Guava Wood for Handles?

[Los Angeles]

Hello Bladeforums!

I'll get right to it -

There is a store closing near me that has 2 planks of Guava wood that they are selling as "serving dishes". My understanding is that this is fairly strong wood, add to that the fact that the wood is actually quite beautiful and I think it would make great handle material.

so I have a few questions:

1) Has anyone worked with guava wood?

2) Many "tropical" woods do not need to be stabilized - is this one of them?

3) If it is not one of them, what are the chances that this wood has already been stabilized to be sold as serving ware? How do I tell?

4) How much is it generally worth? I'm just looking for a ball park here. They have two planks that are 1 x 6 x 30" I feel that I'm in a good bargaining position here, but the "retail" price for these "serving dishes" was $300. Yeah, I know - no wonder this place is going out of business.

The sale price wasn't listed, so I'm looking at making a low-ball offer to take them home. Within reason, what would you pay for pieces like this?


Thanks in advance for any and all replies!

 

[JasonSCarter]

I'd say it'd be good for handles but am unsure what you should pay for it. A quick google search netted this...
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/guava.html
"The wood is yellow to reddish, fine-grained, compact, moderately strong, weighs 650-750 kg per cubic meter; is durable indoors; used in carpentry and turnery. Though it may warp on seasoning, it is much in demand in Malaya for handles; in India, it is valued for engravings. Guatemalans use guava wood to make spinning tops, and in El Salvador it is fashioned into hair combs which are perishable when wet. It is good fuelwood. and also a source of charcoal."


Jason

 

[cdent]

I'd guess $15 a board foot would be a generous offer. Offer twenty dollars for a board, and settle for a bit more if you really like the wood. Sounds like one of the planks would be plenty to play with, again unless you really like the wood.

 

[Los Angeles]

That's around what I was thinking. My guess is that they purchased them wholesale for anywhere from $100 to $150 each - which should have been the retail. I'll offer $40 for the pair and see if they kick me out. This is a Los Angeles "fine contemporary furnishings" store aimed at interior designers and the like. I don't think they will be too receptive to a cost-of-materials offer for something they think is an art object, but we'll see.

Thanks for the replies! If anyone has any experience with this sort of wood, I'd love to hear it.

 

[Dick]

Guava wood in Thailand is very good quality to make knives handle.
Hard enough and beautiful nature.
I have no idea about guava wood in other places.

 

[bikermikearchery]

I have used the branches from my guava tree to make handles before. It is hard strong and durable, but I haven't had any that was that exciting to look at.