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Satinwood - East Indian Lumber @ Rare Woods USA
fine furniture, inlay, specialty items, turnings, veneer
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Walnut - American Lumber @ Rare Woods USA
cabinetry, furniture, gun stocks, interior panelling, specialty items, turnings, veneer
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Wenge Lumber @ Rare Woods USA
bows, cabinetry, flooring, furniture, handles, paneling, specialty items, veneer, walking sticks
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Zebrano Lumber @ Rare Woods USA
Zebrawood is a tough, durable, visually striking West African wood whose heartwood base color -- which can range from tan to a dull pale yellow, to a muted off-white / almost gray hue, depending on specific region and conditions of growth -- is decorated by dark brown striping of varying degrees (ranging to almost black), hence its name. The striping is typically long and fairly uniform when the wood is quartersawn, but wavy and erratic when flatsawn.  Sapwood is easily distinguishable (by its lack of striping, naturally) and is usually a light, pale white color.Its coarse, open-poured texture combined with its wavy and/or interlocked grain patterns can make planing a challenge. (as well as finishing, if filling all surface pores is requisite.) For any sort of resawing or surfacing, blades and cutting tools should be at their sharpest to minimize tear-out.  The wood glues well and usually possesses a pleasant, moderate to high luster, which can make for impressive finishing.While flatsawn lumber can yield some quite dramatic aesthetic results, quartersawn lumber provides maximum (and sometimes much needed) stability. The species is known to be difficult to dry, with pieces sometimes warping during the kiln drying process. Tiny pockets of small void areas, also, are not uncommon along the darker striped areas -- especially among flatsawn boards.Zebrawood's trademark aesthetics have made it very popular with veneer mills around the world. However, great care is required when handling, to avoid it cracking.  The wood's popularity keeps it in steady demand, which makes it moderately expensive in spite of a generally steady supply in the US.  While its demand is based almost exclusively on its aesthetic appeal, Zebrawood is a strong, stiff lumber, once dry.
fine furniture, handles, turnings, veneer
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Ziricote Lumber @ Rare Woods USA
cabinetry, flooring, furniture, gun stocks, joinery, lutherie, musical Instruments, specialty items, trim, turnings, veneer
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Rosewood - Vietnamese Lumber @ Rare Woods USA
Siamese Rosewood, a.k.a. Vietnamese Rosewood, is one of the most dense, dimensionally stable rosewoods. The wood is derived from large evergreen trees which grow in open, semi-deciduous forests. It's primary heartwood colors are typically confined to varying brown hues, although secondary colors of red, orange and yellows are commonly present. (Sap is a pale yellow, and easily distinguished.) Its pores are very small by rosewood standards; it sands smooth and finishes beautifully, with a wonderful natural luster. It is typically straight grained, although grains are occasionally interlocked. It is considered to be one of the most dense, stable and durable of all rosewoods.Because of these properties, Siamese Rosewood has remained extremely popular with Chinese furniture builders -- and which has also made it, for many years, a popular target for poachers. This has led to its current 'near extinction' status. Wikipedia had this to say with regard to Dalbergia Cochichinensis: "Siamese rosewood is denser than water, fine grained, and high in oils and resins. These properties make the wood dimensionally stable, hard wearing, rot and insect resistant, and when new, highly fragrant. The density and toughness of the wood also allows furniture to be built without the use of glue and nails, but rather constructed from joinery and doweling alone. Unfortunately, it has been the demise of this species at the hands of regional neighbors, China, which has placed it on the verge of extinction and is its tragic modern legacy. The incredible demand for it in this new millennium was accelerated prior to the 2008 Olympic games, in Beijing, and continued with the new construction boom the country has experienced. 
specialty items, veneer
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Pink Ivory Lumber @ Rare Woods USA
chess pieces, inlay, knife handles, musical Instruments, pool cues, specialty items, turnings, veneer
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Rosewood - Honduras Lumber @ Rare Woods USA

Denser than East Indian Rosewood, Honduran Rosewood is well known for being the preferred wood for Marimba bars, with its ringing, well-rounded tonal properties. It compares well to Brazilian Rosewood (many claim it actually superior), producing a well-balanced acoustic guitar, with great projection and strong lows and highs. (In fact, during the '50?s and '60?s, the great flamenco guitar crafters considered it to be the only acceptable substitute to Brazilian Rosewood.)

Honduran Rosewood's grain lines are unusually tight and straight (though sometimes wavy or interlocked). The color ranges from a medium tan to a brownish brick red color, medium brown (sometimes with a purplish tint) or even a medium to dark burgundy, with occasional dark brown or black ink lines. Due to the wood's density and high oil content, it can be difficult to cut, machine and glue. Its texture can range from fine to medium; (not unlike Braz Rw) it is porous, and those pores are usually medium- to large-sized. As would be expected -- given its oily nature -- the wood has a rich natural luster.

Honduran Rosewood has grown difficult to obtain in recent years, due to a poaching epidemic in Belize which victimized the species in 2011 and 2012. Despite a wane in its supply lines, demand for the wood remains constant. Every major source we could find were unanimous in listing "2200 lbf" as the Janka Hardness rating for this wood, but we consider this figure to be very suspect. Most knowledgeable sources compare its weight and density to Brazilian Rosewood. The same sources list Bocote's Janka Hardness at 2200 lbf, also, and the Hon Rw examples we have handled are far more dense than any Bocote. (Some darker examples were more along the lines of a Cocobolo-type density.)

cabinetry, furniture, harps, lutherie, musical Instruments, turnings, veneer
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Rosewood - East Indian Lumber @ Rare Woods USA
East Indian Rosewood can vary greatly in color. Although its base color is mostly always brown, the shades can range from golden brown to purplish or dark reddish brown. Secondary colors are often present. The wood's colors will darken with continued UV exposure. East Indian Rosewood is generally less dense than most other rosewoods. Its grains are typically interlocked (although they can be irregular or straight), which can make it difficult to work. Care must be taken when finishing the wood, as it is not uncommon for the wood's natural resins to impose if it is not first sealed. It has a medium texture.Since the exportation ban on Brazilian Rosewood, more than twenty years ago, it has become a popular substitute with corporate guitar manufacturers (electric and acoustic, alike) -- due in large part to its historically steady supply and relatively low cost (compared with other Dalbergia's). By comparison to Brazilian Rosewood, its pores are smaller, but it is also a very durable wood that's not overly susceptible to bug damage/infestation and it is considered stable after drying.Don't confuse this species with Sissoo (Dalbergia sissoo) which can also be referred to as  "Indian Rosewood" in certain locales. It is believed that Sonokeling: a true Dalbergia indigenous to Indonesia -- where it is also known as "Jacaranda" is also Dalbergia latifolia, however tree farmers in Indonesia are not in agreement with this assessment. Our research into Indonesia and the cultivation of rosewood trees there revealed that back in the 1700's, while the Indonesian islands were considered a colony of Holland, Dutch merchant colonists transplanted two major Dalbergia's to Indonesia: Dalbergia Nigra (Brazilian Rosewood), from Brazil, and Dalbergia sissoo (Indian Rosewood), from India.  This could well be a botanical mystery worthy of further investigation for the detail oriented student of the Dalbergia genus.
cabinetry, furniture, specialty items, turnings, veneer
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Olive - Wild Lumber @ Rare Woods USA
For millenniums, Olivewood has remained a wood of great cultural and religious importance and significance, especially in the Middle East. The wood can, indeed, be exquisite in appearance: with its (typically) creamy, golden brown base, and darker streaks and highlights, often augmented by spectacular figuring and/or areas of magnificent burling.Grain patterns are usually either straight or wild, although they can sometimes be interlocked, as well. Although opinions differ, Olivewood is thought by many to be a very durable wood, although it can be susceptible to insect / bug infestation. The wood is considered to be a superb turner, and it generally works, glues and finishes well. Because the fruit of the Olive tree is olives, there is a limited supply of Olivewood that is made available to the US.For wood craftsmen of all niches, Olivewood is highly desired for its often spectacular aesthetics; being known for its gorgeous, often-twisting grain patterns and dramatic figuring. Defects are not uncommon, and can often present some challenges when working, but hard work and perseverance can produce extraordinary results; there's really no other wood quite like it.Found in the Mediterranean Basin -- from Portugal to the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula -- and Southern Asia, as far east as China, the Olive tree grows as a small evergreen tree or shrub. It is also known to grow in the Canary Islands, Mauritius and Reunion. The species is / has been cultivated in many places; it's considered "naturalized" in the Mediterranean coast countries, as well as in Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Java (Indonesia), Norfolk Island, (the U.S. state) California, and Bermuda.Its trunk is generally twisted and/or gnarled, making long, defected free boards quite rare. When found, they command a premium price.
carving, furniture, specialty items, turnings, veneer
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Maple - Ambrosia Lumber @ Rare Woods USA

Ambrosia Maple is a general term attached to a variety of Acer (true maple) species whose boards included colorful bug "trails" -- caused by a fungus carried by the Ambrosia Beetle which penetrates the tree sap as the beetle eats into the tree, and it spreads both through the worm hole and up and down in the tree (carried along by the sap) and causes discoloring of the wood in streaks. The two primary species which draw the beetle's attention are Acer rubrum (Red Maple) and Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple), although -- with there reputedly being more than sixty different Acer species indigenous to North America -- this unusual phenomenon is certainly not confined to just the two. Weight and density can vary greatly -- depending upon the actual species -- the typical varieties of maple figuring can also be present, often creating some very unique, visually spectacular specimens.

Like any other maple, it is easily worked; generally cooperative through all phases. It's not much of a stretch to imagine -- since bugs have, quite obviously, already penetrated the wood's surface -- that the wood is decidedly non-durable, although it is generally stable enough for use in furniture and guitars. Its surface is typically darker than most sap maple (often featuring secondary / additional discolorations and other long streaks), although it retains the same high degree of natural luster.The scientific explanation is that the impregnated Ambrosia Beetle burrows into the maple tree (presumably for a safe place to deposit larvae), carrying fungi on its feet into the wood -- which serves as food for the insect's offspring, when they hatch. The fungal residue left behind as it digs into the maple can cause discoloration throughout the wood, via the tree's sap, in addition to the dramatically contrasting (mostly) blue and (sometimes) green trails which surround the small tunnels they chew. The beetles prefer wood that is not soaking wet, but that is in the beginning stages of drying. Once kiln dried, they will not re-infest.
crafting, furniture, lutherie, specialty items, turnings, veneer
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Maple - Birdseye Lumber @ Rare Woods USA
Birdseye Maple is another title which does not, necessarily, denote a specific Acer species -- although the bulk of what is sold is Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) -- but rather a unique figuring that occurs in maple as a result of numerous small- to medium-sized knots accumulating in the wood. It remains one of the most coveted and sought-after of all figured maple varieties.Although it has never been scientifically proven, the prevailing school of thought is that the figuring is reportedly caused by unfavorable growing conditions. As the tree attempts to access more sunlight, buds begin to sprout in its trunk -- to try and grow more branches, to access more light -- but the tree lacks the requisite nutrients to support the growth and the new shoots are aborted, resulting in "birdseyes" (small knots) embedded in the tree's wood.There can be very large variances in birdseye size and content. Boards with larger concentrations of birdseyes are, obviously, more sought after and thus command greater prices than more sparsely decorated pieces. When sanded and finish-sanded, boards featuring somewhat larger birdseyes can have an almost 3D look -- like brown bumps, sitting up on a light golden surface.There have been tearout issues associated with birdseyes, as sometimes these tiny knots can wind up leaving tiny voids. There are also justified concerns that the tiny voids may occur sometime after the wood has been put into service. Because of this, some electric guitar luthiers shy away from using Birdseye Maple for fretboard wood, as slotting the frets can prove adventurous (if not downright painful:-)). Others, who do use it, will apply a finish coat of some type of protective lacquer over the fretboard when completing the neck.
cabinetry, furniture, lutherie, specialty items, veneer
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