"African" Rosewood - anyone used it?

PeteC

Hi All, 

picked up a nice 8ft length (4x2in) of quarter sawn African Rosewood today on impulse while shopping at the hardwood supplier!

I fancy building a few solid Rosewood necks from it - especially as I miss the McCarty Rosie that I sold on a few years back which had a very nice solid RW neck. 

It doesn't look like bubinga or similar ( which some internet folk argue it is ) - more like a pinkish mahogany. Quite dense. 

Anyone have any experience of this species for necks? 

cheers
Pete

WezV

I would describe bubinga as a pinkish  mahogany that is quite dense, but it darkens to a brick orange

I do have some "Namibian Rosewood" here I haven't used yet, that is definietly pinker than bubinga.

Both are the same family,  Fabaceae

PeteC

Thanks @WezV      The Bubinga they had in the racks at the yard looked different to this stuff.   I will make up a neck with it and see how it goes.   Looks like lovely stuff.   I’ve got about 5 different necks on the go in various stages of construction at the moment so I will park some of them and use this for the next properly finished neck.  I’ll post some pics as I get round to it. 

Cheers 

Kittyfrisk

WezV said:

I would describe bubinga as a pinkish  mahogany that is quite dense, but it darkens to a brick orange

I do have some "Namibian Rosewood" here I haven't used yet, that is definietly pinker than bubinga.

Both are the same family,  Fabaceae

I love that you can make a guitar from beans these days.

WezV

hmm, wonder if you can get Bubinga beans???

I should have said they were the same Genus of  Guibourtia to narrow it down a bit.  Essentially, they are closely related so I expect working properties to be similar... bloody hard to carve and will blunt edge tools quickly

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The only true rosewood is from  the genus Dalbergia , a member of the pea family . The only true rosewood found in  Africa comes from  Madagascar. After years of  over logging , its  export was  band about 12 years ago. So it is probably not rosewood. If you really fancy a rosewood neck . I  would ask your suplier if he knows what  he has  sold you.  The name rosewood is used because of  its  distinctive rose like smell  when worked .  Personally , all the rosewoods I have worked  smells more like  chocolate.  But, the smell is a better way of identifying it , rather than the  colour. 

Kittyfrisk

Jests aside, it's an interesting subject. This is about as concise & as comprehensive as I'd have typed out 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosewood

elstoof

Isn’t Fabercheae the gold egg company

WezV

more said:

The only true rosewood is from  the genus Dalbergia , a member of the pea family . The only true rosewood found in  Africa comes from  Madagascar. After years of  over logging , its  export was  band about 12 years ago. So it is probably not rosewood. If you really fancy a rosewood neck . I  would ask your suplier if he knows what  he has  sold you.  The name rosewood is used because of  its  distinctive rose like smell  when worked .  Personally , all the rosewoods I have worked  smells more like  chocolate.  But, the smell is a better way of identifying it , rather than the  colour. 

This isn't even wood that can pass for rosewood.  Its dense, but not dark.   No one is claiming it is a dalbergia by calling it a rosewood.  

Sometimes the naming conventions have more to do with the way a tree looks than the lumber it produces.   A good example of this is all the Australian trees that  ended up with European tree names despite being totally different species

WezV

This is my plank of Namibian Rosewood

PeteC

Here is a pic of my board of “African Rosewood”  - sorry its not a great shot but might be identifiable 
https://i.imgur.com/TMC0vNp.jpg 

I’ll try get one in daylight later. 

PeteC

Looking at more pics on the net I am
starting to think its likely to be straight grained Bubinga - might make a nice neck laminated with maple
and some wenge perhaps - but how would It be for a solid neck if it is Bubinga ? 

WezV

that reminds me more of "African Teak", which can be applied to very different woods like Iroko, or Afromosia.   Your pic is not unlike Iroko

PeteC

Hoping its not Iroko!  Live and learn….

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WezV said:

more said:

The only true rosewood is from  the genus Dalbergia , a member of the pea family . The only true rosewood found in  Africa comes from  Madagascar. After years of  over logging , its  export was  band about 12 years ago. So it is probably not rosewood. If you really fancy a rosewood neck . I  would ask your suplier if he knows what  he has  sold you.  The name rosewood is used because of  its  distinctive rose like smell  when worked .  Personally , all the rosewoods I have worked  smells more like  chocolate.  But, the smell is a better way of identifying it , rather than the  colour. 

This isn't even wood that can pass for rosewood.  Its dense, but not dark.   No one is claiming it is a dalbergia by calling it a rosewood.  

Sometimes the naming conventions have more to do with the way a tree looks than the lumber it produces.   A good example of this is all the Australian trees that  ended up with European tree names despite being totally different species

 I don't understand the point you are  making .  Personally, if I bought a guitar that was advertised as being rosewood, and it  turn out to be made of  Namibian rosewood , I would ask for my money back . 

WezV

more said:

WezV said:

more said:

The only true rosewood is from  the genus Dalbergia , a member of the pea family . The only true rosewood found in  Africa comes from  Madagascar. After years of  over logging , its  export was  band about 12 years ago. So it is probably not rosewood. If you really fancy a rosewood neck . I  would ask your suplier if he knows what  he has  sold you.  The name rosewood is used because of  its  distinctive rose like smell  when worked .  Personally , all the rosewoods I have worked  smells more like  chocolate.  But, the smell is a better way of identifying it , rather than the  colour. 

This isn't even wood that can pass for rosewood.  Its dense, but not dark.   No one is claiming it is a dalbergia by calling it a rosewood.  

Sometimes the naming conventions have more to do with the way a tree looks than the lumber it produces.   A good example of this is all the Australian trees that  ended up with European tree names despite being totally different species

 I don't understand the point you are  making .  Personally, if I bought a guitar that was advertised as being rosewood, and it  turn out to be made of  Namibian rosewood , I would ask for my money back . 

That there are some generic wood names that are commonly used far beyond their actual core species. 

It can sometimes have little to do with the actual wood  let alone colour, density or smell  

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WezV said:

more said:

WezV said:

more said:

The only true rosewood is from  the genus Dalbergia , a member of the pea family . The only true rosewood found in  Africa comes from  Madagascar. After years of  over logging , its  export was  band about 12 years ago. So it is probably not rosewood. If you really fancy a rosewood neck . I  would ask your suplier if he knows what  he has  sold you.  The name rosewood is used because of  its  distinctive rose like smell  when worked .  Personally , all the rosewoods I have worked  smells more like  chocolate.  But, the smell is a better way of identifying it , rather than the  colour. 

This isn't even wood that can pass for rosewood.  Its dense, but not dark.   No one is claiming it is a dalbergia by calling it a rosewood.  

Sometimes the naming conventions have more to do with the way a tree looks than the lumber it produces.   A good example of this is all the Australian trees that  ended up with European tree names despite being totally different species

 I don't understand the point you are  making .  Personally, if I bought a guitar that was advertised as being rosewood, and it  turn out to be made of  Namibian rosewood , I would ask for my money back . 

That there are some generic wood names that are commonly used far beyond their actual core species. 

It can sometimes have little to do with the actual wood  let alone colour, density or smell  

I do understand that ,  Mahogany is a good example of a  generic name . There is no such thing as a  Mahogany tree . That is not true of all wood. Ebony ,maple ,cedar and rosewood , to   name  just a few, are products of a tree that  have the name of the wood  . Indian rosewood is the most common wood in guitar making , it grow fast and is sometimes known  locally as Shisham, it is also know as   rosewood .  The  wood you  have is found in all of the southern end of Africa. It is locally known as Copalwood , machibi ,and bubinga . When worked, It  has  the  smell of menthol . It only becomes rosewood when sold outside of Africa and is not rosewood.   

WezV

I agree... mostly

You have to distinguish between lazy trade names and actual wood species.... but the lazy trade names persist.

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WezV said:

I agree... mostly

You have to distinguish between lazy trade names and actual wood species.... but the lazy trade names persist.

So If it is Bubinga  The trees are big , 150 foot tall and  can be over 6 foot across . The hart wood can be a completely different colour to the sapwood . Relatively easy to work , but it has a high  silica content and will blunt tools quickly.  There are a number of different  verities and some have a high oil content , making it difficult to glue. 

PeteC

Interesting.  Further digging also makes me wonder if what i have is Etimoe. 

Anyway i plan to call the merchants (Duffield Timber) on Monday to see if thay can confirm what species it actually is.   

BillDL

Listen carefully just in case "Jacaranda" happens to be mentioned when you phone the lumber yard.  Some people call Brazilian Rosewood Jacaranda.  This is confusing, because the flowering Jacaranda tree (Jacaranda acutifolia or mimosifolia) is also native to South America but is now found worldwide - particularly in Africa, Australia and many of the warmer areas of America.  I assume the lumber yard knows their woods well enough not to be confused into calling Jacaranda wood Rosewood, but you never know.  The wood from a Jacaranda tree is usually much lighter coloured and softer than you are describing though, and has a grain that is reminiscent of cheap teak substitutes.