Product Description

Cocobolo Rosewood

Family: Leguminosae

Other Common Names: Funera (El Salvador), Palo negro (Honduras), Nambar (Nicaragua, Costa Rica), Cocobolo, Cocobolo prieto (Panama).

Distribution: Pacific regions of Central America and extending from Panama to southwestern Mexico. Of limited occurrence, usually in the drier uplands.

The Tree: A small to medium-sized tree *5 to *0 ft high with trunk diameters of *0 to *4 in.; usually of poor form.

The Wood:
General Characteristics: Somewhat variable in color when freshly sawn but heartwood usually becoming a deep rich orange red with black striping or mottling on exposure Texture fine; grain straight to interlocked; oily; without distinctive taste, odor slightly pungent and fragrant when worked. Fine dust may cause dermatitis.

Weight: Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.*0 to 0.*8; air- dry density *2 to *6 pcf.

Mechanical Properties: No data available, but is denser and stronger than Brazilian rosewood (see D. nigra).

Drying and Shrinkage: Reported to have excellent drying properties, free of surface and end checking. A kiln schedule similar to T*-B1 has been suggested. Shrinkage is usually low; high stability in use. Very low moisture absorption.

Working Properties: Reported to have excellent machining characteristics; natural oils give the wood a good polish, but make it unsuitable for gluing. Fine dust may produce rash resembling ivy poisoning.

Durability: Durability is high, has very high resistance to marine borer attack.