WoodSense COCOBOLO Beauty that might bite By Ken Burton ention cocobolo to a group of and even poached from national park Working cocobolo Mluthiers, and you’ll likely get preserves. Sadly, cocobolo is listed on Cocobolo dust is a strong sensitizer that knowing nods and smiles. A renowned the CITES (Convention on International can cause severe allergic reactions, so pro- tonewood prized by instrument makers Trade in Endangered Species) Appendix tect your lungs and skin from exposure. worldwide, this dense, tropical lumber II and on the IUCN (International Union Wear a respirator, long sleeves, and perhaps is also a beautiful substitute for the rare for Conservation of Nature) Red List of a skin protectant such as North’s #222 Bar- Brazilian rosewood traditionally used reatened Species due to a 20% decline rier Cream. Also, be sure to vacuum up the for many guitar bodies. Sometimes in its population over the last 20 years. dust and blow o your clothing before leav- called Nicaraguan rosewood, cocobolo ing the shop. Don’t take this wood lightly. is, in fact, a true member of the rose- History in woodworking As one woodworker I know put it: “ ere wood family. Cocobolo rst drew the attention of are two types of woodworkers, those who Often featuring multicolored stripes, North American manufacturers in New are allergic to cocobolo, and those who will the heartwood ranges in color from England with the opening of the Panama become allergic to cocobolo.” yellowish-orange to almost black, while Canal early in the 20th century. Before Cocobolo is hard and heavy, but rel- the sharply contrasting sapwood is a that, shipping the heavy wood around atively easy to work using both hand pale yellowish tan. Perhaps the only Cape Horn wasn’t practical. is “new” and power tools with sharp blades. e thing that’s not attractive about the wood resisted repeated water contact, wood turns well and polishes to a glossy wood is that its dust can cause allergic making it well-suited for ne cutlery luster. But cocobolo’s high oil content reactions in woodworkers, but more handle material. Today, you’ll nd coco- can impede glues. Wiping the surfaces on that in a bit. bolo in both stringed and woodwind instruments as well as in pool cues, chess Cocobolo Quick Take Where the wood comes from pieces, jewelry boxes, and furniture. 69 lbs./cu. ft. DENSITY e lumber comes from a few similar (sinks in water) trees, but the most common is Dalbergia Selecting the best stock HARDNESS Very hard retusa. ough a tropical wood, cocobolo Several online retailers claim that the doesn’t come from the rainforest. Instead, lumber from Nicaragua has some of the STABILITY Good the trees grow in the drier regions along most spectacular color. As when buying Highly resistant to ROT/INSECT both moisture and Central America’s Paci c coast, typically any lumber, the best way to get good RESISTANCE reaching a height of 80 feet, and 3 feet in material is to choose it yourself, but this insect damage diameter. Given their desirability, coco- can be tricky if you don’t have a specialty TEXTURE Fine bolo trees have been heavily exploited hardwood dealer nearby. Your next best Severe eye, skin and option may be to buy from an online respiratory irritant. retailer that posts photos of individual Cocobolo is a notorious boards. Online prices vary widely but TOXICITY sensitizer and known are usually north of $30 per board foot. to cause nausea, pink eye, and asthma- like symptoms. Musical instruments, Size matters. Much turnings, pool cues, furniture, cocobolo is cut into USES cabinetry, and gift smaller pieces for turning, items such as pens or resawn into thinner and boxes pieces suitable for making musical instruments. 62 Photos: Ken Burton; Guitar courtesy Martin Guitar, Nazareth, Pennsylvania Rainbow wood. Cocobolo colors range from orange to purple, sometimes within the same board. with acetone before gluing may help, Cocobolo’s density requires sanding to a but even then the oils may compromise fairly high grit (400-600+) to eliminate aliphatic resin (white or yellow) glue. For obvious scratches. best results, wipe your glue surfaces with Many wood turners nd that cocobolo acetone and use epoxy as an adhesive. polishes well with wax-based nishes such Cocobolo holds screws and nails well, as Hut’s High Gloss. Evaporative coatings but drill pilot holes rst. such as shellac or nitrocellulose lacquer work better than reactive coatings like Finishing polyurethane. In fact, poly on cocobolo Cocobolo’s oiliness loads up sandpaper has a reputation for never drying. If you in a hurry. (One of the shops where I want the durability of polyurethane, rst work has banned the wood from the apply several coats of shellac. is seals drum sander, as a couple of passes render the wood’s natural oils under the shellac, the abrasive useless.) Use a card scraper allowing the urethane to cure properly. before sanding, then an open-coat, One other important note: if glued stearated abrasive such as Klingspor’s to another species (especially a lighter- “Gold” to polish away the scraper marks. colored wood) color can bleed from the Something to pick on. Not only does Stearated papers include a lubricant that cocobolo into the neighboring species, cocobolo make a sweet-sounding guitar, helps prevent the abrasive from clogging. spoiling the sharply delineated contrast. but a spectacular-looking one as well. Cocobolo: Working Notes Cocobolo’s reputation as a sensitizer had me worried, so I took a purple, almost black. As soon as I cut through the outer, oxidized number of precautions. First, I added a dust pickup to my lathe layer, truly vibrant Crayola-like colors leaped forth: oranges and to control the sanding dust. I also grabbed a fresh dust mask/ yellows and reds along with deep browns and purples. It was respirator (3M #8210), buttoned my shirt sleeves, and made easy to see why cocobolo is sometimes called the rainbow wood. sure to don my high-necked turner’s apron before digging in. It turned beautifully, but I had to resharpen my spindle gouge To start, I hand-planed the edges of a few pieces for gluing—I more frequently than usual. The cut surfaces were burnished and wanted to see if the warnings of cocobolo’s oiliness were true. I glass smooth. Sanding went well too, though the paper loaded glued two pairs of pieces together. The fi rst pair I glued directly quickly as suspected. And even with 400 grit, the cross-grain from hand planing. (The wood planed well, a pleasant surprise scratches were obvious. So, I did my fi nal sanding by hand, given its density.) I wiped the second pair with acetone before going with the grain. This produced a smoother surface. applying the glue. For both pairs, I used Titebond II, my go-to Drilling the end grain for the shakers was not as diffi cult as I adhesive for just about everything. After leaving the test pieces thought it might be, though I expect to sharpen my Forstner bits soon. clamped overnight to cure, I tried breaking them apart by But I had problems sanding the blade for the cream cheese spreader. securing them in a vise and smacking them with a hammer. After turning, the piece cut well on the bandsaw, but cleaning up the Both pieces held better than I expected but gave up right on saw marks with my belt sander made short work of the paper. The the glue line. (The lengths I go to give you good advice...) vivid colors disappeared while sanding, leaving but a hint of oranges As you can see (left), and yellows. I suspect that the oils from the darker areas tend to Spread the news. Cocobolo is I turned three pieces bleed into the lighter areas. Finishing was pretty straightforward: well-suited for kitchenware such from the samples I had. shellac on the shakers and mineral oil for the spreader. Will I use as the shakers and the cream Note the color variation. more cocobolo? Yes, but probably only as an accent here and cheese spreader shown here. All pieces started there. Its dark color suggests a certain formality that doesn’t quite out dark brownish- fi t my aesthetic, and its price doesn’t quite fi t my wallet. 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