Source(s) for rosewood veneer?

[Doug Miller]

I have a project in mind that's going to require about 10 square feet of rosewood veneer, and I'm having something of a hard time finding sources.

Specifically, I'm having trouble finding sources of veneer that's about 30 inches long. Woodcraft, Highland, and several other vendors sell East Indian rosewood in 3-sf packages, all trimmed to 12" lengths -- won't do. I need to be able to veneer pieces between 2 and 4 inches wide, by about 28" long, in one strip. Pretty much all I've been able to locate so far is either:

- rosewood in the aforementioned 12"-long pieces, or

- rosewood in FAR longer and wider strips (e.g. 9" x 6 feet), or

- rosewood 4x8 sheets, or

- not really rosewood -- one vendor is even advertising "Italian Rosewood", whatever that is.

Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated. I'm leaning toward using something that just looks like rosewood, but I'd rather have something that really *is* a rosewood. East Indian rosewood is my first choice.

Yes, I know that Brazilian rosewood, Dalbergia nigra, is CITES-listed. I'm not looking for that.

Why is it so important to have real rosewood? I'm making a wedding present. My wife and I know both sets of parents, and our kids know both the bride and the groom. The groom graduated from Indiana State University (the Sycamores), and the bride is a graduate of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology -- so I figured I'd make them something out of -- what else? -- sycamore and rosewood. That's why it's important to find veneer that really *is* rosewood, not just something that got the "rosewood" name stuck on it for marketing purposes. Like "Italian Rosewood".

[Martin Eastburn]

Rosewood is a colored wood. It isn't a species.

Many if not all have a high content of silicon and might make cutting very expensive since the slicing blade would be cut to shreads.

I get 21 results for a search for the species data containing "Rosewood"

Cocobolo is rosewood - Dalbergia retusa

Padauk - Peterocarpus indicus - NarraAndaman padauk

General name :

Dalbergia xxxxx where xxxx is : baronii Madagascar rosewood latifolia Indian rosewood nigra Brazilian rosewood oliveri burma pallisander retusa Cocobolo sissoc Sissoo stevensonii - Honduras rosewood

Martin Eastburn (have a pdf of the search....)

rosewood veneer, and I'm

inches long. Woodcraft,

packages, all trimmed to 12"

wide, by about 28"

whatever that is.

something that just

rosewood. East Indian

looking for that.

wife and I know

groom graduated from

Rose-Hulman Institute

sycamore and

not just something that

[dadiOH]

There are umpteen types of rosewood. Step #1, figure out which you want. Step #2, check Constantines and search for "rosewood"

[Doug Miller]

Martin Eastburn wrote in news:YAG_q.71176$ [e-mail]:

Actually, it *is* a genus, although it's not a species: all true rosewoods are genus Dalbergia.

Padauk is not, however.

[Doug Miller]

"dadiOH" wrote in news:jhg98q$pev$ [e-mail]:

Unfortunately, part of "Step #1" is finding a source at a price I can afford. I discovered very quickly that Woodcraft sells East Indian rosewood veneer -- which is just what I was looking for -- in 4x8 sheets for about $325. Ouch.

Ahh. Thank you. I did not know of Constantines, and somehow none of my Google searches ever turned them up. That looks promising.

have a dozen consecutive 32" pieces than four consecutive 96" pieces, for example -- more consistency in the grain patterns.

Didn't know about them either.

Many thanks -- I'll have a look at them, and Constantines. If you're going to be in Indianapolis any time soon, look me up. I'll have a cold homebrew with your name on it...

[Robatoy]

. [e-mail]:

s are genus Dalbergia.

[Doug Miller]

Doug Miller wrote in news:Xns9FFA6AC20113Edougmilmaccom@88.198.244.100:

Didn't mean to send this quite as quickly as I did....

"Rosewood" does not refer to the color of the wood at all, but rather to the floral *scent* of the wood; in D. nigra, this scent is reputed to persist for decades. The name has been applied to woods of other genera, and other families, which resemble true rosewoods in *appearance* (for example, pau ferro, a.k.a. "santos rosewood") but lack the distinctive scent.

[HeyBub]

Careful. If you persist in your quest, you WILL have everything confiscated by the United States Justice Department.

See:

[dadiOH]

Dang, you are a year late. I went to Marion last summer for my 60th HS reunion and stopped in Indianapolis for a couple of days to visit a long term friend. Maybe next time; had a friend at IU that used to make homebrew...kinda cloudy but tasted fine.

[Pat Barber]

rosewood veneer, and I'm

[Andy Barss]

Just switched newsreaders and can't find your original post. In any event, I would directly contact some of the major veneer suppliers on the web, which include the ones below. Most will have pictures so you can actually see what you're getting:

luck!

-- Andy Barss

[Doug Miller]

Andy Barss wrote in news:jhvdcb$67a$ [e-mail]:

Doug --

Thanks, Andy. My biggest problem was finding the major veneer suppliers -- my Google skills seem to have deserted me, and I hadn't found any of those three. (They've been suggested independently by a couple other people who responded, so I'm aware of them

*now*, but I wasn't before.) All three provide photos of the actual flitches, and I'll probably wind up buying from one of them.

[Andrew Barss]

consistency in the

Doug --

Don't know why I didn't think of this before, but try Ebay. I just searched and turned up a lot:

$I've bought veneer from various people on Ebay and been quite satisfied. In some cases it seems like what was left over after a commercial project, so it's often short (which is good for those of us not veneer 1' panels in a boardroom) and I've gotten nice, sequenced, trimmed pieces for a lot less than the retail price.

If tht doesn't rurn something up, you might call (or email) the people at B&B

and at Veneer Supply (forget the URL). These are smaller companies that cater to people like us, and the service I've gotten has been excellent.

Finally, you might post on the forum at Vacupress

This is a company and website run by Darryl Keil, who is a really astonishing woodworking who does veneer work. In addition to being an excellent source for info on veneering, the forum is full of people who might be able to point you to (or sell you) a small amount of nice rosewood. (The vacupress site is in two parts: the forum, and the main site, which has veneering supplies, equipment, tutorials, and whatnot).

What sort of sycamore are you using? There's American, and English. The latter is a maple which comes in a really tight fiddleback figure.

-- Andy Barss

[John Grossbohlin]

$>Not quite what is being sought but maybe of interest:

This listing is for rosewood, flat sawn boards 3/4" x 7" x 6'. Around twelve b.f. total.

[Doug Miller]

Andrew Barss wrote in news:jie0k7$6en$1 @onion.ccit.arizona.edu:

consistency in the

$>

Thanks for the suggestions, Andy. I had already checked eBay without finding anything in the sizes I was looking for, but it can't do any harm to check again, too. And I'll definitely have a look at vacupress.com -- that's something I want to learn a lot more about.

I'm using American sycamore.