You should get in touch with Pete Tascarella

The first thing I would be sure of is that it's actually BRW. Not as easy a proposition as one might think.

I purchased some squares in the past and became suspicious when I turned a couple of them round as some did not smell the same as others and the density was way up there from one piece to the next. Plus they were visibly way different from each other.

I sent a sample in to the free USDA forest service identification service in Wisconsin indicating that I believed it to be BRW and it came back "Not Dalbergiia Swartzia sp." Which is the Katalox/Wamara family. Not a rosewood of any kind.

And the worst of it is, the piece I sent in wasn't even from the one that weighed 67 lbs per sq foot or the one that smelled like chicken shit when I cut it. It was one of them I was hoping was the real deal. God only knows what those other ones are.

There's a lot of money to be made faking expensive hardwoods apparently. Probably at the source in South America, not where I ultimately got it from.

I won't be in the market any time soon for any more magic beans, I'll tell you that.

JC

There are methods to determine what you have.

http://www.wood-database.com/wood-a...osewood-from-east-indian-and-other-rosewoods/

As Joey has stated, just because they are 50-70 yrs old is no guarantee that they are done moving.
They will still need to be turned over time. 2x2 is going to result in considerable waste/chips.

I'd call Bob Frey and perhaps send it to him. His cue expertise takes him back to the 80s working in Tim Scruggs's shop, along with Mike Cochran. No finer cue maker in my opinion.

Sending it to the cue maker of your choice is probably the best idea. I deeply regret selling my Brazilian Rosewood Varney a few months back but I needed the money. Keith Josey told me on FaceBook not long ago that Brazilian is very hard to come by anymore. When I got my Indian Rosewood Southwest many years ago, Laurie told me it was one of the last they would make, they couldn't get the wood anymore.

It is possible that we bought wood from the same source. I truly believe it is BRW. My piece is sitting in Mike Bender's shop along with some Cortland linen. Slowly but surely, Mike will turn my piece into a merry widow. Based on Mike's reaction to it, I would say he thinks it is BRW as well.

If you're thinking full splice, maybe Rounceville or Davis are options.....

Buy a cue shop and start turning those squares round. By the time you get them close to size you will have spent maybe a decade in your cue shop and will be ready to tackle that expensive exotic hardwood.

You will have spent about as much as you would have getting a cue from some of the makers mentioned. It will take years to get the wood ready so time would be the same too.

Sounds like we will be in Silent Running territory with fancy wood.

"In the future, all plant life on Earth has become extinct. A few specimens have been preserved in enormous, greenhouse-like geodesic domes attached to a fleet of American Airlines space freighters, currently just outside the orbit of Saturn. Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern), one of four crewmen aboard the Valley Forge, is the resident botanist and ecologist who carefully preserves a variety of plants for their eventual return to Earth and the reforestation of the planet. Lowell spends most of his time in the domes, both cultivating the crops and attending to the animal life.[1]

Orders come from Earth to jettison and destroy the domes (with nuclear charges) and return the freighters to commercial service."

If possible, Merry Widow. I have one as my main player and love it. The maker, well I'm partial as are most on here, talk to a few and ask lots of questions, read lots of reviews and go with the one that feels right

JC said:

The first thing I would be sure of is that it's actually BRW. Not as easy a proposition as one might think.

I purchased some squares in the past and became suspicious when I turned a couple of them round as some did not smell the same as others and the density was way up there from one piece to the next. Plus they were visibly way different from each other.

I sent a sample in to the free USDA forest service identification service in Wisconsin indicating that I believed it to be BRW and it came back "Not Dalbergiia Swartzia sp." Which is the Katalox/Wamara family. Not a rosewood of any kind.

And the worst of it is, the piece I sent in wasn't even from the one that weighed 67 lbs per sq foot or the one that smelled like chicken shit when I cut it. It was one of them I was hoping was the real deal. God only knows what those other ones are.

There's a lot of money to be made faking expensive hardwoods apparently. Probably at the source in South America, not where I ultimately got it from.

I won't be in the market any time soon for any more magic beans, I'll tell you that.

JC

Click to expand...

I will second that.

That begs a question. I was sold a cue blank that was Brazilian Rosewood. The grain was a dead ringer for it, tight and straight also. The color was that deep red that you expect.

Took a small pass on it, bright orange. Hello cocobolo!

Obviously, it is no longer 'untouched', but it is now clearly not BRW. Should the seller take it back?

PRED said:

Buy a cue shop and start turning those squares round. By the time you get them close to size you will have spent maybe a decade in your cue shop and will be ready to tackle that expensive exotic hardwood.

You will have spent about as much as you would have getting a cue from some of the makers mentioned. It will take years to get the wood ready so time would be the same too.

Click to expand...

I can't imagine why,,,,,,

MC is the only real issue here. There is a square to round process that should be followed but it doesn't require years to do.

ideologist said:

That begs a question. I was sold a cue blank that was Brazilian Rosewood. The grain was a dead ringer for it, tight and straight also. The color was that deep red that you expect.

Took a small pass on it, bright orange. Hello cocobolo!

Obviously, it is no longer 'untouched', but it is now clearly not BRW. Should the seller take it back?

Click to expand...

I've seen some BRW that had an orange hue to it. Cocobolo is usually very tightly grained (almost no visible pores) and oily, where BRW can be more porous and not as oily... especially when you're dealing with older stock where the oils have crystallized.

louieatienza said:

I've seen some BRW that had an orange hue to it. Cocobolo is usually very tightly grained (almost no visible pores) and oily, where BRW can be more porous and not as oily... especially when you're dealing with older stock where the oils have crystallized.

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And not to mention they smell completely different.

Baron said:

Both are very old (50-70 years old), *presumably* straight, and done moving due to their age.

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At least until you start cutting into it. RW is pretty stable, but you can never be too sure. My Hagan is solid RW straight through and I like it that way.

If you're not sure what you have, check with someone who can help you. The Nigra species has become increasingly difficult to come across in thicker sizes for cues and will continue to be even harder to acquire as the days pass.
There is a seller on the bay selling Brazilian Rosewood advertised as "much harder than oak" and seems to have an endless supply of straight grained, quarter sawn stock.
Dalbergia Spuceana is a very common swap and trade for the prized wood. Not as open pore on the end grain and doesn't have some of the colors that can be present in the BRW. But still a great cue wood.
After you've handled a certain amount of the dalbergia nigra you'll become increasingly familiar with all the distinct qualities that come with that species.
Smell when working with is probably the number one give away...but still not an absolute 100% tell tale. Grain pattern and a nice slice of the end grain to examine are big helpers also. Some of the older stock can look as colorful as a nice piece of Mexican cocobolo. I've seen some with reds, purples and orange hues that can radiate throughout. More common is the dark or chocolate brown that at times so dark it can have an almost black appearance until viewed in a bright light or natural sunlight setting. Spider web or landscape figure can be common in some of these pieces as well.
All in all a great cue wood with a non stop increasing value as the days go by.
Collect as many different dalbergia species as you can because it's soon to be over for these marvelous exotic species.
That's my blah blah blah and I'm sticking to it.

Baron said:

Thanks Dave, and to all the rest of you for your input. Dave, I sent you an email.

When I picked the blocks up a year or so ago I brought them to a friend who is a guitar builder and a very skilled luthier, who I would say knows his woods. He took a look at them and upon some examination and a smell test he told me he believed it to be the genuine article. This is not to say it's 100% confirmation or anything close, but I just thought I'd mention it.

This thread has taken on a life of its own in that everyone is now trying to tell me that this wood may not be what I believe it to be, which is of course appreciated - but I'd still like the input I actually solicited in the original post. ASSUMING this is the genuine article, what kind of cue do you have built and by whom?

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Full splice won't be an option unless it is the forearm wood.

24" is enough to do a forearm and buttsleeve

If the wood is handsome enough, get on someone's list and order a gorgeous plain jane.

There is enough waste wood on there to get pen blanks off of it, as well as point stock. Cut off everything aside from what is needed for the cue you want.