October 25, 1918 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



25 



Rosewood as Veneer Material 



Origin of Wood and Its Cost Laid Down at the Factories in This Country 



ANUFACTURERS OF VENEER are apparently 

 overlooking the possibilities of rosewood as a 

 fine material for high-class articles. They han- 

 dle only three per cent of this wood arriving in 

 the United States; or, at least, that is the showing made 

 by statistics. The qualities of rosewood are such that it 



and the lightest is heavier than sugar maple. The heav- 

 iest sinks in water almost like a stone. 



it is not possible to be exact in definitions of rosewood, 

 because authorities differ or are in doubt regarding some 

 of them. 



Wanks river rosewood comes from Honduras and is 



ought to have a prominent place in the factories that use sometimes known by the name of that country, though 



veneer. It is costly, and for that reason it should be cut 

 thin to make a small quantity go a long way. The entire 

 output of veneer reported in the country the last census, 

 was cut one-thirtieth of an inch thick and was manu- 

 factured by the rotary process, and all in the state of 

 Ohio. Later statistics would probably show different 

 results. 



The annual consumption of rosewood in the United 

 States for ail purposes is shown in the following figures, 

 compiled by the Forest Service: 



Feet board measure 

 instruments 219,333 



Industry 

 Professional and scientifi 



Fixtures 52,925 



Musical instruments 49,645 



Railroad cars 37,000 



Sporting and athletic goods 24,400 



Handles 15,456 



Furniture 1 5,280 



Brushes 1 2,050 



Faucets 1 0,642 



Artificial limbs 1 0,000 



Doors and sash 6, 1 00 



Carpet sweepers 5,500 



Novelties 3,6 I 3 



Picture frames 2,420 



Electrical apparatus . 



Boats 



Shade rollers 



Plumbers' woodwork 



Clocks 



Tobacco 



2,200 

 1,600 

 1,000 

 1,000 

 290 

 100 



Total 471,734 



Rosewood is a somew^hat general name and is ap- 

 plied to several kinds of trees, all of which do not belong 

 to the same family. Rosewood belongs to the same 

 family as our locust, redbud, and Kentucky yellow- 

 wood. No rosew^ood grows naturally in any part of the 

 United States, but it is strictly a tropical tree. 



A general misunderstanding exists as to the origin of 

 the name. It is due to the odor, not the color of the wood. 

 No rosewood has a rose color, but all of the different 

 species smell like a rose, if the wood is freshly cut. It 

 gives off that odor while burning, and under the action 

 of great heat a resin with strong, pleasant smell, exudes 

 from the v^rood. 



While the different kinds of rosewood differ in weight, 

 all are heavy; and they likewise differ in hardness, though 

 all are hard. The hardest is nearly as hard as ebony wood or Rosetta rosewood 



the region where it first came into notice is in Nicaragua. 

 The thoroughly dry wood sometimes weighs as much as 

 seventy-seven pounds per cubic foot, though some is 

 lighter. In color it is among the palest of the rosewoods. 

 The wood is nut brown with narrow black lines. 



From the same general region comes another rose- 

 wood called the Nicaraguan. In color and weight it is 

 so much like that from Wanks river that the casual ob- 

 server would take them to be the same, and possibly 

 they are the same, though there is high authority for con- 

 sidering them as belonging to different species. 



Still another comes from Central America and is com- 

 monly called Nicaragua rosewood. It is considerably 

 lighter in weight than the foregoing species, and the 

 woods's color is wholly different. It is brilliant red or 

 reddish orange, and narrow, black lines are plentiful. 



The dark line is so often present in rosewood that it 

 may be considered a characteristic feature. The Nica- 

 ragua wood feels like marble, being smooth and cool to 

 the touch. 



The best known rosewood and the one most widely 

 used comes from Brazil and the West Indies. Different 

 species may pass by the same name. That known as 

 "Bahai rosewood" may be different from the Brazil rose- 

 wood, which is Dalbergia nigra, and may be taken as the 

 type of all the rosewood group. It is the wood commonly 

 met with in this country. So far as figures at hand show, 

 it is lowest in weight of all American rosewoods, still the 

 oven-dry wood will sink. Its color is blackish or purplish, 

 or it may be quite black. It displays the usual dark 

 streaks. In Brazil they call this wood "jacaranda." 



Rosewoods come from Africa, Asia, and islands of 

 the Indian Ocean, as well as from tropical America, but 

 some from the eastern countries that pass as rosewood 

 are not even in the rosewood family. The following, 

 however, are true rosewoods: 



African blackwood or Senegal ebony (Dalbergia me- 

 lanoxylon) grows in tropical Africa, and that imported 

 to America comes principally from the West Coast, 

 whence comes also the African mahogany. Many per- 

 sons who use this rosewood suppose it is ebony, so dark 

 is its color. Apparently it reaches America in quite small 

 quantities. 



A species of true rosewood comes from India and ad- 

 jacent islands, but most buyers and sellers list it as black- 



The wood is brown with 



