Cocobolo prices...

Inzombiac

Inzombiac

...
Silver Member
I don't make cues but I do know what I like wand what I'm gonna be asking my cue to be made out of. I love the way Cocobolo looks, but after looking it up, I've founf that the tree is in danger of extinction and is expensive. How much does Coccobolo raise the average cost to make a cue? Also, is there an alternative wood that looks near the same? The quality that I look for in a cue is the dark reddish hue like this beauty here:

attachment.php


Any help will be much appreciated :D
 
Cocos don't really cost that much.
Picking the ones with good grain is a must if not cored.
Keeping them straight if not cored takes time .
They do take a lot more labor to finish as they are acidic and do not hold finish well.
They are also very toxic ( their dust ) .
 
Inzombiac said:
I don't make cues but I do know what I like wand what I'm gonna be asking my cue to be made out of. I love the way Cocobolo looks, but after looking it up, I've founf that the tree is in danger of extinction and is expensive. How much does Coccobolo raise the average cost to make a cue? Also, is there an alternative wood that looks near the same? The quality that I look for in a cue is the dark reddish hue like this beauty here:

attachment.php


Any help will be much appreciated :D
Click to expand...

Depending on where you look it up at ....ALL trees are in danger of becoming extinct!
Here's a couple sites that may help.......

http://www.cocobolo.net/

This is one of best places I know to purchase coco......

http://www.anexotichardwood.com/

Good luck in your quest....
 
Inzombiac said:
I don't make cues but I do know what I like wand what I'm gonna be asking my cue to be made out of. I love the way Cocobolo looks, but after looking it up, I've founf that the tree is in danger of extinction and is expensive. How much does Coccobolo raise the average cost to make a cue? Also, is there an alternative wood that looks near the same? The quality that I look for in a cue is the dark reddish hue like this beauty here:

attachment.php


Any help will be much appreciated :D
Click to expand...

Wow, I guess all those cocobolo cues have finally taken their toll!:rolleyes:

Seriously, I think coco is one of the lesser expensive woods....you want to see expensive...check out the cost of Brazilian rosewood....if you can find it! It is so endangered, it can no longer be harvested. Pink Ivory is crazy expensive...more so than ivory for inlays. Snakewood is another pricey wood. I am sure I could think of a few others to add to the list, but cocobolo is definitely not one of them.

You should be just fine ordering yourself a cocobolo cue...and it should not cost you an arm and a leg to do so...unless you're gonna put a lot ivory inlays into it!;) :D

I like going to: www.gilmerwood.com to see different exotic woods in their 'raw' form, and to see what the pricing is like.

Lisa
 
BarenbruggeCues said:
Depending on where you look it up at ....ALL trees are in danger of becoming extinct!
Here's a couple sites that may help.......

http://www.cocobolo.net/

This is one of best places I know to purchase coco......

http://www.anexotichardwood.com/

Good luck in your quest....
Click to expand...

Flamewood from Asia is tooted as a substitute for Cocobolo but I don't think it looks as nice and the price isn't that much different. There are a couple importers who sell Cocobolo very reasonably but you can't see what you are buying so a lot of it does not have much figure which is what everyone wants. Paxton Woods, an exotic wood dealer here in Cincinnati has Cocobolo so that you can pick out your boards but they are about 4 times as expensive as buying from mail order. I always liked buying from Bell Forest as they posted pictures of the exact boards you were buying but they seem to have stopped that.

Dick
 
look at more than Wikipedia...

Inzombiac said:
I don't make cues but I do know what I like wand what I'm gonna be asking my cue to be made out of. I love the way Cocobolo looks, but after looking it up, I've founf that the tree is in danger of extinction and is expensive. How much does Coccobolo raise the average cost to make a cue? Also, is there an alternative wood that looks near the same? The quality that I look for in a cue is the dark reddish hue like this beauty here:

attachment.php


Any help will be much appreciated :D
Click to expand...

..and you will find only one species of Coco is even listed as threatened.
and this is the case with most every tropical exotic except maybe
Purpleheart

cost is moderate for an exotic, if you shop, you can find it for a bit
more than Indian Rosewood

Be advised, the red color you prefer is the hardest to find
Tropical hardwoods vary widely in color, grain patern, etc even
within the same species, and from the same location

Dale
 
ridewiththewind said:
Pink Ivory is crazy expensive...more so than ivory for inlays. Lisa
Click to expand...


Though pink ivory is an expensive wood, this is not true, far from it.

Kelly
 
Kelly_Guy said:
Though pink ivory is an expensive wood, this is not true, far from it.

Kelly
Click to expand...

I have been told by a cuemaker or two that pink ivory (in the desired vibrant shades) is the one of the rarest and most expensive woods on the planet, and the use of it in a cue can cost more than that of elephant ivory inlays.

Not trying to be contrary, just going off of what I have been told, by those I considered to know better than I.

Lisa
 
I have been told by a cuemaker or two that pink ivory (in the desired vibrant shades) is the one of the rarest and most expensive woods on the planet, and the use of it in a cue can cost more than that of elephant ivory INLAYS.

Could be. Ivory diamond inlays cost around 45-75 each inlay imo.
Curly pink ivory?
Oh, those will cost plenty. Much, much, much harder to find than ivory or good looking customers.
 

Attachments

  • Dscn1072.jpg
    Dscn1072.jpg
    58 KB · Views: 387
JoeyInCali said:
I have been told by a cuemaker or two that pink ivory (in the desired vibrant shades) is the one of the rarest and most expensive woods on the planet, and the use of it in a cue can cost more than that of elephant ivory INLAYS.

Could be. Ivory diamond inlays cost around 45-75 each inlay imo.
Curly pink ivory?
Oh, those will cost plenty. Much, much, much harder to find than ivory or good looking customers.
Click to expand...

You are right that an extraordinary piece of pink ivory can be very rare and very expensive but the same can be said of an extraordinary piece of Curly or Birdseye Maple or any number of woods. generally speaking, Pink Ivory, although not cheap is not that terribly expensive either. I bought a board of Pink Ivory 2X10X54" for 14.00 a b/ft about 12 years ago. It can be bought now on the Internet for less than 20.00 for a 1.5X1.5X12" right now.

Dick
 
ridewiththewind said:
I have been told by a cuemaker or two that pink ivory (in the desired vibrant shades) is the one of the rarest and most expensive woods on the planet, and the use of it in a cue can cost more than that of elephant ivory inlays.

Not trying to be contrary, just going off of what I have been told, by those I considered to know better than I.

Lisa
Click to expand...

It is certainly one of the most expensive woods, but not anywhere close to ivory.

Here is a listing on ebay by Bell Forest for full size pink ivory squares.

http://cgi.ebay.com/PINK-IVORY-EXOTIC-WOOD-TURNING-LUMBER-1-5-x-18_W0QQitemZ130024024709QQihZ003QQcategoryZ71235QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

$37 dollars after shipping, 31 available. One square sure would be a lot of inlay material for a lot of cues. An 18"x1.5"x1.5" ivory tusk, same amount of material would be $1000++.

Joey makes a good point about how rare curly pink ivory is. Good pink ivory is harder to find than ivory material, and good curly pink ivory (maybe $100+ versus $37) certainly is hard to fine, but the cost of the material is no where near the cost of ivory.

Kelly
 
rhncue said:
You are right that an extraordinary piece of pink ivory can be very rare and very expensive but the same can be said of an extraordinary piece of Curly or Birdseye Maple or any number of woods. generally speaking, Pink Ivory, although not cheap is not that terribly expensive either. I bought a board of Pink Ivory 2X10X54" for 14.00 a b/ft about 12 years ago. It can be bought now on the Internet for less than 20.00 for a 1.5X1.5X12" right now.

Dick
Click to expand...
Good ones Dick?
I sure would like to stock some now.
There are other expensive woods of course.
Braz Rosewood and snakewood.
Some sleeper woods that cost a lot too like Pernambuco or curly koa.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Oh, those will cost plenty. Much, much, much harder to find than ivory or good looking customers.
Click to expand...

You mean stuff like this?

parts.jpg


Sorry Scott... I couldn't help myself.

JWP
 
PetreeCues said:
You mean stuff like this?

parts.jpg


Sorry Scott... I couldn't help myself.

JWP
Click to expand...

Clearly the product of a future master cuemaker. :p :D :p

<EDIT> It has come to my attention this post may be misinterpreted. For the record, I recognized the piece and knew who made it (I can say that now that Petree has said he didn't make the component) and I was giving my vote of confidence to the person who made it and its apparent quality. <END EDIT>
 
Last edited:
Inzombiac said:
What makes the color like that?
Click to expand...

If you are talking about the red/pink, it is the natural color of the pink ivory wood. The forearm looks like it might be moistened...could be just the camera.

Kelly
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top