What wood is this?

[crw]

A friend recently acquired a 1"x18""x60" piece of wood from his father, who says it is rosewood. It is at least 40 years old. Can anyone tell what flavor of rosewood it might be?

[runamuck]

It could be some type of rosewood but it's not possible to tell with just that photo.

[John Arnold]

Hard to say based on the photo. I use smell and density to help identify rosewoods. I am not ruling out Brazilian, but that is a rather wide board. The smell of Brazilian rosewood is pretty distinctive, and the old growth wood tends to be in the 54-59 pounds per cubic foot range. Guatemalan Rosewood is less dense, and Honduran and cocobolo are denser. It doesn't really look like Indian to me.

[redir]

It definitely has that rosewood look to it. Try the scratch and sniff test. If it smells like that bubble gum that you used to get in a pack of baseball cards then it could be BRW.

[Bass.swimmer]

Is rosewood open grained like that (I honestly don't know)? I think I can see the pores following the grain lines

[redir]

Originally Posted by Bass.swimmer

Is rosewood open grained like that (I honestly don't know)? I think I can see the pores following the grain lines

Yes it is. This is a BRW head plate and you can see how open the pores are. It needs to be filled to get a glass smooth finish.

[MakingMusic]

It's hard to tell from the photo. I doubt it is Brazilian given the age but I agree with John that it doesn't quite look like Indian either. It does look like some type of rosewood tho.

[runamuck]

Originally Posted by Bass.swimmer

Is rosewood open grained like that (I honestly don't know)? I think I can see the pores following the grain lines

Every rosewood I've ever seen has an open grain.

[Dyson Guitars]

Looks like cocobolo after is oxidizes a long time. Sand it some and get a smell, that's the best way to tell. I bet if you sand it some it will really red and orange up that color.

[lar]

Originally Posted by redir

Yes it is. This is a BRW head plate and you can see how open the pores are. It needs to be filled to get a glass smooth finish.

Would be great if you could post an after picture too (after you fill it).

[redir]

Originally Posted by lar

Would be great if you could post an after picture too (after you fill it).

Sure thing.

[Skarsaune]

Originally Posted by redir

Sure thing.

Very nice.

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by redir

Sure thing.

Done without cnc, that looks really good

Steve

[redir]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Done without cnc, that looks really good

Steve

Thanks! Dark wood and black CA are very forgiving.