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Ebony - Black & White Lumber @ Rare Woods USA

More commonly known as "Pale Moon Ebony" to US guitar luthiers and aficionados, this Southeast Asian true Diospyros ebony is, without question, the world's most difficult, perplexing exotic wood and at times, one of its most visually stunning. (It's also one of its most sought-after.) The wood is known for the bold jet black ink lines which adorn its creamy, pale yellow base. Both the volume and pattern of its lines are unpredictable, varying greatly from piece to piece. Grains can be straight, wavy or irregular; its texture is fine, with a nice natural luster. Its hardness and density are quite moderate for an ebony.After being harvested or re-sawn, the wood exhibits a strong tendency to self-destruct -- often changing shape, cracking and checking -- if not quickly coated in wax. Although it's not currently viewed as endangered, the wood has always been in short supply in the US, despite an unquenchable demand from custom guitar builders and wood enthusiasts, alike. Other than the difficulties in drying, it has good working properties; it machines, turns, glues and finishes well.Because of its noted self-destructive tendencies, the wood is coated in wax almost immediately after being harvested. Given this, what little makes it to the US market arrives with very high moisture levels, necessitating further drying. (This is where it gets tricky.) Experience has shown that the best drying results are obtained by leaving the wood coated in wax and just patiently allowing it to air dry. Any attempts to speed up this process are very risky as the wood usually winds up punishing the impatient! Even when dried very slowly, the wood can still change shape. It's not unusual, at all, to find pieces with major surface checks and cracks that occur even while under wax. For this reason, you see significantly more craft-sized pieces than larger, resawable boards (which typically command a premium price). Recutting boards will speed up the drying process, but attentive care must be taken to prevent warpage of the cut pieces. Importation to the US has been through very limited, select channels on an irregular basis for a number of years.This wood is most always in short supply, while the demand remains constant. Rare Woods USA is very pleased to be able to offer a limited amount of larger boards and billets of this spectacular exotic wood. Lumber orders to Southeast Asia can sometimes take 12 to 18 months or more to fill, ship and receive. With the recent banning of rosewood and ebony exportation by the Laotian government, we're not sure how soon we'll be able to restock (if at all). For the last several years, US importation of Black & White Ebony has been exclusively from Laos.

cabinetry, carving, furniture, inlay, lutherie, specialty items, trim, turnings

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Elm - Red

Once a great American utility-wood stable, obtaining long boards of American Elm, presently, can prove to be a most difficult task. Elm's heartwood colors range from a muted tan, to light to medium reddish brown. Its sapwood is easy to distinguish, being considerably paler in color. Recommended applications are those of a utilitarian nature, and preferably indoors; the wood has proven itself to be decidedly "non-durable," and is known to possess poor dimensional stability. Its grains are typically interlocked and its texture is coarse. Although it glues, stains and finishes well, its diffult grains and texture makes resawing a difficult chore, with tearout not uncommon.

boxmaking, furniture, veneer

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Ash - American

Along with Hickory and Oak, Ash is one of the most commonly used utility woods in the US and is native to Eastern and¬† Central North America. It's toughness and excellent shock resistance, makes it a popular choice for tool handles, baseball bats, furniture and flooring Grains are typically straight, and its coarse texture has drawn comparisons to that of Oak. Combined with its modest price, White Ash's easy working properties, generally light overall color and good gluing and finishing characteristics make it a popular wood for a variety of practical and utility applications.

boxmaking, flooring, turnings

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Berlinia

Known in the US, primarily as either "Ebiara" or, its nickname, "Red Zebrawood," Berlinia's heartwood can range anywhere from a pale yellow to a (more typical) muted reddish-brown. Darker colored stripes in patterns (which can be symmetrical or irregular) are how the comparisons to Zebrano are drawn, although they are related: each of their respective genera are part of the Detarieae tribe, in the subfamily, Caesalpinioideae.Grains are general straight or interlocked. Although its texture is medium to coarse, it has a high degree of natural luster and can display figure and chatoyance. It works well -- cutting, turning, gluing and finishing smoothly -- although tear-out with interlocked grains is not uncommon.

cabinetry, furniture, specialty items, turnings, veneer

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Bocote

With colors ranging from its typically golden brown base, to its dark brown and black striped accents, the surface of Bocote is perhaps best known for the many tiny "eyes" adorning the grain patterns of the highly-decorated, more visually stunning examples of the species. (These eyes are not to be confused with knots, as they pose no issues when machining.) The striking aesthetics that higher-grade pieces possess, make this wood coveted among furniture and cabinet craftsmen, as well as both acoustic and electric guitar luthiers.Despite its oily nature, Bocote is surprisingly cooperative when gluing. It also turns and finishes well, although certain pieces may contain varying degrees of silica, which can dull blades when cutting. Sometimes the heartwood base can be a bright but muted orange in pieces grown south of Mexico.

boatbuilding, cabinetry, fine furniture, flooring, gun stocks, specialty items, turnings, veneer

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Boire

Boire is known throughout Africa to be a tough, durable wood, despite it's Maple-like density. It is reputed to remain smooth under friction, which makes it ideally suited for its primary use in flooring. The sapwood of Boire is pale brown in color; its heartwood is typically medium brown to bronze, with dark streaks (and sometimes other hues, such as oranges and yellows, intermingled). The species has interlocked grain, and fine and uniform in texture. Other than the tear-out commonly associated with interlocking grains, the wood has good working properties.This is not an exotic wood which has a boatload of information available with regard to it. Most all of the major US flooring websites that offer this wood share the exact same descriptions and specs, obviously copied one from another. In it, they list its Janka Hardness rating as 940 lbf. Conversely, Ken Goldstein's 2009 "Janka Hardness Test For Hardwoods" (http://ejmas.com/tin/2009tin/tinart_goldstein_0904.html) shows Boire having measured at 1326 lbf. Perhaps its density varies greatly, as the latter figure (1326) represents more than a 40% increase over the figure commonly given by US flooring industry sources.

cabinetry, construction, flooring, furniture, gun stocks, joinery, veneer

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Bubinga

As most of you already know, this is an extremely popular African import. Found across equatorial Africa, there are multiple species of the Guibourtia genus that are known as Bubinga, so colors and aesthetics can vary dramatically. A variety of different, quite stunning figures often decorate its grains (pommelle, waterfall, mottled and wildly flamed). The base color of Bubinga can range from a lighter pinkish red to light- to medium-brown. Trees can grow to towering proportions, so the larger specimens are often cut into large, live-edge slabs.Bubinga is well known for its use as a Rosewood substitute. Ironically, the more strikingly figured examples of Bubinga with pommelle or waterfall figuring can fetch prices greatly eclipsing typical rosewood price thresholds. This wood has become hugely popular and is constantly in demand with veneer mills & furniture craftsmen who love building desks and conference tables with the often stunning, huge slabs and progressive guitar luthiers.Its nickname, "African Rosewood," can be very misleading, as the wood is not of the Dalbergia species, and not all wood sold as "African Rosewood" is Bubinga (or is even of the Guibourtia species).

cabinetry, fine furniture, inlay, specialty items, turnings, veneer

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Butternut

Known commonly by its nickname, "White Walnut" (a nickname which is well earned, as it is a member of the true walnut genus, Juglans), Butternut is considerably lighter and less dense than it's walnut (Juglans genus) compatriots; combined with its light weight and low density and hardness, it is very easy to work. Courtesy of its fluted trunks, the lumber produced by Butternut trees can have some irregular, but visually-striking, grain patterns. Found throughout the Eastern United States, Butternut's pleasant light tan coloration has gorgeous pastel look, and certain examples can exhibit a pink or reddish tint.

boxmaking, carving, crafting, furniture, veneer

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