How much is it worth? Helping a widowed friend

[Joebobber]

Hi I am trying to help a friend of mine who has recently lost her husband. He had been a turner for 50 plus years, and in part of his wood horde she found some Brazilian rosewood and Honduran rosewood burl. She is trying to sell everything but she doesn't know where to start for a fair price. If you can help me out I would appreciate it. The sizes are in the pictures, and only the 1st picture is Brazilian rosewood. Thank you guys so much!

 

[jttheclockman]

You can always check ebay and type in the exotic wood of choice and I am sure someone is selling similar to what you have and go from there.

 

[Joebobber]

I couldn't find Brazilian rosewood pen blanks, and with the Honduran rosewood burl alot of it is so thin, and some isn't very burly. I have bought Honduran rosewood burl anywhere from $30 a pen blank to $25 for 5 pen blanks so a wide range there... I'm just kind of looking for a ballpark, as she was going to try to sell the Honduran rosewood burl as a lot and the Brazilian rosewood pen blanks as a lot.

 

[Dehn0045]

brazilian rosewood is difficult to authenticate, and therefore unless you have a large quantity or are a reputable seller its hard to command any premium. In my opinion a couple of pen blanks on their own aren't worth much more than other rosewoods - on the order of $5 each.

I personally don't think the thins have much value. You're going to need about 3/8" (could maybe do 1/4") for knife scales and would want them to be bookmatched. Maybe $5 each for the thinner slabs, and $10 for the thicker one. The 1/16" strips are super duper thin, maybe a few $ for the group.

The one marked #5 is a nice little chunk, i'd say maybe about $15.

#8 is in the $5 to $10 range

#7 is the most valuable piece in the lot, I'd put it somewhere in the $30 range.

Box it all up and you might be able to get $50 or $60.

I'm not interested in buying, so this is just my best guess of market value, take it for what its worth.

 

[Joebobber]

brazilian rosewood is difficult to authenticate, and therefore unless you have a large quantity or are a reputable seller its hard to command any premium. In my opinion a couple of pen blanks on their own aren't worth much more than other rosewoods - on the order of $5 each.

I personally don't think the thins have much value. You're going to need about 3/8" (could maybe do 1/4") for knife scales and would want them to be bookmatched. Maybe $5 each for the thinner slabs, and $10 for the thicker one. The 1/16" strips are super duper thin, maybe a few $ for the group.

The one marked #5 is a nice little chunk, i'd say maybe about $15.

#8 is in the $5 to $10 range

#7 is the most valuable piece in the lot, I'd put it somewhere in the $30 range.

Box it all up and you might be able to get $50 or $60.

I'm not interested in buying, so this is just my best guess of market value, take it for what its worth.

Thank you so much for your help! I'm not interested in buying it either, but only because my wife says I have too much wood. Like there is such a thing right? I really appreciate the help though! I don't want to see her taken advantage of as she was thinking about selling it on Ebay and has no idea what any of it is worth.

 

[Fred Bruche]

I agree with Sam's evaluation. The "money blank" seems to be #7, good size for a game call blank or 2, I'd go a tad higher, maybe $50-60 range.
Looks like the top 2 larger slices in #9 are booked matched but at 1/16" I don't see that they can be used for knife handles or pistol grip.

 

[Joebobber]

I agree with Sam's evaluation. The "money blank" seems to be #7, good size for a game call blank or 2, I'd go a tad higher, maybe $50-60 range.
Looks like the top 2 larger slices in #9 are booked matched but at 1/16" I don't see that they can be used for knife handles or pistol grip.

Thank you Fred. I really appreciate everyone's help on this!

 

[Dehn0045]

here is an ebay seller of HRB that I have watched for a while: https://www.ebay.com/sch/brd6556.koi4dio/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

His prices are fair compared to others, but his prices were a bit lower when he first came on the scene. That is sort of the crux, reputable sellers can command a premium, but since this is just a one-off its a little harder. My estimate was taking this into account, so a reputable seller or specialty wood dealer might be able to get double or triple that value.

 

[wolf creek knives]

Just a word of caution. Brazilian Rosewood is on the CITES treaty list.

 

[Joebobber]

Yeah she wasn't really going to sell international but thanks for reminding me of that.

 

[wolf creek knives]

Yeah she wasn't really going to sell international but thanks for reminding me of that.

If you haven't sold the Brazilian Rosewood yet, let me know I'm interested. Please PM with price and info.

 

[Dieseldoc]

JB: PM sent