Let's talk rosewood

nineballsafety8

nineballsafety8

6ft 5" 285, hits 'em hard
Silver Member
I have always been a fan of rosewood, but it seems that there are several species, and I was just curious as to what some of the differences are.

Specifically, I was curious as to why the Brazilian stuff brings such a high cost, and desire. Personally I have never hit with a cue that had Brazilian in it, but I am rather partial to the East Indian variety :D

Plays great, and is damm pretty
 
whammo57 said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalbergia

this site lists over 100 rose woods..............

BTW.... I think brazillian rose wood is the ugliest of them all........... there are many very pretty rose woods to choose from...........

Kim
Click to expand...
Madagascar and Honduran have nothing over Brazilian.
Brazilian is the king of rosewoods. Just the right density and tone.
Bois de rose is absolutely the ugliest of all . Bleeds like a tomato can and turns red/black later .
 
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"Bois de rose is absolutely the ugliest of all."

Yes, just incredibly ugly.
Can you imagine building a cue with such visually offensive wood. YEOW!
I should probably send them back or put them on eBay.
Bois W26210.jpg

Bois W26211.jpg

bois-W26673.jpg

Now to address the OP. Brazilian is one of the best but after that it gets subjective.
East Indian is highly overrated IMO. I haven't seen a piece that got me excited in over 10 yrs.
In a cost comparison, E.I. is 1/10th the cost of BRW and that's on a good day.
Reason being, one's extinct and the other is plentiful (cheap).
There may have been a time when E.I. was a better example of a Rosewood than what it is today; at least I hope so.

You've touched on a topic/subject that could be discussed for months. I hope that it is.
I was told at one time that there are 173+/- known Rosewoods. About the same for recognized religions.
I learned today from following a link that not all Dalbergia is Rosewood. Some of that genus is not.
As far as I'm concerned, this thread has already proven to be productive. Thanx Jay.

KJ
 
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I really like rosewoods but they don't like me, so I stay away from them.
Wood grain is a very personal view. What is beauty to one can be ugly to another,but beauty can be found in all.
Neil
 
KJ Cues said:
"Bois de rose is absolutely the ugliest of all."

Yes, just incredibly ugly.
Can you imagine building a cue with such visually offensive wood. YEOW!
I should probably send them back or put them on eBay.
View attachment 369547

View attachment 369548

View attachment 369549

Now to address the OP. Brazilian is one of the best but after that it gets subjective.
East Indian is highly overrated IMO. I haven't seen a piece that got me excited in over 10 yrs.
In a cost comparison, E.I. is 1/10th the cost of BRW and that's on a good day.
Reason being, one's extinct and the other is plentiful (cheap).
There may have been a time when E.I. was a better example of a Rosewood than what it is today; at least I hope so.

You've touched on a topic/subject that could be discussed for months. I hope that it is.
I was told at one time that there are 173+/- known Rosewoods. About the same for recognized religions.
I learned today from following a link that not all Dalbergia is Rosewood. Some of that genus is not.
As far as I'm concerned, this thread has already proven to be productive. Thanx Jay.

KJ
Click to expand...
To me, they look like contaminated steak. :grin:
They just bleed, bleed, bleed and bleed some more .
My late mentor worked on one and he just kept replacing the cloth with acetone overnight over and over again.
Cocobolo is bad enough.
I'll find some camatillo instead of those. :D
 
Perhaps you'd prefer range-fed Angus.

BrR-02.JPG

BrR-03.JPG

Pics borrowed without permission though I may own those pcs.
 
whammo57 said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalbergia

this site lists over 100 rose woods..............

BTW.... I think brazillian rose wood is the ugliest of them all........... there are many very pretty rose woods to choose from...........

Kim
Click to expand...

I too believe BRW is over rated and too expensive for what you get.

I core my cues and what ever tonality this wood may offer is off the table with a .750 laminated maple center dowel. I am also not a big fan of cues that ping high pitched and prefer a lower frequency of tonality that a maple shaft and maple doweled cue represents concerning feedback to the player.

As far a beautiful figure there are many rosewoods that are much nicer than 95% of the BRW I have seen but beauty is alway in the eyes of a beholder.


JMO,

Rick
 
scdiveteam said:
I too believe BRW is over rated and too expensive for what you get.

I core my cues and what ever tonality this wood may offer is off the table with a .750 laminated maple center dowel. I am also not a big fan of cues that ping high pitched and prefer a lower frequency of tonality that a maple shaft and maple doweled cue represents concerning feedback to the player.

As far a beautiful figure there are many rosewoods that are much nicer than 95% of the BRW I have seen but beauty is alway in the eyes of a beholder.


JMO,

Rick
Click to expand...
Coring Brazilian rosewood with plywood should be a felony.

p.s.If you've only seen crotch wood BRW, you haven't seen the real good ones.
 
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scdiveteam said:
I too believe BRW is over rated and too expensive for what you get...............
JMO,

Rick
Click to expand...


That's a main reason why many makers stopped using it in the late 80's and 90's... The good stuff was just to hard to find and expensive for what you received... Sort of similar to what's starting to happen with ebony...
 
JoeyInCali said:
Coring Brazilian rosewood with plywood should be a felony.

p.s.If you've only seen crotch wood BRW, you haven't seen the real good ones.
Click to expand...

Joey hits the nail on the head again.

As to Brazilian - it has been illegal to import for decades AND - there is significant
use in other areas. Can you say guitar? Soooooo, you don't see much of
the good stuff... Duh.

On a related note- due to the fact that no one took me up on my full splice jig
offer - I will now, for a mere $1000 plus expenses, come to any cuemakers
home and explain the Law of Supply and Demand.

Dale(have textbook, will travel)
 
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pdcue said:
Joey hits the nail on the head again.

As to Brazilian - it has been illegal to import for decades AND - there is significant
use in other areas. Can you say guitar? Soooooo, you don't see much of
the good stuff... Duh.

On a related note- due to the fact that no one took me up on my full splice jig
offer - I will now, for a mere $1000 plus expenses, come to any cuemakers
home and explain the Law of Supply and Demand.

Dale(have textbook, will travel)
Click to expand...

Regardless of supply and demand, quality BRW for use in small objects like pool cues ( with tight intricate grain patterns ) had been over farmed a long time ago and hasn't been available for any product including guitars not to mention the legalities of importing...

Skins --------- will put his $1,000 to better use...:wink:
 
skins said:
Regardless of supply and demand, quality BRW for use in small objects like pool cues ( with tight intricate grain patterns ) had been over farmed a long time ago and hasn't been available for any product including guitars not to mention the legalities of importing...

Skins --------- will put his $1,000 to better use...:wink:
Click to expand...

You NEED the explanation.

Your comments indicate a perfect example of the LoSaD.

Unlike the speed limit, you can't outrun the Law of Supply and Demand - no matter
how much you wish it didn't apply to you.

Same same for the concepts of Probability - which most pool players seem to think
don't apply to pool.

Dale(no mercy, no discounts)
 
pdcue said:
You NEED the explanation.

Your comments indicate a perfect example of the LoSaD.

Unlike the speed limit, you can't outrun the Law of Supply and Demand - no matter
how much you wish it didn't apply to you.

Same same for the concepts of Probability - which most pool players seem to think
don't apply to pool.

Dale(no mercy, no discounts)
Click to expand...

ok....let me put it another way, the demand is not there because of the supply... That was my point. You can want but "probability" say's you can't have..It's not worth it to search..That's what Bill Schick told me was the issue in the late 80's... The "good" stuff just ain't out there for pool cues. Not because someone else has it. It's just not available..

Skins ----------still has some killer BRW..;)
 
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