Official Luthiers Forum!

I've found a couple of boards of African olivewood, but I can't find much info about using it as a 'tonewood'.

I believe it's olea hochstetterei aka olea capensis.
Pretty dense stuff (about SG 0.9).
These boards are old and well-dried (sawn 20+ years ago in Tanzania).

Since they are quite wide there's possibility for both rift (almost vertical grain) as well as flat-grain sets. (and miles of binding??? )

I'd appreciate any info/experience you have.

Thanks
John

John, I can't help you on the tone side of the Olive wood but from a finishing perspective, it is beautiful stuff. I have finished two or three and just completed buffing one about an hour ago.

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jw ( o)===:::

Oregon Wild Wood (link is up in the sponsors) has some sets, so the guys there would probably know something about it.

Thanks, Joe-
It seems like nice close-grained stuff, with virtually no pores to fill (always a plus in my book).
It might give a lighter-colored alternative to rosewoods, and it's in the same density range.
It's quite good-looking as well.

Thanks, Dennis.
I don't like to bother vendors when I don't intend to buy the item in question!
They give a much higher density than my board, so perhaps there's a lot of variation from board-to-board (common) or we're dealing with different varieties. I only know the country of origin and common name for my boards.

Cheers
John