Brazilian Rosewood ?

[Al Willits]

Being the newbie at wood working I've been asking at work for suggestions and places to buy wood at, one of the guys I work with says he has some Brazilian Rosewood that his dad gave him and was gotten by his dad sometime in the late 40's or so.

He has it in the rafters of his storage shed and its been there for over 20 years, he's not a wood worker btw.
Anyway, if he remembers right, its about 6 to 8 foot long and 2 to 3 foot wide and 2 to 4" thick, rough sawn at best.

I'd have some doubts about all this, but the guy is not a story teller and did give me a 4' long x 3" x 4" chunk of rosewood that was finished smooth to play with.

We were wondering if this stuff would still be good after all these years and is it worth anything?
Getting it out of the rafters is gonna be a major project as 20+ years of stuff has been piled between the wood and the access to the attic.

Ya think it'd be worth the weekend to get to it?
Not exactly sure what to use it for either, its pretty and works great on guitars, but would it make a nice end table?
I was thinking of using it for inlays and maybe bubinga or cherry for the main parts of a coffee table, dinning room table or something further down the road, when I can make more than just sawdust well...
tia

Al

[Mike Parzych]

Al - That's one huge chunk. If it is indeed Braz Rosewood, it would be worth plenty, and definitely worth digging out.

Maybe someone else can chime in with an estimated worth, but I'm sure there's plenty of ppl out there who would write a check in a second.

[Al Willits]

Thanks, considering he's moving in the next couple of months if the offer they gave on another house goes though, I think we'll be digging it out.
If it looks anywhere near what he says, I'll post some pictures as I think he'd want to sell some of it.

Would this wood be any good for furniture or inlays?
Neither of us know what to do with it, seems its used in musical instruments mostly???

Hoping its still in good shape.

Al

[Sam Chambers]

Al, if it really is Brazilian rosewood, and it's sound, there are luthiers who would pay big money for that board!

[Steve Wargo]

If it is what you say it is... There are furniture makers who'd pay good money for that board.

[Vaughn McMillan]

A 60 year old piece of Brazilian rosewood that size would be a very special find. I'd want to be sure I used it for something very special, or sell it to someone else who could do the piece justice. I sure wouldn't want to make any mistakes working with a piece like you've described, and at that size, it wouldn't be easy for me to work with. As others have mentioned, there are high-end pros who would write a big enough check for board like that to fund a pretty good collection of other domestic hardwoods. (Heck, I'd be pleased as punch just to get the "sample" piece your co-worker gave you.)

- Vaughn

[Philip Duffy]

Since it is a rare day to find a piece these days I would suggest you send an email to Steve at ColonialTonewoods.com and tell him what you have for sale. Phil

[Mike Cutler]

Al.

As others have stated, if that board is truly Brazilian rosewood, it is worth a lot of $$$

If it has been stored in the rafters, safe from the elements, and it anywhere near straight, there is nothing wrong with it. My Martin D-35 Guitar is 30 years old and there is nothing wrong with it.

If it is yours for the taking, I would certainley take it. I don't think I would make anything with it for awhile though.

[Al Willits]

Thanks guys for the info, we're gonna have to get it dragged out of the rafters and see what really is there, if its anything like he thinks it is, I'll post (try to) pictures for ya.

Thanks for the contacts/suggestions, and I'll pass them on to him.

Mike, I have a 30 year old Hoffman single cutaway guitar with rose wood and it looks like new, stuff wears like iron.

Now just to get to it and figure out what is all there.

Thanks.

Al

[John Timberlake]

A couple of years ago, I gao a small piece of Brazilian rosewood that was "mined" from 100 year old stumps. It was still in great shape. If it can withstand 100 years in the Amazon then 20 years in an attic will not hurt it. The price is more like $$$$$. Can no longer be imported into US. Make sure you get something in writing that it was stored there since 1940.

[Byron Trantham]

Good grief! 2-3' wide, 2-4" thick, if it was PINE it would be worth the effort to retrieve it! Let us know what you do and send pics if possible.

[Mac McAtee]

If that wood is Brazilian Rosewood and it is as big as you say, it would be a crime to cut it up into little pieces for inlay work. It also would be a crime to make a coffee table out of it.

Contact some of the high end hardwood sellers and you may be able to equip your entire workshop with the funds you could get for it. Two feet wide or wider is darn near impossible to get. That plank would make several hundred one piece guitar backs and the big boys would pay dearly for something like that.

Don't cut on it until you have firmly identified the wood type and have several quotations in hand for it.

You will find a BRW guitar set sells in the hundreds of dollars if the wood has any figure at all. A set is four pieces of wood. Two sides and two book matched back pieces. These pieces of wood are about 3/16" thick. Think of what could be cut out of a plank 4" thick.

I just visited a web site that sells Brazilian Rosewood Guitar Sets and found the following:


"The price of each set of Brazilian Rosewood (two piece back and matching sides) is $985"

[Jim Becker]

Worth anything? If it's rosewood...and in those sizes...it's worth "a lot"...emphasis on "a lot"...

[Al Willits]

Whoa....

I think I definetly need to talk to him today, pictures and more help seem a given, seems he may have found a pretty nice find.

Once again, thanks and I'll keep ya posted.

Al

[Al Willits]

Seems he got up and pulled them boards out, appears he has about 15 boards ranging on the average between 10-20" wide 30 to 50" long and anywhere from 1 to 3" thick, with one large board of unknown type.

Seems these boards were used as a shipping crate back in the 40's and have bounced around in storage for years.
I have pictures but am not sure how to post them, cut and post or???
I'll try and see what happens.

Al

Cut and paste don't seem to work....