HI wood shipment thread

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or mexican kingswood-- anyone ever messed with this stuff? i really like the look of it and am thinking about buying some to use in future projects; any opinions on fine exotic greater than 1.0 specific gravity iron woods I am open to suggestions, I want to collect some samples of these before the prices get too far away from me. species name is : Dalbergia congestiflora
 
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I've used Kingswood, I don't recall the stuff I had being called Mexican Kingswood. So many of the woods are very similar with slight variations due mostly to the area they came from. Rosewood is a good example, there are tons of species. Coco Bolo a real crowd pleaser to most is just Rosewood to some.

You have to see the actual piece your gonna buy too. One piece can really pop and be gorgeous and the next blah and boring.

I've often times bought a 3' piece just for a little 4"section in the middle. Nothing goes to waste but some isn't nearly as good as the rest.
 


I wonder if he is making this look more purple than it is?





middle one already sold, of course, the only one I was interested in



all the wavy grain ones sold here already too :(

and yeah bawanna I plan on buying several if not all species of exotic hardwood-looking at some mixed pen blank deals just to get the samples- i feel they will be much much harder to get as time goes on , and I want samples like mineral samples or anything else, just examples of the thing and its beauty.
 
There used to be a lumber yard half hour or 45 minutes away that had all kinds of exotic woods. Their sign was Alder to Zebrawood and it was a candy store extreme. I bought ebony there, they sell it by weight. Everything else I could buy whatever I wanted as long as I left a 3' piece. They wouldn't cut anything shorter than 3'.
I was just looking for small pieces. It was great.
My first trip there I think I spent 400 dollars and I easily carried the pile of wood in my lap in one trip but it was a lot of variety, small pieces etc.

Sadly the economy went down the drain and they don't have much anymore. Made 2 or 3 trips up and came away empty. I still have a pretty good variety, some even from that first trip. A little wood last a long time on pistol handles etc.
 
Pretty! I love the color, hmm, My brain is hurting. Must mean I am thinking too hard. It will probably get expensive soon.
 
yeah I made an order from a wood company 4 days ago that after only 6 pieces added up pretty quick-- on the bright side I have a great burl, 3 2 foot sections of gabon ebony, and a section of redheart and purpleheart on the way ! ( future scales. grips and other stuff)

the burl is an australian red mallee ( that grow underground and sprout tree trunks, thus great burls below ground) Eucalyptus Socialis







all this wood buying started as a bid to make my old man a cane, but he revealed his old obsession with stock woods for rifles and yet another collection is born ; as he just likes to look at them , same as the knives ; that camatillo seems to disappear before I can get a bead on it, just gonna watch the shops ; eventually I may buy one of those big boards--

also has anyone else gotten an almost overwhelming urge to buy mammoth ivory because of the ban on african ivory?
 
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That Gaboon Ebony sells like Gold Bullion around here. Used to be like 130 bucks a board foot, that was 10 years ago, now they sell it by weight before and after and I have to pay for the sawdust from the cut.

It's awesome grip material though, very hard and dense. One of the few that really doesn't benefit from being stabilized.
Wish I had some more, just tiny pieces left now.
 
wish granted. bought three sections only need two for cane.( besides you know I will make you work for it , nothing is free from gehazi !)

what is the best wood you have ever worked with ? best finish and all that for scales or whatever anyone
 
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Naw dude, I'm still working on pay backs for this marvelous WWII you sent, I'll find some. I really don't have a need at the moment anyhow but I'll remember where it is in case that changes.

For untreated natural wood Ebony would probably be the best for my purposes. Most of the Coco Bolo's or Rosewoods would be a close second.

Hard and dense is the best. For knife scales if you epoxy them on it's not as critical but for gun grips, you want good wood. Sometimes even the best will crack on ya. A real heart breaker especially after you've invested 15 or 20 hours only to toss em in the wood stove due to a horrible crack.
 
One of my favorites has always been desert ironwood, especially the burl pieces. Arizona Ironwood LLC has some nice pieces, and they even have billy clubs made out of desert ironwood!
 
I used a lot of ironwood when I first started making grips. Its good stuff. Hard as heck and a sliver is extremely painful.

A local guy makes batons out of it and several other woods. We have several at the department.

When you work it thin it can be prone to cracking, pretty straight grain. Burl pieces would be incredible.
 
...and I want samples like mineral samples or anything else, just examples of the thing and its beauty.
Gehazi what do you mean mineral samples? Literally? Gehazi im a geologist and serious rockhound, minerologist, BS degree and all. If theres one thing bigger than my Khuk collection its my mineral collection:D
Fossils too!
 
ndog I am mainly interested in raw jadeite jade from burma and guatemala- I have a few small meteorites and several garnets- I try to get uncut , unpolished specimens that are Fit to be cut. almost all my stuff is blue jade from guatemala; i have a tiny piece of burmese jade and I am looking at some river washed lavender jadeite now( price too high and reminds me of colored glass so being cautious. Otherwise I love agate and jasper just for the patterns-- something I found while looking up hardstone carving that blew me away---


these artifacts were made by the ptolemy's sometime around 300 BC, taken as war booty by augustus(octavian) then was held by various lords and kings for the next 2 thousand years--


 
Gehazi what do you mean mineral samples? Literally? Gehazi im a geologist and serious rockhound, minerologist, BS degree and all. If theres one thing bigger than my Khuk collection its my mineral collection:D
Fossils too!

BS degree, never heard of such a thing. I ought to get one, lord knows I'm good at it.
 
BS degree, never heard of such a thing....
Nah I wouldnt bother with that now! I always said when oil prices got to $15 a barrel id have a good job! Ha!!!
Holy Crap! May I dub you Sir Gehazi? Thats some beautiful stuff man! I wouldnt have thought the good stuff comes from Guatemala? The condition is amazing! I couldnt imagine doing that today even if i did have an artistic cell in my brain even with a dremel tool. Truely amazing craftsmanship!
 
the cups above were made in alexandria around 300 bc, looted by octavian, then passed through many kings hands-- currently in some museum :D-- if I owned that I would sell it and buy my hometown.-- just was in the "hardstone carving" wiki when I was researching other materials comparable to jade in art history.

you may call me Sir Gehazi though anytime :D



this is what high quality guatemalan jade looks like, my samples are tiny tiny pebbles
 
So do we all address you as Sir Gehazi now or only Ndog. I want to follow protocol ya know. Not step out of bounds.
 
pretty much on a case by case basis, and on how knightly I am behaving at the time I guess? like if I was sharking there is no sir gehazi, there is highwayman gehazi
 
BS degree, never heard of such a thing. I ought to get one, lord knows I'm good at it.

As my father explained to me when I was a boy, a BS degree is Bull S---.
An MS degree means More S---.
And a PHD degree means Piled Higher and Deeper.

(Has anyone NOT heard that joke before?)
 
I never heard it before but I have now and I'm gonna write it down and commit it memory. I've always said college was way overrated.

I was proud to make it through grammar school alive and with no jail time. Worked for me. Worked everyday. Course might be a lot richer iffen I had one of the Piled Higher and Deeper degrees or would have married a hot doctor. Bet the nagging from a wife/doctor would be relentless.
 
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