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?

 

[John Andrews]

Yes, and it's not stuff you want to breathe while working with it, especially sanding or grinding the wood. Poison to your system, just like many exotic woods. Some folks develop really serious reactions to many wood dusts, even skin contact with the dust. Actually, no dust is not good to suck into your lungs.

 

[Jerry Hossom]

It's not nice to work with, as was just noted. It does make some people VERY sick. Another consideration is that the beauty fades with time. Exposure to light darkens it. If you see a cocobolo handle that's more than 5 years old it will be a lot less attractive than it was when it was just finished. You can retard that happening with UV blocker waxes, etc, but you really can't prevent it.

 

[NickWheeler]

Joss,

I like it, and it's very inexpensive... I've picked up several nice blocks of it at Gilmer's for $1/block!!!

I don't mind working it so much.... but it seems very unstable. Just about every knife I've put it on, I later got a call that the wood had shrunk. But nobody stabilizes it as far as I know.

Now I usually just put it on test knives.

Nick

 

[fetz]

i am making a knife and using it for the handle, nice wood to work with, i agree 100% with the beauty!

 

[blademan 13]

Nick,

That's funny. The little Scandi that you put Cocobolo on is actually one of the more stable woods I have used. I have seen everything from Desert Ironwood to African Blackwood move around after spending a year with me. 120 degree temperature swings and humidity swings of over 50% sure have a way of making wood move if it is going to.

 

[anvilring]

Hitorically it has enjoyed great staying power; lots of knives I've viewed from the 19th have had coco on'em and pocketknife makers used the heck out of the stuff. Just because a handfull of bladesmiths have not used it in a while doesn't tell me much: handmade knives are trendy and their customers fickle to say the least. Commercially these days (commercially made cutlery) it may just be a matter of money; there are cheaper woods out there. As some have said, it is a big irritant for some people's skin and lungs. I've never had any trouble with it at all.

m

 

[Alpha Knife Supply]

I think cocobolo has decreased in popularity for two reasons:

1) It makes some knifemakers sick.

2) High figure cocobolo is getting very hard to find. Almost all the cocobolo available now comes from plantations. The conditions for growing are optimal so the wood has nice straight grain. The older cocobolo trees that grow in the wild are subject to droughts, animals, bugs and other hazards that disfigure or harm the tree. These trees have the best figure. Unfortunately the large wild trees are almost all gone.

 

[jhiggins]

I'm fond of cocobolo, but ANY wood dust just about kills me. I used to do a lot of woodturning, and I had a small Jet lathe I would push outside to turn some stuff. Cocobolo makes excellent nunchaku and tonfa, or any other fighting baton. I have an ice-fishing jigging pole with a coco handle on it. Do I use it for knives? Not much. Too hazardous to my health. I cough like a coal miner when I use that stuff - even with a mask on.