Cocobolo Lumber

Welcome to CocoboloLumber.com!

If you need cocobolo lumber for any project, let us help you! You can find lumber in many sizes along with flooring, turning blanks, and thinwood. Do you have a special project and custom milling? We custom mill cocobolo and can provide you with a wide variery of options.

Cocobolo Lumber

Cocobolo is an amazing, rare exotic wood. Experienced wood workers love to use cocobolo because it adds a touch of elegance and artistry to their pieces. Below are the technical specs that you need to know when working with cocobolo. Whether you're a seasoned pro, or getting ready to use your new lathe for the very first time, you can buy cocobolo lumber from us with confidence.

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Description

Variegated tones of red orange and purple with darker to black contrasting grain lines. Grain pattern often swirly and or burl like. Sometimes strait grained but usually in larger trees.

Weight from about 61-75 lbs per cu. ft.
Typical Width = 4" to 7"
Typical Length = 3' to 5'

Cocobolo lumber comes from three major areas. Each have their own unique characteristics:

Mexico: Mexican Cocobolo
  • Kiln dries well less check prone
  • Beautiful red orange with heavy black and purple lines
  • Some fully purple with orange red and black lines
  • Very little brown orange material
  • Slow growing tight ring growth beautiful figure
  • Most material is harvested with men, chainsaws, and donkeys; very little impact on environment
Guatemala : Guatemalan Cocobolo
  • New emergence of this type recently in the past 6 or 7 years
  • Less check prone than Nicaraguan
  • Beautiful figure red orange color with black and purple lines
  • Some material brown orange less appealing look
  • Less impactful logging
Nicaragua: Nicaraguan Cocobolo
  • Check prone
  • More difficult to kiln dry
  • Often beautiful red orange color with slight brown orange color
  • Harvested with modern logging methods that impact its environment negatively
  • Some is plantation grown with wider ring growth & less intense figure

Country of Origin

Mexico Central America and areas of northern South America

Botanical Name

Dalbergia Retusa or Dalbergia Granadillo

Other Names

Granadillo (Mexico), rosewood, cocobola , cocobolo rosewood

Mechanical Properties

High mechanical strength in all categories.

Janka Hardness

1136

Working Properties

  • Cocobolo machines well with sharp hand and power tools
    • Moderate blunting effect on cutting edges which must be kept very sharp
    • A reduced cutting angle is required for planing or molding and the surface can be rendered very smooth to the touch
    • Must be pre-drilled
    • Use Epoxy for best result
  • It takes stain and can be brought to an excellent finish
  • Difficult to glue wipe joint w/ acetone or denatured alcohol and use 2 part epoxy for adhesive.
  • Water based finish only other likely not to stick
  • Swirly grain more likely to tear out
    • Spiral cutters are quite effective
  • Dust can be an irritant on skin or lungs
    • Proper safety precautions advised
  • Will darken with exposure to UV light
    • UV blocker suggested
  • Must take care to not expose to excessive dry heat
  • End grain especially susceptible to checking
  • Very hard to dry below 12% mc
  • Quite workable at 12%- 16% mc but finished product must be kept away from excessive dry heat
  • Material thicker than 2” very likely to check
  • Wiping joists with acetone or denatured alcohol will decrease resin on joint surfaces

Durability

Very durable and resistant to preservative treatment.

Seasoning

Dries very slowly with a marked tendency to split and check. Small movement in service.

Uses

Turning, cutlery handles, tool handles, wine bottle stoppers, bowls, truncheons, fancy goods, executive pens, wood game calls, jewelry boxes, wooden jewelry, decorative items and inlay.

Also a perfect wood for unique, exotic looking hardwood flooring.

Comments

Like with many woods, use of protective eye and mouth wear is recommended. Cocobolo wood dust can be a moderate irritant to exposed skin.

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