What is this wood

Re: Exotics: things other than furniture...

Sgian Dubh

"BTW, Santos Rosewood may look like rosewood but is not a Dalbergia"

True, it isn't: perhaps I should have mentioned that in my earlier post but didn't think it important to do so. The chances are the stuff I described as using for a table was either Machaerium villosom (jacaranda pardo) or maybe M. scleroxylon. Whatever it was the merchant sold it as Santos rosewood, and I bought it primarily because I thought it would make an attractive top for a table. I guess I wasn't alone thinking that because it found a buyer at an exhibition I participated in - well, I think I sold the table at an exhibition, but it may have been sold through some other outlet, e.g., a gallery or through an interior designer I used to work with quite often. Slainte.

Re: things other than furniture...

Sgian Dubh

The use of exotic wood species has diminished significantly during my furniture making career. I'm not referring specifically to myself, although it's the case, I'm referring to the furniture industry as a whole in what used to perhaps be thought of as the so-called 'advanced' west - I use that form of words hesitantly given today's sensitivities. Nowadays it seems that the European and North American users of exotics tend to use them mostly in small quantities for small items, such as in your case, chisel handles and similar.

Interestingly, quite a few of what I (we?) think of as exotic wood species now appear to get used significantly in areas close to where they're grown (Asia, Africa, etc) and turned into furniture and other items which are then exported to places such as Europe, and perhaps North America, although I'm not sure if North America is a significant recipient of such items. Slainte.

CITES..

David Weaver

I like guitars - CITES caused a problem with it.

the USDA or one of the world bodies illustrated the use of rosewoods thanks to the rise in what is middle and upper middle class in China (as well as wealthy).

We got restrictions for guitars and guitar woods, but the consumption in china increased wood volume from 60k units a year (which may have been tons or cubic meters or whatever) to 600k. That ended sustainable anything with tropical woods. There's still a ton of smuggling going on by what look like moonshine movie techniques (e.g, putting exotics in the middle of shipments of non exotic woods, or putting labels on rosewoods claiming they're unrestricted species).

For furniture, I think flashy wood looks tacky unless there is a serious display of skill to go along with it (so I could see rosewood furniture with exceptional carving, but the trend of putting a dark exotic with curly maple on simple furniture - I'm glad to see that waning).

Re: a serious display of skill

William Duffield

A friend of mine designs and builds wooden boxes from "flashy" exotics and some highly figured domestics.

myworkshop.com

They are neither furniture not musical instruments, but IMHO demonstrate both high artistic skill and technical mastery. If you think they are too ostentatious, wait a hundred years, and they should oxidize to an even dark brown, but will still demonstrate a mastery of both form and joinery.

In totally different categories, I've seen one totally amazing object that George made, a combination tomahawk and peace pipe. At the same time, he was designing and building a large bed CNC machine, but I don't remember if the business end was a router, a LASER, or some other cutting tool. For something one would expect to be total functionality, it was surprisingly artistic, but maybe not as beautiful as his brass ellipsograph. (There's nothing second rate with the skill you show with your gorgeous hand forged chisels, either.)

Nothing plain or boring!

David Weaver

...about those boxes whether they're made of dead straight wood or highly figured wood. They have wonderful lines and are super crisp and look great.

They are too good to be made of pedestrian wood - they deserve wood that is either straight perfection or with something interesting in it.

Thanks for the polite comments on the chisels - I still have some room for improvement on them, though!

Those boxes are divine, and above and beyond the level of aesthetics that tools need to be made.