COCOBOLO
BOTANICAL NAME: Dalbergia retusa of the Family Fabaceae (syn Leguminosae) the legume, pea, or bean family. One other Dalbergia, D. granadillo, is also often called cocobolo and in fact the wood from D. granadillo often looks like that of D. retusa, but still, it is common in the USA to restrict "cocobolo" to D. retusa and leave D. granadillo as "granadillo" which is how it is listed on this site (along with a lot of other woods that are also called granadillo, on the page "granadillo")

Dalbergia hypoleuca is reported as a synonym

COMMON NAMES: In Mexico, the tree is called granadillo, but in most places around the world, Dalbergia retusa is known as cocobolo. Other common names are: caviuana, caviuna, cocobolo nambar, cocobolo negro, cocobolo prieto (panama), cocoboloholz, costa rica), foseholz, funera (el salvador), granadilla, granadillo (mexico, guatemala), jacarandaholz, legitimo, melon, mexican cocobolo, nambar (nicaragua), nambar de agui, nambar legitimo, nicaragua rosewood, palisander, palisandre, palisandro, palissandro, pallisander, palo sandro, pau preto, red foxwood, rosewood, uruana

"Granadillo" is widely reported as a name for this wood but there are well over 60 species that have "gradadillo" as all or part of one or more of their common names, so it is basically useless as a means of determining what wood is intended.

TYPE: hardwood

COLOR: the heartwood is a mix of brilliant colors ranging from deep reds to an attractive mix of streaks and markings of red, black, purple, yellow and orange. I've seen pieces that were almost pure orange with very dark streaks (one of my samples in the pictures) and other pieces are very dark purple, looking almost exactly like Brazilian Rosewood (another of my samples in the pictures). The heartwood frequently contains violet and light purple when freshly cut, but this deepens to an orangish brown with shades of purple in a matter of days. Sapwood is pale, almost white, not very attractive and clearly demarcated from the heartwood as you can see in many of my sample pics. The amount of figure and contrasting color varies so widely from tree to tree that an inexperienced person could be forgiven for finding it hard to believe that two pieces are of the same type wood.

The wood darkens with age, and without UV finish protection, can turn nearly black.

Boiling the wood in water is reported to remove some of the color, although why anyone would want to do that I cannot imagine.

GRAIN: usually straight, but it is occasionally interlocked

TEXTURE: slightly oily, generally very uniform and fine

PROPERTIES / WORKABILITY: Very hard and heavy with high mechanical strength in all categories. Sands very nicely and Can be sanded and rubbed to a smooth, waxy finish without application of finishing materials. Difficult to glue due to natural oiliness, and some pieces will require wiping with acetone before applying glue. It responds very well to most tools in planing, boring, mortising, moulding, turning, and other machining operations and Worked surfaces generally are very smooth and clean. This is a terrific wood to work with if you can afford it and if you don't find it too gaudy. It rates high for strength but is rarely used for that purpose, although the wood is used to make small tool handles. Screw and nail joints hold well but pre-drilling is recommended. Works well with both hand and power tools. Moderate blunting effect on cutting edges which must be kept very sharp.

Personally, I have found that freshly rough-sanded pieces glue quite nicely, with no need of acetone.

DURABILITY: high decay resistance but also resistant to preservative treatments, high mechanical durability and wear resistance, very high resistance to marine borer attack

FINISH: The wood finishes well with normal care but darkens quickly and some experts recommend the use of UV-resistant varnishes and my experience agrees with this. It can be polished to a high natural luster. While it reportedly takes stain well (I find that a little hard to believe because of the oiliness), anyone who stains this wood should be both shot AND hanged, all while being dipped in boiling oil. OK, maybe that's a little extreme, but they should at least be put in a mental institution.

When finishing this wood with polyurethane, great patience is required since it takes approximately forever for the polyurethane to dry, I guess due to the oiliness of the wood. However, it's worth the wait. Most reports say that a wax finish is your best bet.

STABILITY: very stable in service, partially due to the Very low moisture absorption because of the natural oils in the wood

BENDING: nothing reported

ODOR: odor slightly pungent and fragrant when worked --- no characteristic taste. One report says it smells like lilacs while it is being sawn or sanded. I can't smell so cannot add personal experience although I've handled a lot of this species.

SOURCES: Pacific regions of Central America and extending from Panama to southwestern Mexico. Countries include Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama. It is officially classified in some locations as either as extinct, endangered, rare, or vulnerable.

USES: Considered one of the most important woods in cutlery business for knife handles (can be soaked in soapy water with minimal ill effects). Also used for fine furniture and cabinetry and fine inlay work and anywhere that great beauty is desired. Various other reported uses: accent furniture, architectural woodwork, bedroom suites, boards, boxes and crates, brush backs, buttons, cabinetmaking, canes, carving, chess pieces, cutlery handles, decorative veneer, figured veneer, handles, inlay, jewelry boxes, kitchen cabinets, living-room suites, lumber, mirror frames, musical and scientific instruments, musical instruments, office furniture, ornamental work, plain veneer, radio & stereo & tv cabinets, shafts/handles, specialty items such as steering wheels, sporting goods, tool handles, turnery, utensils, veneer, wooden jewelry

TREE: small to medium-sized tree 45 to 70 ft high with trunk diameters of 20 to 30 in.; usually of poor form, which means that veneer is rare. I have it anecdotally that trees with a 3-foot diameter were not uncommon 50 years ago but due to over-logging are now very rare.

WEIGHT: very heavy: 62 to 76 lbs per cubic foot. Some reports say it won't float, and I keep forgetting to try that out. They may just mean the green wood, not dried wood.

DRYING: Opinions about drying are mixed. Some say the wood has a tendency to split and check and others say the wood has excellent drying properties, free of surface and end checking. Very low moisture absorption. Most reports say it dries slowly and some reports recommend seasoning the wood in log form before cutting, some say air dry for a while after cutting and before kiln drying, as direct green-to-kiln-drying causes warping and checking.

AVAILABILITY: It is most often available in turning blanks and small pieces, but lumber can be had, though 8" is about as wide as you'll normally find. Larger pieces are available but command a premium.

COST: moderately expensive. Can be had reliably for $15/BF and up, though most places are more expensive, with $20/BF and up being common. I have seen small, very highly figured, pieces sold at prices that pro-rate to many hundreds of dollars a board foot.

The dust is widely reported to be particularly irritating to both lungs and skin and it is one of the very few woods that have caused me, personally, trouble in this regard. I have asthma and when I first started working with exotics I didn't know the dust could be such a problem so I just used the fairly flimsy mask that I used with oak and pine and when I first sanded a piece of cocobolo, it brought on an asthma attack. I now wear a much better mask and it gives me no trouble. I have also developed a skin rash so bad from the dust that I had to get a prescription salve (which made it go right away).

many reports recommend full protection: gloves, long sleeves, a dust mask, and a protective skin cream, and I would not argue with any of that, although I find that a mask accompanied by a shower immediately after working with it is sufficient and long sleeves and skin cream are not necessary.

Some reports say it is waterproof but I have not tested that yet.

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web quotes:

There are only two kinds of people: Those who are allergic to Cocobolo and those who will be.

The Encyclopedia of Wood includes information about cocobolo and describes its relation to other members of the dalbergia family. "Collectively rosewood denotes various species of dalbergia; in particular Rio or Brazil rosewood, Indian or Bombay rosewood, and Chinese huang-hua-li. Close cousins include tulipwood, kingwood, and cocobolo, the diverse colors of all of which were used in the elaborate marquetry decoration of the furniture and joinery of the 18th-century Europe. The wood is seldom seen in the solid, except in oriental furniture." Cocobolo is usually shipped from growing areas like Costa Rica and Nicaragua in small, round billets. It is most often available in turning blanks or veneer.

Boston-area custom woodworker Eric Englander says that the wood’s dust can be problematic. “People I know who use it wear a mask, gloves and long sleeves when they are working with it,” he says.

Albert Constantine Jr., in Know Your Woods, expresses similar concerns about cocobolo’s dust. “When working with cocobolo,” he writes, “care must be taken to protect oneself from the fine dust, as it produces a poisoning similar to ivy poisoning. It can become very painful. When affected, a person usually has to remain away from work for a week and then may never again be able to be in a room where there is any cocobolo dust.”

The poorly formed stems yield the most uniquely figured and highly-prized wood

I have seen some pieces that are indistinguishable from Brazilian Rosewood, to which it is closely related, but normally cocobolo has much more variety and brightness.

Cocobolo (Dahlbergia retusa) belongs to the same genus as Brazilian rosewood, and in fact, has similar properties. Rosewood, however, likes South America's rain forests. Cocobolo prefers the drier, upland savanna country of Central America's Pacific Coast.

Cocobolo is so rare, very little of it reaches the world market. Because of its great beauty and high value, Cocobolo has been heavily exploited and is now mainly harvested from private finca's where the 80 to 100 year old trees have been able to mature.

Turns easily and takes a very high polish. I recommend against oil finishes with this wood since oil usually darkens it in a way that reduces its beauty rather than enhancing it. Polyurethane works particularly well with this wood because it enhances the yellow tints while keeping the browns light.

Turners often apply only a cabinetmaker's wax to cocobolo. Furniture and case goods require a penetrating oil with a wax topcoat. Other finishes provide only mediocre results.

Cocobolo is a member of the Rosewood family. It grows in the drier uplands on the Pacific side of Mexico down to Panama. Extremely oily it will reject almost any finish except wax. It shines up to a nice luster. Even an oil based varnish will not stick.

It is twice the weight of Walnut, and is so dense it does not absorb water (it will not float!). Because of its scarcity and high value, it is used for its rare beauty rather than for its extreme strength or durability.

The Encyclopedia of Wood, includes information about cocobolo and describes its relation to other members of the dalbergia family. “Collectively rosewood denotes various species of dalbergia; in particular Rio or Brazil rosewood, Indian or Bombay rosewood, and Chinese huang-hua-li. Close cousins include tulipwood, kingwood, and cocobolo, the diverse colors of all of which were used in the elaborate marquetry decoration of the furniture and joinery of the 18th-century Europe. The wood is seldom seen in the solid, except in oriental furniture.”