Brazilian Rosewood from Furniture?

[Jim.S]

Originally Posted by LouieAtienza

There is also a certain type of plywood we called "architectural grade" which has 1/8" veneer faces and a "lumber core," usually poplar. I've seen this plywood in East Indian rosewood, though it was about 16 years ago. I'm sure it exists somewhere.

We call that stuff "block board" in Australia Louie, many bits of furniture and cabinetry built of it before chipboard and MDF became popular.

Certainly you can find bits of BRW furniture that you could get back and side sets out of, and I have seen it done by a guy who goes on salvage trips from here to the UK, he has done okay but the stuff he gets is mostly back sawn. Also he had no trouble getting Cites documentation to bring it back to Australia

That cabinet you posted Jon, often if the edges are capped with moldings then the substrate is not solid wood as a solid board usually moves to much for the end grain cap and you can just mold the solid board without capping it. Best to know your product real well before you go buying stuff though as many can believe they have a solid bit of furniture when it is not.

[LouieAtienza]

A close up of the routed edge of the top would be helpful. If you can discern that the grain lines run through the profile into the end grain, you can be certain the top is solid wood. Also if you can get a pic inside of how the top is attached, and it uses screws on wallowed-out or slotted holes, that would be another clue that provisions were made to counteract the movement of solid wood.

Having the same grain on top and bottom may or may not be a good clue; if the same flitch of veneer was used to cover a substrate it could very well have been used on top and bottom to "hide" a base wood. Also the profile of the top edge itself is another way to "hide" the use of veneer. By using a glued-up substrate, then veneering the top and bottom, and routing that particular profile, the "step" hides the glue line between veneer and substrate.

Also, while maybe not true for most rosewoods, most "furniture grade" woods are kiln-dried, and some builders would argue this "destroys" the molecular structure of the wood. Most instrument grade wood is air dried, which allows slower release of moisture in the wood, and supposedly adds to the integrity of the wood. While torrefaction is popular now, it is done to woood already seasoned by air-drying.