more wood than you can shake a stick at

[sunnybob]

Had a trawl around my local woodyards today. Obviously a boat had come in because they were stacked out.
I managed to find a nice lump of bubinga 2500mm x 180mm x 50 mm.
And the same size of walnut.

Some of the others I know, like red and white oak, walnut, beech, rosewood, maple etc. but a few there I do not know about.

I have heard of iroku and sapele, but not used them, but how about these?

Aformosia
Okume.
Mansonia.
Kerasia.
Bahia.
Buche.
Bete.

At least one of those is a greek name, but what any of them are, and what they look like when finished oiled / waxed i have no idea.
Anyone?

Edit, just translated kerasia to cherry.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Bubinga is Cites 2 listed. Afrormosia is similar to teak. Bete is African Walnut, buche is European beech. Bahia is also known as abura. Okume also known as Gabon. (which iirc is vile stuff)
They can be found here - https://www.wood-database.com/mansonia/

 

[profchris]

A friend made a ukulele from Afrormosia and said it was rather a pain to work with - splitty and crumbly. But the final result sounded and looked good.

 

[sunnybob]

There are several hefty lumps of bubinga in one yard. presumable the last of their stock. i love the wood but cant afford to buy all that up. I'd never get around to using it.

 

[custard]

There are several hefty lumps of bubinga in one yard. presumable the last of their stock.

Bubinga had become popular for higher end tool handles over the past ten or twenty years, but I guess CITES will have put a stop to that.

It darkens and patinates nicely over time, but to be honest it doesn't quite have that depth that you get with say Indian Rosewood,

However, you do find figured boards of Bubinga quite often, and I've used it for several waney edged desks and tables. These deliver a strong chatoyance effect and seems to shimmer like a holograph as you walk past.

I'd suggest having a look through their stock, and if there's anything there with this type of rippled figure it'd well worth grabbing, CITES means you're unlikely to ever get the chance again!

 

[AES]

Don't know if it helps or not sunnybob, I don't know very much at all about wood species, but in German anyway, your Buche translates directly into beech (but why a Cypriot wood yard would have a German name for a species I've no idea).

 

[sunnybob]

Trouble is I am a weekend warrior on a limited pension. I just spent a 100 today on a lump of bubinga and the same of walnut. The other bubinga he has there must total many 100's worth, and My mrs wouldnt be happy about me spending now, or about getting rid of it once I'm gone.



AES... Thats strange, they have a separate stash of beech clearly marked in english. maybe its from a different supplier.