Bubinga availability

[C. in Indy]

FYI, I'm not yet sure what this means exactly.   But maybe it will influence some hand-tool makers such as Hock, Clifton, Veritas:

https://hocktools.wordpress.com/
    (Jan 2, 2017 blog)

http://breedlovemusic.com/acoustic-guita...-dalbersia

[MattP]

It's not the endangered species list, but you can see the endangered species list from the CITES list. For all practical purposes except mere possession, bubinga is basically being treated like an endangered species.

[Mike Brady]

That's interesting and sad at the same time.  Speaking of bubinga handles on Veritas tools, I have been wanting to make a new handle for my small plow plane.  I'm not familiar with how Veritas holds their stock handle onto the plane body.  Does anyone know what their fastening design is?  I think it uses a hex key.

[Gregory of Sherwood Forest]

Yeah, we got word of this in October. We tried to buy as much Cocobolo as possible at the store, but the prices spiked immediately and sharply. We almost doubled the price overnight. We have bubinga still, but that supply is also beginning to run out. I may end up just buying the last hundred bd/ft of each and stashing it. I have been laying it away since October, but only in small amounts. I just picked up a truckload of rosewood in 2"x2" and 3"x3" turning sticks of 3 ft length. That's for my personal stash as well. The prices are going up for it as well.

I'm hoping some serious conservation and restoration of the forestry in these woods occur. Maybe in another couple decades, we can get it back.

[AHill]

It does not surprise me that bubinga would end up on the list.  I have personally seen entire flitches of bubinga taken from a tree that was at least 5-6 feet in diameter and 20 feet long.  That's old growth stuff that is irreplaceable.  Cocobolo has been getting harder and harder to find as well.  It would be nice to see more responsibly managed forests for exotic woods to ensure their long term availability.

[EricU]

I suppose I should have seen this coming over 20 years ago when the place I bought wood had a 20' long, 20" wide, 6" thick slab of Bubinga that was almost perfectly quartersawn.  That tree had to be immense.  I also suppose I should have kept the receipt for the stuff I bought, is that all you need to prove it's legacy wood?

[RB61]

This will also hit the bowyers and commercial bow manufacturers .

[omark]

> But maybe it will influence some hand-tool makers such as Hock, Clifton, Veritas:

Right. Few months ago I have noticed that molded spine backsaws from LV probably changed material for handles (see the description at LV webpage).
Now, that news from Hock provides some explanation.

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

I suppose I should have seen this coming over 20 years ago when the place I bought wood had a 20' long, 20" wide, 6" thick slab of Bubinga that was almost perfectly quartersawn.  That tree had to be immense.  I also suppose I should have kept the receipt for the stuff I bought, is that all you need to prove it's legacy wood?

We had a 20 or 30 inch wide bubinga board on sale when I worked at Rockler. I admired it for a few days and then decided it should go home with me at the end of my shift. But one of my customers beat me to it.

Bubinga will be missed.

[maswindell]

It's not surprising this is happening with all the deforestation going on worldwide. I bought some 4x4 IPE that I used to make planes and it has been very stable and hard. I saw some prices for 4x4 Ipe at $25 per ft which aint cheap.. I 'm lucky to have a quantity of it so I might put up for sale as It is just sitting around. Thieve was actually used in the boardwalk at Disneyland some 20 years ago.