Wood From South Africa

[Leather Man]

Can any one tell me what some of the best exotic woods are in SA?
I have a friend that goes to South Africa quite often and I would like him to bring back some exotic wood. What would be some choices you would pick?

Thanks
Ben

 

[Xander]

What do you mean by "bring back"? I doubt he would be able to get anything through customs.

 

[Kinger]

I got a couple pieces of camelthorn from woodturninz its from south africa and plentiful i heard they use it for firewood over there, its orangish brown with black stripes

 

[crabcreekind]

pink ivory is a really good wood. But like someone else said. I doubt you will be able to get it through customs

 

[terryf]

We do use camelthorn (kameeldoring) for firewood - it isn't all that its made out to be.

Pink ivory is plentiful as is Karee. Transvaal Teak is also a nice wood - has some nice figure to it.

African Blackwood is also nice to work with but quite heavy. You can get very dark versions that look almost like ebony.

My favorite is red bush willow and Matumi though.

 

[Leather Man]

Thanks guys. I never thought about not getting through customs with it.

Ben

 

[Xander]

Thanks guys. I never thought about not getting through customs with it.

Ben

You might be ok with customs if these are 'professionally prepared' pen blanks. Getting raw wood through customs is another thing altogether.

All I can say is give it a try but be prepared to surrender your goodies.

 

[edstreet]

This is a very tricky question as the location makes a huge difference. Things I would look at is olivewood, Bois De Rose, anything burl, heavy dense striping like striped ebony.

Now having said that I would urge them to look at the laws on exports, you have some serious illegal cuttings going on and many of the tree's are protected.

To give you some idea of what we are dealing with here.

Madagascar has 47 species of rosewood and over 100 ebony species that occur nowhere else, and their exploitation is pushing some to the brink of extinction,

The Mpingo is also very slow growing, taking between 70-200 years to grow to a mature size and many only grow to be able 9 feet. tall. It is the national tree of Tanzania even though the tree can be found in about 26 different African countries, including Ethiopia, Angola, Senegal, and many others. This tree is great for those who do agricultural work as it is known to improve the fertility of the soil as well as the soil's stability. The Blackwood is a great source of food for various herbivores as well as livestock as these animals will eat its leaves. Despite being a very hardy tree (most of the mature trees are even able to survive a fire), the population of the African Blackwood has been on the decline.

I encourage everyone who works with exotic woods to learn more about the wood you are working with, it not only helps with conservation but with usage and it's very educational.

 

[Jgrden]

Zangara and Kaku.