Rosewood?

[Dan Hahr]

I have (OK, worng already.) My 5 year old son has a nice piece of rosewood that he was given with the caveat that I make something for him with it. I have resawn the board and have a bookmatched set about 5.5 by 21 inches of usable wood. I also veneered a small panel with rosewood veneer. I plan to make a small box using the solid wood for the sides and the panel for the bottom.

That leaves me with a beautiful box without a top. I suppose I could go out and try to buy some, but I am not sure I could afford it, or even find it. However, I do have several other woods available including walnut, bubinga, padaouk, makore, and zebrawood.

I have two questions. First, can anyone tell me what kind of rosewood this is? Second, does anyone have a good suggestion on another wood that might go well with the __?__ rosewood?

I do have some more veneer available, but I am not sure how I could make a top other than just a flat housed panel.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks, Danrosewood 006 (Large).jpg

[Kent Chasson]

Looks like Indian but ID from a photo is rarely reliable. How big is your box top?

[Montgomery Scott]

Definitely not Indian RW. It appears to be Bolivian rosewood, which is actually not a rosewood. You can buy the stuff for only ~$10 bd ft.

[John Coloccia]

I'm firmly in the "it could be anything" camp. I think it definitely could be Indian Rosewood or Bolivian rosewood just based on the picture. If you make the lid thin, and especially if you extend the box sides up so it sits flush or a little below the sides, I think paduak would look nice. If you want the top to simply lay on top of the sides, I would still use paduak but I would miter a small rosewood frame around the lid. You're going to have to do something to tie the lid together with the bottom, either by making the lid flush, using a rosewood border, or something like that. That's just my opinion.

[John Piwaron]

Blackwood could look good with that board too.

[Dean Ousterhout]

Course... some of the most beautiful projects are made with very different pattern and color woods. Food for thought....

Ok... I am partial to it... lots of folks prefer the project to be homogeneous.

[Justin Bukoski]

Dan,

Does the wood smell sort of like roses? If so its a true rosewood - probably either brazilian or indian. Bolivian rosewood smells more like walnut does when you cut it.

[Montgomery Scott]

The Bolivian RW I've cut does indeed smell like roses.

I have around 100 sq ft of Brazilian rosewood cut in the 60's. It has a very distinct orange hue to it. The boards he has are certainly not Brazilian.

[Dan Hahr]

The color of the boards is very close to that of steamed walnut. I've read that true rosewood has deep open pores. However, this wood is as dense as I have ever seen and no pores are visible. It's not oily, but I believe that I could polish it to some level of luster.

The veneer appears to be the same wood, but it is lighter in color slightly. Some of the photos I see for Bolivian rosewood show similar grain and color, but they are too blurry to see the grain. Here are some photos. I am not sure if the dark spots are indicative of the Bolivian rosewood. Thaks for the replies so far. Dan
rosewood 011 (Large).jpgrosewood 009 (Large).jpgrosewood 008 (Large).jpg

[Dan Hahr]

Also, the wood really doesn't smell like roses, more like walnut I suppose. Dan

[Dan Hahr]

Definitely not Indian RW. It appears to be Bolivian rosewood, which is actually not a rosewood. You can buy the stuff for only ~$10 bd ft.

Where can I find this at this price? Cheapest I can find is about $30/bf?

[Montgomery Scott]

My local hardwood store has the stuff. Never had to buy it elsewhere.