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I bought a Madagascar rosewood square and they accidentally sent me something else. From the color I guessed it should be South American before anything else. Very heavy, I hoped Honduras RW but it has pores, which I heard Honduras doesn't have.
Scraped smell: definitely not a rosewood. It does have a noticeable sweet smell, pleasant, but very similar to how..average quality soap usually smells.

I checked the sellers catalog and they have this thing called "pao violetto".

They are in vacation now and I can't ask. What do you guys think about it? Google didn't help.

Thanks!

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Build log

I've found one association between pao violetto and Kingwood (dalbergia cearensis) while googling.
What I have and some of the kingwood I've seen online are not much different.
The tap tone seems nice, has that glassy ping (as far as a chunky square is able to sound).
Scraped texture is fine and lustrous, superior to Indian Rosewood.

But that soap smell, really nothing in common with the 6 other rosewood species I worked.

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Build log

Honduran Rosewood does have pores.

Like Glen said, honduran can have pores, and can look a lot like your picture, so i wouldn't rule it out. Whatever it is it looks like it will make a nice sum'thin.

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

I currently am pretty sure it is brazilian kingwood. I bought it to cut some bridges out of it, but honestly hacking up such a nice large piece of wood doesn't attract me. I guess I don't have much future in the resawing industry

I also read kingwood can be quite irritant. The warning made cocobolo look like kid's stuff, but I didn't find any actual horror story yet. Seems to be often used for FB and bridges, there are some mentions here in older threads too.

Any thoughts on this?

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Build log

Looks like Honduran to my ageing eyes.

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

That looks like the Honduran that I have, it has pores and a nice pleasant smell when machining, almost a cinnamon smell.

Looks like Malagasy Rosewood to me. Not really a rosewood though, part of the tulipwood family.

Just my guess?
MK

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I'm outside looking in, just farther from the window than most.

If it's glassy, heavy, and rings like a marimba bar, I would guess Honduras RW.

I've got an idea, send it all to me for scientific testing in my shop.... er... um.... lab and I'll let you know the results in a few years.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Hard to tell really ... I have seen kingwood and honduran rw that look just like the pix ...

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I believe it must be kingwood since the seller offers pao violetto (and some other Brazilian species too), but no Honduras RW....

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Build log

Regarding kingwood's toxicity, here is that quote from http://bodd.cf.ac.uk/BotDermFolder/LEGU-4.html

Dalbergia cearensis Ducke
Kingwood, Bois de Violette, Violet Wood, Violetta

According to Woods and Calnan (1976) citing Record and Hess (1943), Dalbergia cearensis is probably the "kingswood" that Freise (1932) called Machaerium violaceum Ducke. He described it as a very severe skin irritant, often leading to persistent ulceration.

Reading "Machaerium" in there I have the feeling this is a confusion and that irritant kingwood must have been the notoriously toxic pao ferro (Machaerium scleroxylum)

After some googling I really didn't find any actual dermatitis story with it so I guess it is not more harmful than the rest of the rosewoods, save coco.

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Build log

Looks like Lithuanian Rosewood to my eyes.

Looks like Honduras Rosewood or Granadillo to me.

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

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I wish they would just give this stuff original names. We all know stuff like this is not true woods they mimic so why not just give it its own name and leave it at that. A lot of this stuff is confusing. Why can't we be like what the french when it comes to ceratain food items. If its cheese and it doesn't come from the brie region then its plan old cheese. If its not from champagne then its good ol' sparkling wine.

It is rather obvious that what you have there is a chunk of wood. No bout adout it.

blessings
the
Padma

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Alex, it's most definitely Kingwood, I have built a couple of guitar from it, Madinter sells sets. I have not had any reaction to it. I ended up in hospital after sanding a Pau Ferro fingerboard!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.