Cocobolo
| Common Name | Cocobolo, Cocobola, Cocabola this tree is also known under the following names - Caviuna, Cocobolo Prieto, Funeram, Granadillo, Jacarandáholz, Nambar, ñamba, Nicaraguan Rosewood, Palisander, Palissandro, Palo Negro, Pau Preto, Rosewood, and Urauna. |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Dalbergia retusa |
| Distribution | Central America |
| Tree Size | This tree attains a height of about 45-60 ft (14-18 m) tall, and a trunk diameter of 1.5-2 ft (50-60 cm). |
| Dried Weight ( average ) | 69 lbs/ft3 (1,095 kg/m3). |
| Specific Gravity | 89, 1.10 |
| Janka Hardness | 2,960 lbf (14,140 N) |
Besides the spice-like scent, the Cocobolo wood is known to have many great qualities that have placed this wood at a high price in the commercial market. Native to Central America this tree prefers growing in the drier uplands compared to the wetlands. Due to its fascinating color and distinctive figures, these are in great demand for ornamental purposes and are most sought by woodworkers and designers.
Available in so many forms like the cocobolo lumber, cocobolo back and sides, cocobolo furniture, cocobolo veneer, cocobolo blanks, cocobolo turning blanks, etc. these are used in various forms. The cocobolo wood can be used for woodturning and veneering. From the low-end pens, furniture, desks, jewelry boxes, etc. to the high-end custom made guns, knife handles, cue sticks, police batons, etc. this exotic wood has captured the attention of many.
The irony is that the Cocobolo wood, on the one hand, is dense as most tropical exotic woods are and they tend to dull the machines and tools fairly quickly. On the other hand, these are brittle enough that these cannot be nailed without drilling them. This wood is very durable and resistant to rot and insect attacks. They are resistant to age due to the high content of natural oils present in them that protect these exotic woods from both the wet cycles and the dry cycles. But these natural oils present in this tree can be both a bane and a boon. The presence of these oils in this wood poses a great problem to woodworkers as it makes the process of gluing the pieces of wood together all the more difficult. Furthermore, sometimes this oil can cause allergic reactions if inhaled without any precautions.
Color: Cocobolo displays the various colours of the morning starting from yellow, orange, red, and reminder brown with streaks of black or purple. wood is usually awfully yellow. The hardwood of this tree changes color once cut. In fact, colours are lighter once freshly sanded/cut, and darken with age. This wood is presented with a natural luster that creates sharpening all the simpler.
Texture: The grain is straight to interlocked, with a fine even texture. And it's a high density. These are the 2 options that contribute to its ability to be boring even the sharpest of tools once your time.
Workability: Due to the high oil content found during this wood, it will sometimes cause issues with gluing. Woodworkers have tried to unravel this issue by arising with such a large amount of techniques sadly none of them looks to try to do the proper job. The Dalbergia retusa wood, if not applied with a correct sealer and finishing merchandise, tends to bleed into the adjacent places. Dalbergia retusa has wonderful turning properties.
Odor: Cocobolo features a distinct spice-like scent once being worked, that some realize unpleasant. This wood has been helpful to some fragrance industries due to its stunning odor. However the drawback of this is often that the natural oils typically cause allergies and also the fine mud particles that are made once handling the wood can even cause metastasis issues. so a correct mud assortment system in conjunction with the utilization of private protecting instrumentation ought to be appointed to the employees whereas operating with this wood.
Availability: Cocobolo wood is in nice demand by woodworkers all round the world due to qualities like density (it is claimed to be denser than that of Brazilian Rosewood), color, odor, etc. particularly for decorative functions. However sadly, Dalbergia retusa is in restricted supply and this results in the inflation for its wood, lumber, etc. costs ought to compare equally to different rosewoods within the rosid dicot genus genus. Dalbergia retusa has been supplementary to the CITES appendix II beneath the genus-wide restriction on all rosid dicot genus species—which additionally bans the import or export of finished merchandise made from this wood. It's additionally been listed on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable because of population reduction due to overharvesting, ineligible work, and lack of conservation ways to guard the species. Because of the shortage of convenience of this wood to satisfy the bigger demand, several plantations that harbor this wood have popped up in such a large number of places around the world.
Common Uses: Cocobolo could be a terribly celebrated style of lumber native to central America that possesses nice qualities like density, durability, ANd sensible workability that has contributed to changing into an integral part of the manufacture of the many forms of picket objects and structures. jointly of the foremost prized lumbers that's offered on the worldwide market, the superb figure and distinctive array of the colour of Dalbergia retusa have created it extremely enticing to each general woodworkers, artisans, and device manufacturers.
Here are just some of the applications of the celebrated Dalbergia retusa wood:
General and fine article of furniture, hardwood flooring, hardwood panel, musical instruments (including high finish and luxury types), turnings, little specialty objects (chess items, high-end pencils, brush backs, knife handles, and others), hand and drawer handles, jewel boxes, bowling balls, carvings, and sculptures.
Cocobolo vs Rosewood
Cocobolo happiness to an equivalent genus because the rosewoods have bound options that create it extraordinary from different woods nonetheless share some qualities generally.
Like most of the rosewoods, the Dalbergia retusa population is turning into rarer and rarer by the day. This has eventually become a crystal rectifier to its spike in worth within the industrial market. Not solely the Dalbergia retusa however its cousins the rosewood, Madagascar rosewood, and therefore the Dalbergia nigra are deemed expensive .
The colors and appearances between the cocobolo vary slightly from the opposite woods of the rosewood family. The cocobolo shares virtually similar reminiscent of the Dalbergia nigra. Whereas it's Indian and Madagascar counterparts are additional enticing and bright whereas the Dalbergia retusa is found to be colourful in its youth and on aging it oxidizes and becomes a regular chocolate color.
Sonically cocobolo is found to own the simplest acoustic projection among the others. Unlike the total tonal variety made by the Madagascar rosewood, the Dalbergia retusa produces a high-end tonal variety that creates it good for stringed instrument building. It shares virtually an equivalent variety of resonance with the Indian and Dalbergia nigra.
Frequently asked Questions
A cocobolo table is formed from a rare style of wood referred to as cocobolo wood that is obtained from a tree (Dalbergia retusa) that grows up to sixty linear unit tall. The cocobolo desks are terribly rare, as rare as the trees they're made of. They're made of cocobolo hardwood, a kind of wood that’s obtained from the slow-growing tree. Since the tree takes a few years to grow, it can’t be harvested quickly. This makes the wood’s accessibility low and it's worth high.
Cocobolo is the usually used name of the renowned Central yankee tree cocobolo and is additionally illustrious underneath names Mexican Rosewood and Central yankee Rosewood. With average-sized trunk and size, this tree managed to quickly distinguish itself jointly from the simplest lumbers for construction and creation of a good type of picket objects of medium to high worth.
Cocobolo was originally found growing in Central America, most notably across the territory of Latin countries like the United Mexican States, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama. To attain an age appropriate for harvest, the tree must grow for many years.
Since the tree takes a few years to grow, it can’t be harvested quickly. This makes the wood’s accessibility low and it's worth high. These days, it's rare to search out the trees that turn out cocobolo wood outside of plantations, reserves, and national parks.
Very little amounts of this precious wood get to the planet market, that is why it's thus expensive .
Cocobolo was originally found growing in Central America, most notably across the territory of Latin countries like the United Mexican States, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama. To attain an age appropriate for harvest, one Dalbergia retusa tree must grow for many years.
The Dalbergia retusa wood and lumber are illustrious for its high density and wonderful sturdiness. Because of the natural oils given in these wood, they shield the wood from extant wet and dry cycles annually and stop corrosion. Thus these woods are in demand for pieces of furniture building for several establishments like homes, offices, schools, etc.
Cocobolo may be a terribly renowned style of lumber native to central America that possesses nice qualities like density, durability, Associate in Nursing sensible workability that has contributed to turning into an integral part of the manufacture of the many varieties of picket objects and structures. jointly of the foremost prized lumbers that's on the market on the worldwide market, the superb figure and distinctive array of the colour of Dalbergia retusa have created it extremely enticing to each general woodworkers, artisans, and instrument manufacturers.
Here are just some of the applications of the renowned cocobolo wood:
General and fine piece of furniture, hardwood flooring, hardwood panelling, musical instruments (including high finish and luxury types), turnings, little specialty objects (chess items, high-end pencils, brush backs, knife handles, and others), hand and drawer handles, jewel boxes, bowling balls, carvings, and sculptures.
Although cocobolo grips screws well, gluing poses a tangle. Due to oils and silicon dioxide within the wood, you must wipe all change of integrity surfaces with a lacquer agent or dissolving agent so glue straight off. And, we tend to offer slow-set epoxy the nod over different adhesives.
Turners typically apply solely a cabinetmaker's wax to cocobolo. A piece of furniture and case merchandise need penetrating oil with a wax greatcoat. different finishes give solely mediocre results.
Unlike several of the relatively handler domestic hardwoods that woodworkers within the US, Canada, and therefore the Uk are accustomed to operating with, several trees in tropical climates have distinctive chemical compositions in their duramen extractives. Several of those compounds are promptly soluble in numerous solvents found in finishing agents, (something that’s evident once wiping a wood with a solvent before gluing).
Since reactive finishes merely can’t cure on exotic woods, what's required is Associate in Nursing intermediate coating between the clean wood and therefore the final polyurethane greatcoat. In distinction to reactive finishes, there are phase transition finishes. phase transition finishes dissent from reactive finishes therein they're usually easier, and don't bear any form of chemical process to cure or harden.
An organic compound or different material is dissolved in an exceedingly solvent, and once the solvent evaporates, a skinny film is left behind. within the case of phase transition finishes, the antioxidants should leach into the end, however this reality is moot, because the solvent can still evaporate, and therefore the end can inevitably harden.
Cocobolo may be a tropical hardwood of Central yankee trees happiness to the genus Dalbergia.Solely the duramen of cocobolo is used; it's typically orange or auburn, typically with darker irregular traces weaving through the wood.
References
