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The Rosewood Family
Dalbergia
Amazon Rosewood
Scientific Name: Dalbergia spruceana
Location: Brazil, Venezula, Bolivia
Janka Hardness: 2,620lbf
Crushing Strength: not available
Amazon Rosewood tends to be orange or reddish brown, with darker contrasting streaks. The sapwood is a lighter yellowish color. It has a uniform medium texture and its end grain is diffuse-porous. The wood is likely durable in regards to decay. It is fairly difficult to work with on account of its density. Care must be taken when gluing this wood. It turns, finishes well, and can be polished to high natural lustre.
Scientific Name: Dalbergia nigra
Brazilian Rosewood varies in color from a darker chocolate brown to a lighter purplish or reddish brown color, with darker contrasting streaks. The sapwood is a lighter yellowish color. The grain is straight, occasionally interlocked, spiralled, or wavy, and it has a uniform medium to coarse texture. The end grain is diffuse-porous. The wood is rated as very durable in regards to decay. It is easy to work with and turns and finishes well. The wood can be difficult to glue due to its high natural oil content.
Burmese Rosewood
Scientific Name: Dalbergia oliveri
Location: Myanmar and other southeast Asian nations
Burmese Rosewood has a heartwood which ranges from a medium orange to a darker reddish brown color, sometimes with darker black streaks. The sapwood is a yellow color. The grain is usually straight or slightly interlocked and it has a medium-fine texture. The wood gives off a good natural lustre. The end grain is diffuse-porous. It is rated as very durable in regards to decay. It is easy to work with, but can blunt cutting surfaces. Care should be used when gluing and finishing the wood. It turns and polishes well.
East Indian Rosewood
Scientific Name: Dalbergia latifolia
Location: India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia
East Indian Rosewood has a heartwood that varies from a golden brown to a deep purplish brown color, sometimes with darker brown streaks. The wood wll darken with age becoming a deep brown. The grain is narrowly interlocked and it has a medium texture. The end grain is diffuse -porous. The wood is rated as very durable in regards to decay. It is difficult to work with because of its density and interlocked grain. The wood glues and finishes well, but extra caution should be taken when doing initial sealing coats.
Honduran Rosewood
Scientific Name: Dalbergia stevensonii
Location: Belize
Honduran Rosewood has a heartwood That ranges from a deep brownish-purple to a light brown color and a sapwood that is a pale yellow color. The grain is straight although it can be wild at times and it has a fine to medium texture. The wood gives off a good natural lustre. The end grain is diffuse-porous to semi-ring-porous. The wood is rated as very durable in regards to decay. It is somewhat difficult to work with because of its moderate blunting effect. Gluing can be problematic because of its high oil content. The woods color can bleed into surround areas when applying a finishes. It turns well.
Madagascar Rosewood
Scientific Name: Dalbergia spp.
Location: Madagascar
Crushing Strength: 11,100lbf /in2
Madagascar Rosewood has a heartwood that ranges from light yellow brown to darker orange or reddish brown color, while the sapwood is a pale yellow color. The grain is usually straight and it has a uniform medium-fine texture. The end grain is diffuse-porous. The wood is rated as moderately durable to very durable in regards to decay. It is easy to work with and turns and polishes well. Care must be taken when gluing and finishing the wood.
Siamese Rosewood
Scientific Name: Dalbergia cochinchinensis
Location: Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos
Siamese Rosewood has a heartwood that is medium to dark reddish brown in color, with darker brown to black streaks throughout. The sapwood is a pale yellowish white. The grain is straight to slightly interlocked and it has a medium uniform texture. The wood gives off a good natural lustre. Rosewood is rated as very durable in regards to decay. It is a fair wood to work with but it can be difficult to glue and finish it. It does turn well.
Yucatan Rosewood
Scientific Name: Dalbergia tucurensis
Location: Central and South America
Yucatan Rosewood has a heartwood that ranges from a light brown to a deep russet brown color. The grain is straight and it has a medium texture. It gives off a moderate natural lustre. The end grain is diffuse-porous or semi-diffuse-porous. It is easy to work with and turns and polishes well. This species of Rosewood has a little better results when gluing and finishing.
Non – Dalbergia
Tiete Rosewood
Scientific Name: Guibourtia hymenaeifolia
Location: South America
Tweet Rosewood has a color of orange to pinkish brown and it will darken and redden with age. The grain is straight and it has a medium to fine uniform texture. The end grain is diffuse-porous. It is somewhat difficult to work with due to its hardness and density. The wood also has a blunting effect on cutters.