Wood Identification Assistance

[Hudmister]

I have a small board, 3/4" thick x8"x 18" that I have been cutting up and making things out of for years, pistol grips, pick guards, truss rod covers, etc. It is very dense, will not float. The saw dust and freshly cut wood is bright orange color and the pores are small and tight. After a few months or so freshly cut pieces turn darker and more brownish. You can sand it with 1500 and then polish it to a satin gloss. It is much like ebony but more oily and smooth. I have assumed the dust is toxic so I wear a mask.

[Charles E.]

The only wood that I am aware of that does not float is Lignum Vitae. It has been used as wheels for block and tackle rigging on sailing ships and also bearings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae

[brunello97]

The only wood that I am aware of that does not float is ...............[/url]

Oh man, that is a set up for a really bad joke.

Mick

[tonydxn]

Pretty sure that what you have there is a piece of cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa). Too dense to float, orange-brown when freshly cut, darkens fairly quickly. Very pretty wood, but very poisonous.

[pops1]

It could also be padauk, I'm not sure if it floats, but is more orange when cut and fresh and browns with time. Hopefully I am not confusing this with cocobolo as tonydxn says, it's been a few years since I worked with either.

[Jesse Kinman]

Looks like cocobolo to me too, Lignum Vitae in my experience is not that orange. Some of mine has a dark tan hue, but Cocobolo looks a lot like that, especially when freshly cut.

Just out of curiosity, I just now performed a test on some scrap pieces of wood I have and found several kinds of wood that will not float in water:

Cocobolo(two larger pieces, top left)
Ipe (3 pieces, top right)
Honduran Rosewood (large piece in center)
African Blackwood (2 pieces directly below the Honduran Rosewood, 1 piece with sapwood)
Lignum Vitae (1 piece, bottom center)
And the small piece on the left floating is Bocote, it almost wants to sink, but not quite.

[billhay4]

Lignum vitae is usually not that orange, but the others mentioned have a specific gravity of less than one. Sill, individual pieces vary. The LV I've seen also often has a greenish tinge, with orange and brown mixed.
Bill

[Hudmister]

I'm half way more interested in hearing Brunello97's joke. The wood came from a gentleman down the street who was an artist and printer and carved wood to make ink impressions on paper including text. There was a wood collection at his estate sale and this is from there. When I first acquired it I cut up a few pieces to make something and I did not wear a mask. I was sick and felt out of body and not good for many hours, this I confess. This is why I wear a mask now. This wood definitely sinks in water fairly fast. It is a great wood to work with and I wish I had more. The saw dust is bright orange, makes you sick, will not float, must be Lignum Vitae or Cocobolo. I'm leaning LV. Thanks all.

[Jeff Hildreth]

Not lignum vitae in my opinion. Lignum V tends to be green to yellow. .. and with a greasy/waxy feeling to it.

There are many species of wood that will not float. Too vague.

[tonydxn]

Here are photos of Lignum vitae and cocobolo from the website http://www.wood-database.com/ (a great site for wood nerds). I have worked with both woods. LV dust is not orange, nor does it choke me. I am not normally sensitive to anything, but when I work with cocobolo the dust makes me sneeze like hell and I have to be very sure not touch my eyes or nose with dusty fingers. From your description, your reaction sounds different, but at least as bad. It's got to be cocobolo.

[Jesse Kinman]

Not lignum vitae in my opinion. Lignum V tends to be green to yellow. .. and with a greasy/waxy feeling to it.

There are many species of wood that will not float. Too vague.

I realize that, I was just demonstrating that more than just Lignum Vitae would sink.

[soliver]

All the cocobolo I have used is much much darker than that. I don’t think it’s cocbolo.

A cocobolo armrest I made recently... a dark dark brown almost black:

[Jesse Kinman]

Hudmister, do you have pictures of anything you’ve made with it in the past where we could get a better look at the grain?
The two pieces of Cocobolo in my picture are not good representation of what Cocobolo normally looks like, just the only pieces I have small enough to submerge. These are the darkest pieces of Cocobolo I’ve ever seen to be honest, they’ve been aging for 11 years or so in my possession untouched, not counting the previous owner. All of my other Cocobolo is bright orange, red, and sometimes purple when freshly cut, and a deep red(much like the picture you posted) or reddish brown after its sat for awhile.
My Lignum Vitae is from old Boche balls I found in a thrift store, and is more tan, never orange or red(even tho my picture makes it look kinda orangish). I have some Verawood too that many people confuse and identify as Lignum Vitae, and it is more greenish tho, definitely not what you have in the picture for sure. Cocobolo tends to have a strong scent, kinda like the different Rosewoods, my Lignum doesn’t really to my remembrance. Cocobolo feels oily also, and Lignum Vitae feels waxy.

[Hudmister]

I am a cocobolo man now. The evidence is mounting up. Oh yea, I forgot to mention it makes me sneeze like hell. One other thing, you can slice it really thin 3/16" and it is still strong across the grain. I have some pistol grips made of it that I will post. They are about six years old.

[Charles E.]

I agree that lignum vitae is not it. As stated it tends to be greenish. I did not realize the number of other woods with a very high specific gravity.

[tonydxn]

'Lignum vitae' is actually an 'umbrella' term covering several species of wood with similar hardness and waxy characteristics. The colour varies depending on the actual species. It is often olive-green (as Charles says), but can be brown or virtually black. It is also noticeably waxy, as Jeff and Jesse say. I bought a few small bits, thinking it would be good for nuts. It probably would be, but I never got round to trying it . . .

[Hudmister]

These are a few things I have made. Mandolin arm rest on my trusty Kentucky KM900 and a pair of Colt 1911 pistol grips. The grips still have a waxy surface feel. There is no hint of green that I have ever noticed. The arm rest has a lacquer finish but grips are bare wood.

[Charles E.]

Nice!

[Jesse Kinman]

Pretty sharp looking! I love those grips!

[Paul Busman]

I've used Cocobolo extensively over the years for a great number of penny whistles, and I'd say your piece is Cocobolo. Bright orange sawdust is one giveaway. BTW--Cocobolo is HIGHLY allergenic, so take even better than usual dust and skin contact precautions working with this wood.
Freshly cut it can look sort of purplish but with exposure to air and UV it will tend to go orange,often with very vivid grain. Over a long time, unfortunately it can become extremely dark brown to almost black. I haven't yet found a way to keep this from happening.
Cocobolo is a rosewood of the Dalbergia genus and is CITES prohibited for international trade. If you make and sell something within the US you're ok, but don't try to mail it out of the country.

[Hudmister]

Thanks Paul for the CITIES information and the additional health warning. The older pieces that I have with untouched surfaces (20+ years old) have in fact turned very dark brown. I'm liking the cocobolo diagnosis. Apparently I should not get my hopes too high about acquiring more of this wood. I'm going to be very selective about what I make with the few remaining pieces I have.

[Charles E.]

Cocobolo is readily available from a number of sources. Just google "cocobolo for sale" and you will find a plethora of sellers.

[Hudmister]

Thanks for the tip, I have found some good pieces to consider. I was lucky getting such a large board of cocobolo originally. The sections available now are relatively small. The CITIES thing is a little confusing. You can still buy it, it comes from Mexico down to Panama, but I can't make something out of it and then sell it to someone in Europe?

[Dusepo]

Bright orange when freshly cut then darkening to a dark brown sounds to me like Padauk.

[Hudmister]

Dusepo, you and pops1 seem to be on the same page. The strongest evidence I have so far is the fact that the wood I have will not float, and actually sinks in water fairly fast. Water has a specific gravity (SG) of 1.0. Wood with a SG less that 1 will float and greater than 1 will sink. Paduak is listed with a max. SG of .75. Cocobolo has a max. SG of 1.1 This evidence along says cocobolo, or some other similar wood with a SG greater than 1.