What do you want that is hard to find?

Slowly expand your inventory, foreign Burl, Stabilized burl and other wood, Desert Ironwood. I like your import of the Australian wood, great idea. Connect with local hunters and see if you can get Elk atler, if thats deemed popular, and legal to export.

You are great at generating exposure for your products, keep that up. Freebies also help.

Best Regards

Frank
 
Tambooti (AKA tamboti, tambuti, etc.) Spirostachys Africana, the un-stabilized wood has a nice scent, I’ve been told it’s a member of the sandalwood family.

I worked for a leather good manufacture for about 10 years, for vegetable tanned leather we used Hermann Oak (www.hermannoakleather.com) leather exclusively, I’d like to be able to get my hands on it again, but they have fairly large minimums seems like 10 sides last time I looked. For exotic leathers try John Fong Leather Co (johnfongexoticleathers.com). We didn’t use much exotic leather, but I met him at a few trade shows and he always had some interesting and good quality stuff.

Todd
 
I found some Asian trading companies that I contacted about amboyna and afezlia burl. They also had black & white ebony.
I will let you guys know what comes of it.
 
Burl Source said:
If anyone knows someone in the Phillipines that I can talk to about importing Amboyna please let me know. The stuff is selling for really high prices over here.

I am working on more Ironwood, but my guy doesn't go back till September.
Click to expand...

Amboyna does not come from the Philippines, although there is a bit growing there. Maido comes from there. Amboyna from Laos and Cambodia. It's expensive there, too. I do know a wholesale source in the states that will sell WHOLE Amboyna burls for $6.00/lb minimum 500 lbs purchase. Customers are allowed to choose their own burls.

You are aware that it is illegal to "export" ironwood from Mexico in any form except finished goods or art pieces like carvings? There are no exceptions and almost all the ironwood burl you see on the mail order sites and shows has been smuggled. The USDA is starting to uphold the Lacey Act and confiscating endangered wood that was not harvested legally. They searched Gibson Guitar and confiscated a lot of wood and are prosecuting. The USDA is aware of the ironwood situation and it will be up to the shop owners to prove they obtained it legally. I do not trade in ironwood any more as I'm particular where my stock comes from and like to think I have a conscience. Other mileage may vary.
 
I will be careful about the Ironwood. My first batch was old stuff from a turner's estate. The last batch were bases of pieces that had once had carvings attached that were dismantled. That was part of the reason I had so much loss. I would be interested in the US amboyna source Larry mentioned. You could PM or Email if you don't mind sharing the info. Thank You.

Here is a link to some info about the Lacey Act Larry mentioned.
 
Last edited:
Hey Mark,

I am generally aware there are paramount deforestation and environmental issues throughout the world. Unfortunately I am not informed enough about specific timbering practices in various places and what is sourced where. Personally I have chosen to nearly only use domestic woods. I have made a few exception though.

I like black bog oak and have sourced some from the UK. It's difficult to get though. I'd love some more. I also enjoy the patterns that some of the palms can generate. Red and black palm would be cool. One of the woods that says America to me more than many others is hickory. I've yet to find any with grain of note though. If there's such a thing as figured hickory, like crotch or burl, I'd jump on it.

Being in Hawaii, I've thought of working with ray, shark and eel skin/leather, but haven't pursued it. A couple of different times I started looking into getting some, but I didn't know what was what, so I just let it go. Maybe some day though, especially if I could get it from a friend.

I'm just a small frog in a big pond though, so don't go out on any limbs on my account.

All the best, Phil
 
Farmer Phil said:
If there's such a thing as figured hickory, like crotch or burl, I'd jump on it.
Click to expand...

Hickory can have curls to it. Our kitchen cabinets are hickory and a few door pieces are curly. Not much, just enough to make me want more of it :foot:
 
Not sure if it is legal to import kamagong from the Phillipines but if it is that is a very nice hardwood too.
 
go mike said:
Hickory can have curls to it. Our kitchen cabinets are hickory and a few door pieces are curly. Not much, just enough to make me want more of it :foot:
Click to expand...

Somewhere in a stash I have a 3' + stick of 2 1/4" t&g hickory strip flooring that is tiger striped the entire length just like maple.

My inlaws have a "character grade" plank hickory/pecan floor that has a bit of figure here and there, mostly the usual small curl around knots.

I'd love to see some Doug Fir burl. I've looked at about a bajillion board feet of finished cvg and flatsawn fir in the last five years but have yet to see any burl.

JR
 
JR42 said:
Somewhere in a stash I have a 3' + stick of 2 1/4" t&g hickory strip flooring that is tiger striped the entire length just like maple.

My inlaws have a "character grade" plank hickory/pecan floor that has a bit of figure here and there, mostly the usual small curl around knots.

I'd love to see some Doug Fir burl. I've looked at about a bajillion board feet of finished cvg and flatsawn fir in the last five years but have yet to see any burl.

JR
Click to expand...

The problem with Douglas Fir burl, at least what I have come across is the pitch content. One of the workers here took a piece last week and carved it into a freeform bowl. It finished beautifully. A rich amber color with flashy figure. The problem I saw was that it clogs the sandpaper quickly. It might be worth the effort though. The bowl received a lot of positive comments and was sold within a couple days.

We get a lot of fir stump and root burl occurring around here. It does not have the pins like maple or redwood burl. But the grain does make unusual patterns with some figure. I was cutting some the other day and should probably follow through with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top