I know this is a bit off-topic (?) but I wanted to share what I saw today in case somebody is looking for the unusual for a trophy room or high end remodel.

Saw a hoard of Brazilian Rosewood planks that had been in storage for many years. Was told it was 20,000 board feet and that they were being conservative at that estimate. I can tell you it would take a couple trips with an F-250 pick-up to haul it all. The pile was about 4 feet high, 6' wide, and about 12-14 feet long. It was all stacked nice and neat. Appeared to be about 1" thick, about 7" wide. Board length appears to run from 3' to 12'. It was aged wood with some weathering (patina?) but not warped. There were some nail and screw holes but the wood was very solid.

It was donated to the Restore Store in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. They want to sell it as one lot and are asking $28,000 for it.

Wow!! Of course, the problem is that Brazilian Rosewood is now a Cites III item and one would have to have documentation that it was imported before the ban in 1992 or 91?. All that said, I love wood and would buy it in a second, but it's a damn long ways from me.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
Wow!! Of course, the problem is that Brazilian Rosewood is now a Cites III item and one would have to have documentation that it was imported before the ban in 1992 or 91?. All that said, I love wood and would buy it in a second, but it's a damn long ways from me.

At 7 inches wide, that may make some excellent parlor guitars. Even at $28,000 it will not be around long.

Whenever the wife and I go through Glenwood Springs we stop at this particular 'Restore Store' operated by Habitat For Humanity. With Aspen about 30 miles up the road they get a lot of high-end donations for their cause. For example, a Middle Eastern prince of some variety had a vacation house in Aspen and when he passed unexpectedly, his family simply donated the furniture/furnishings to this store. It was some fascinating stuff that you don't see at a normal resale store.

We stopped there yesterday and they had this pile of wood. Having worked years ago in a cabinet shop and long been appreciative of quality wood, I was fascinated and tracked down somebody at the store that knew the skinny on it. The employee told me it had been in storage for 20+ years prior to it's donation. They were aware of the regs on it. They had a few pieces small pieces sanded and finished to show what it looks likes and I was impressed with how solid/heavy this wood is.

This wood looks like it was properly salvaged years ago; there are nail/screw holes and some of the ends are beveled as if it had been fitted in a previous application. If I had to guess (key word!) this wood looks 40+ years old. I suspect you'd have to do a lot of searching to find a cache of this wood anywhere in North America. A skilled craftsman is going to create some one-of-a-kind things with this.

A nice bunch of knife handles but, alas; poor, cites, etc. etc.
Mike

Unless there are multiple stacks, that is less then 4000 bd ft, not 20,000. Still a bargain.

Keeping it off topic:
Years back I bought wood here. '
http://worldtimbercorp.com/new-items/#limited

When I was living in NC & doing custom wood work on boats.

They have some beautiful wood & reasonable prices. I believe they ship.

Without the proper paperwork it's not legal.

Dave

I'm not their spokesman, but I was told it has been in the USA for a long time and that they were good with the regulations.