Laos rosewood

Dave38

Dave38

theemperorhasnoclotheson
Silver Member
Has anyone used or heard of Laos rosewood?? I bought some from a supplier and love the figuire and the weight of it, but can't find any real info on it. It seems to be a dense, almost brittle hardwood. 2 pieces I bought do have some large splits in them, but I can use them for inlay, or other uses. Is it prone to moving or splitting, or should it be cored? Any help appreciated.
Dave
 
Laos rosewood is a generic term used to label several different species of rosewood that grow in the area. Do you have a picture?
 
Dave38 said:
If it helps, Here are some pics of a couple of the pieces I have.

Dave
Click to expand...

A good example of how big the family of rosewoods are. How do they know who;s who at thanksgiving??
 
It's kam-phi rosewood. Those particular pieces are not the best examples of the wood but do show some interesting grain. Looks like limb wood. Most of the kam-phi I have ever had is very tight grain & relatively straight grain, pretty boring stuff. I have plenty just like these pieces, though. I use pieces like this for points & sleeves. The straight, tight grain stuff is excellent cue stock. Tricky during turning as it'll warp if not properly cured (common issue), but once cured its outstanding stuff. Of my favorite cue woods, it ranks at the top with only a few others, of which one is another Laos rosewood. I don't core these woods. Resonance blows brazilian rosewood out of the water.

It smells kinda like pumkin pie when cutting, and usually cuts very, very smooth with a waxy smooth texture. I have had mixed info on the stuff but have been told that it is only legal to harvest from already dead & downed trees that have been down for at least a certain number of years. The loggers have to prove it before they can legally harvest it. This is what makes it virtually unknown and relatively tough to get.
 
Laos Rosewood

True Laos Rosewood (dalbergia cultrate) while grown in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand is as close to Brazilian Rosewood (dalbergia nigrate) as you can get, even though they are from different continents. Of course, BRW is the mother of all woods for cues, guitars, wind instruments and furniture. BRW and Laos rosewoods are two of the few woods I usually do not core. Hard to improve on perfection.

Bob Flynn
Denali Pool Cues
 
Interesting thread topic. Never heard of Laos Rosewood...and I am a rosewood fan.

I am a bit curious as to it's comparison to Brazilian. It was my impression, and perhaps wrongfully so, that Bois de Rose/Madagascar Rosewood was the next best thing to Brazilian. It is certainly, aesthetically, my favorite of the rosewoods. Love that deep burgundy color! And it has a chatoyance that is incredible...at least the examples I have seen do.

I am beginning to think about the wood combo for my next cue...down the line a bit...and thought that a BdR butt, Tulipwood nose (full splice w/veneers) would make for a great feeling cue. Also, there is something kinda Zen about a cue with BdR back (Madagascar rosewood - USA) to a BdR front (Tulipwood - France). To clarify that a little...here in the US, we call Madagascar Rosewood Bois de Rose, in France, Tulipwood is called Bois de Rose...both true rosewoods.

Lisa
 
Bois de Rose is not technically Madagascar Rosewood.it is a wood from Madagascar but there is more than one.there are many Rosewoods out there and a few that are better than Brazilian for resonance.as eric said the Kam-Phi blows it out of the water.i haven't tried it but i believe him.Brazilian isn't what it was 30-40 years ago and even when it is at its best there are plenty of Rosewoods that rival it or exceed it.Cocobolo is better than current Brazilian and compares favorably to the old Brazilian:Madagascar,Honduran,Santos or Plaisander,Cambodian,Kam-Phi,etc.Brazilian is not the best as some wood distributors would have you believe.they make lots of money on Brazilian b/c guitar sets go for $1000 and cue blanks go for $60.
 
masonh said:
Bois de Rose is not technically Madagascar Rosewood.it is a wood from Madagascar but there is more than one.there are many Rosewoods out there and a few that are better than Brazilian for resonance.as eric said the Kam-Phi blows it out of the water.i haven't tried it but i believe him.Brazilian isn't what it was 30-40 years ago and even when it is at its best there are plenty of Rosewoods that rival it or exceed it.Cocobolo is better than current Brazilian and compares favorably to the old Brazilian:Madagascar,Honduran,Santos or Plaisander,Cambodian,Kam-Phi,etc.Brazilian is not the best as some wood distributors would have you believe.they make lots of money on Brazilian b/c guitar sets go for $1000 and cue blanks go for $60.
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Bois de Rose is a sub-species of Madagascar rosewood....at least that is what the information I have read indicates. And, when I have asked for BdR from a cuemaker, and he has responded with Mad rosewood, it was was classic BdR in color and other characteristics. Now, it is true that Mad rosewood can run the spectrum in colors from that which could be more characteristic of a lighter brown Indian, to that dark black cherry color of dark BdR.

I would be curious, however, to read the info that you have on Mad rosewood..particularly with respect to BdR.

I do know that it is a bloody mess to work with, and for that reason alone, a lot of cuemakers will not work with it. But I can think of one cuemaker who rates BdR in the top 3 cue woods for playability....Brazilian, Ebony, and BdR.

Love these types of threads, as I am always eager to expand my knowledge. :)

Below is a larger pic of a BdR cue in progress...for reference.

Lisa
 

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BDR is madagascar rosewood in my books. There are a few varieties though.
BDR is the tomato can madagascar rosewood. Bleeds like a white heavyweight.
 
JoeyInCali said:
BDR is madagascar rosewood in my books. There are a few varieties though.
BDR is the tomato can madagascar rosewood. Bleeds like a white heavyweight.
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I like that description, Joey! If you look closely at the pic I posted, you can actually see the 'drops of blood' in this cuemaker's otherwise pristine looking shop. :) Luckily it's on a 'drop sheet' of sorts. ;) :D

Lisa
 
ridewiththewind said:
I like that description, Joey! If you look closely at the pic I posted, you can actually see the 'drops of blood' in this cuemaker's otherwise pristine looking shop. :) Luckily it's on a 'drop sheet' of sorts. ;) :D

Lisa
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Wow!
It took a lot of work and clean air keeping those veneers looking like that next to bdr. Dear lord, that wood bleeds. It turns red to brown as you're looking at it.
 
Lol! Okay, since I could not resist...here's a larger pic of the same cue a bit further along. :D The plan is for this cue to be completed with a hand-rubbed finish. :)

Lisa
 

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Madagascar has numerous rosewood species, and three are pretty common. The most commonly compared to Braz is palisander, a madagascar rosewood that looks nearly identical to Braz rose & is about the same weight/density with similar tonal characteristics. It is not bois de rose but is also a madagascar rosewood.

Many of the east African & Asian areas have countless rosewood species & sub-species. Look at East Indian rosewood. It's all sold as EIR but there are numerous types, the most common being the deep purple stuff. I have some that is nearly identical to bois de rose, except came from India, which is only approx. 300 miles from Madagascar. In SE Asia, each island has it's own twist of rosewoods. Of all the different rosewoods that come from central & south America, why would the other side of the pond be any different? We as cuemakers only know the most commonly commercial cut lumbers, but there are many, many more lesser known species than we see in the market. All are great cue woods.
 
qbilder said:
Madagascar has numerous rosewood species, and three are pretty common. The most commonly compared to Braz is palisander, a madagascar rosewood that looks nearly identical to Braz rose & is about the same weight/density with similar tonal characteristics. It is not bois de rose but is also a madagascar rosewood.

Many of the east African & Asian areas have countless rosewood species & sub-species. Look at East Indian rosewood. It's all sold as EIR but there are numerous types, the most common being the deep purple stuff. I have some that is nearly identical to bois de rose, except came from India, which is only approx. 300 miles from Madagascar. In SE Asia, each island has it's own twist of rosewoods. Of all the different rosewoods that come from central & south America, why would the other side of the pond be any different? We as cuemakers only know the most commonly commercial cut lumbers, but there are many, many more lesser known species than we see in the market. All are great cue woods.
Click to expand...

Ooooooo....I would love to see a pic of some of that deep purple East Indian that looks like BdR! :D

I am also aware of Palisander, and agree, it does look very much like Brazilian, in the examples I have seen...and would make a suitable substitute for someone looking for that old Brazilian look.

While I would love to have a Brazilian rosewood cue, being somewhat picky, it would require me to do a certain amount of beggin' and bribin' in order to get a piece of a certain cuemaker's 50 year old stock...and no guarantee that that would work either...Lol. :rolleyes: :)

Ah well....I got a piece of his small Bdr stock, so I am happy. :D

Lisa
 
While I would love to have a Brazilian rosewood cue, being somewhat picky, it would require me to do a certain amount of beggin' and bribin' in order to get a piece of a certain cuemaker's 50 year old stock...and no guarantee that that would work either...Lol. :rolleyes: :)
IMG_0617.jpg

bribing works.
 
Thanks to everyone who responded, it's been an educational thread. The pieces I bought are from a wood supplier but he has only 12" pieces. I personally like the tonal ring to these, they seem to be very dense and hard, but machine great. A few of these are very straight grained and as Qbuilder stated, boring as compared to the more figuered pieces. I will definetley be working these soon for forearms, etc.
Dave
 
ridewiththewind said:
Ooooooo....I would love to see a pic of some of that deep purple East Indian that looks like BdR! :D
Click to expand...

First pic is of east Indian rosewood forearms. Top is the burgundy type that is nearly identical to BDR, then the common dark purple and bottom is a type very similar to bolivian rosewood.
eir.jpg


Next pic is of the two types of Laosian rosewoods I have. They have two different names, too. The bottom wood is kam-phi. The top i'm not giving up.
laos.jpg


Last pic is of brown hardwoods that ALL could pass as braz rosewood, and not all of them are even rosewoods.
brown.jpg

From top: brazilian ebony, cocobolo, east indian rosewood, morado (bolivian rosewood), texas ebony, brazilian rosewood, palisander(madagascar rosewood), kingwood, hawaiian koa.

Not so easy to pick out the real braz rosewood, huh? The majority, in my experience, are superior cue woods to braz rosewood. I have some great braz rosewoods, but for the most part there's nothing special about it besides it's rarity & prestige. It's just another brown wood.
 
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