Sad News

[jttheclockman]

Well it looks like another beautiful wood has been put on the can not get list. Bubinga. The rosewood family is also being endangered. It is getting very very frightful. All these beautiful exotic woods are slowly becoming unavailable and what is out there is so expensive to even touch. I always loved working with exotic woods because nature surly supplies some of the most beautiful woods that can not be matched.

For reading purposes.


Jan 2, 2017 update: Coming up at the beginning of 2017, there are a few big changes set to go into effect on the CITES appendices. Most notably, the entire Dalbergia genus (all true rosewoods) will be on Appendix II. Also, Bubinga will be listed under Appendix II, and appears that this will also include finished products made from the wood as well.

Restricted and Endangered Wood Species | The Wood Database

 

[liljohn1368]

Bubinga makes some of the prettiest pot calls there is.

 

[mark james]

The IAP Estate Blank Fundraiser (http://www.penturners.org/forum/f18/estate-blanks-fundraiser-142980/) has very few Bubinga blanks (less than 6), but we do have over 320 Rosewood blanks from 8 different species. Some have already been for sale, many more will be up for sale.

 

[CREID]

I bought a brand new bow to hunt with about 30 years ago and it had a bubinga insert in the riser. I know they continued to do that for many years and they had a fire a few years ago at that company and I don't know if they are even selling anymore. Just a little trivia.

 

[jttheclockman]

Maybe something for people to think about. The more wood becomes scarce the more it will command at the register.

 

[Ed McDonnell]

In addition to making the wood harder / more expensive to get commercially, it also makes it problematic to sell anything incorporating the protected wood. Especially if you ship across borders.

When I see the clear cut tropical forests that have been devastated by poachers, I can understand the need to do something. But a lot of protected woods are commonly available in South Florida as urban landscape salvage. It doesn't matter that the wood was saved from ending up in a landfill after a storm. If it's on the list you take your chances selling / shipping anything made from it.

Some of the dalbergia species ended up on the list, even though they are plentiful, because it is too hard to tell them from the really threatened species without all the tree stuff attached (leaves, bark....). Florida had classified East Indian Rosewood as an invasive species and was hell bent on wiping it out. I think they have now downgraded it to a nuisance plant.

The loss of tropical hardwoods would be a blow to the pen making hobby. But there is still a lot that can be down with domestic hardwoods that can result in spectacular pens. And then there is always resins and metais. For the time being anyway....

ed

 

[Skie_M]

As Cocobolo happens to be a true Rosewood, is this included in the new treaty?

 

[Ed McDonnell]

The entire dalbergia genus. Yes to cocobolo (and a bunch of others that don't have "rosewood" in the common name: kingwood, tulipwood, bois de rose, african blackwood, sissoo)

Ed

 

[mark james]

Does this mean that currently harvested Appendix II woods can still be sold/shipped within one country (i.e. US) without issue. But that International sales/shipping is where documentation is needed?

 

[adirondak5]

Does this mean that currently harvested Appendix II woods can still be sold/shipped within one country (i.e. US) without issue. But that International sales/shipping is where documentation is needed?

That's my understanding Mark , as long as its in country and sold within country (i.e. USA) there should be no issue . Just don't leave country with a Appendix II wood pen without documentation , or try to bring any back in . This has been an issue in the guitar building world for a while now , and even an issue traveling internationally with finished guitars with listed woods .

 

[Dale Lynch]

It's sad news indeed that the prices are going up.Wish I had the money to pick it up because I found a source of bubinga that has about 300 bf just under 8.00 bf.