Why is Cocobolo so unpopular these days?

[Joss]

I think Cocobolo is one of the prettiest woods out there. In my opinion, it can rival the best ironwood. It's a rosewood and polishes *beautifully* if one takes the time.

Yet you hardly see it on knives from the top makers. It's used quite a bit by makers beyond the "creme de la creme", but rarely by, say, the top 500 makers. You often see other woods, many of which are not as pretty by far. I remember the craze for ringed gidgee, which is nice but nothing like a nice piece of rosewwod, and I wonder.

Is it because Cocobolo is so readily available?

 

[blademan 13]

I think that one of the reasons is that it tends to be associated with production knives. Queen, Marble's, Gerber and others have all offered this wood in production. Many knives are also marketed with Rosewood handles which are really Dymondwood or something similar. People tend to expect something more "exotic" in a custom. I do have a nice utility fixed blade user from Nick Wheeler in Cocobolo. Beautiful grain, nice polish and it has been very stable and durable for the 2 years I've used it.

Another reason it doesn't get much use is that it seems I have heard of people getting bad reactions from the dust.

 

[Steven Roos]

Another reason it doesn't get much use is that it seems I have heard of people getting bad reactions from the dust.

It is seriously nasty stuff!

 

[Bastid]

I love the stuff too. So much that I have a beautiful Tomway rolltop cocobolo box that holds some of my collection.

 

[Kohai999]

Cocobolo is a gorgeous wood, but it has some serious drawbacks.

1) The dust is hazardous to many people, and if you are not allergic to it, if you breathe enough of it, you will BECOME allergic to it. It causes bronchial reactions, and can make your skin break out. Again, this is the dust, only, but some people that are allergic can not handle the wood at all.
2) Being an oily wood, it has a tendancy to shrink in arid climates. It comes from tropical rainforests, Costa Rica being a major supplier, hence TomWay's use of it in boxes and cases.
3) It darkens with use. Get enough blood sweat and tears on it and it will look like African Blackwood.

I think the reason that cocobolo was popular 10 + years ago is that the drawbacks were not as well known as they are now.

For these reasons, that is why I think Desert Ironwood has become the darling of the knife community. It won't make you sick, it is stable, and does not darken much with use.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[Joss]

Thanks all, this is very good info.

 

[Wild Rose]

For these reasons, that is why I think Desert Ironwood has become the darling of the knife community. It won't make you sick, it is stable, and does not darken much with use.

With all due respect - actually two of the three problems Ironwood shares with Cocobolo, and many other exotics such as rosewood
1) Working Desert Ironwood will make one sick - It can cause SERIOUS lung problems, including a rare and deadly form of pneumonia (Mike Hull, who often post in the Bladesmith forum, is the man to ask for more info about this). Skin rashes can also be a major problem with many different woods.

2) Ironwood does in most cases oxidize aka darken over time - especially when handled much. Actually most natural, un stabilized woods oxoidize after handling - the oil from ones hand

Here is a partial list of woods and their potential toxicity http://old.mendelu.cz/~horacek/toxic.htm

 

[george tichbourne]

I find that hunters like the cocobolo and I am using a lot of it on moose hunters right now, collectors usually want something more exotic.

For the most part cocobolo is not as irritating as some other like rosewood or african blackwood and finishes very well. In Canada the climate is very dry in the winter and fair to middling humid in the summer but cocobolo does not shrink or expand with the changes in humidity. Darkening is noticable on lighter varieties of cocobolo but the dark red is pretty colour stable.

In fact my own moose knife is made with a cocobolo handle because I like the stuff.

 

[Kohai999]

As most of what I see for sale is stabilized desert ironwood, and cocobolo cannot be stabilized because of the oils. I like stabilized better than unstabilized for a number of reasons, and so do many of the makers that I talk to.

I did not know that DI was an irritant, thanks for the heads up.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[Wild Rose]

Howdy Steven -
Being primarily a maker of frontier knives and gear I don't use stabilized, but there are reasons why.

It seems to me from various post that there are many makers who use unstabilized DI since it is naturally so stable. Most wood irritation is really only a concern when worked, it's the dust. Some folks are though irritated just by contact, but it's unusual.

 

[glorfindel]

Interesting thread. What can you say about Zebrawood? And...what about this dust - if the wood is stabilized it shouldn't irritiate skin, or maybe i am wrong...?

 

[misque]

What can you say about Zebrawood?

I'm pulling this from memory because I can't lay me hands on the list of toxic woods I have somewhere around here.

Zebrawood, IIRC, is a sensitizer (I think that means the more your exposed the worse the symptoms become), it's dust is considered to be toxic and will cause respiratory problems if inhaled. Skin irritation is somewhat iffy, as in, some get it and some don't.

When I find that list, I'll update and make corrections and/or additions if needed.

I hope this helps.


Also, I can't see where stabilizing would decrease or eliminate any problems you'd have with the dust. The chemicals in the dust that make it bad for you are not altered when the wood is stabilized. There just mixed with a polymer which in dust form, cannot be good for you either.

 

[glorfindel]

thanks misque for the answer! weird...

let's see if I survive using my new zebrawood sebbie