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I have an opportunity to buy a bunch of ribbon figure pernambuco lumber from a bow maker friend of mine. I know it's a level 2 on the cites list and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to ship any outside the US. Any other thoughts on the matter?

Thanks, M

Generally CITES has some leeway for bows, I don't own a pernambuco bow myself but my teacher and many of my friends do and they've had little trouble with the right documents. Any idea if you're going to sell any of it? I am in the market for one pernambuco bow blank

According to my friend Paul the stock I would be buying is not suitable for making bows. He's got hundreds of bow blanks. Perhaps you could make a deal with him. I'll pm you his info if you'd like.

Yeah, buy all you can get your hands on. It's a pretty wood and makes great guitar bridges. It doesn't look very traditional but it's a great tonewood.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Sure, PM me

Hi michael I have some pernam that I bought from paul siefried in L.A. in 1990. he moved to PT in 94 I think . How wide is the stock ??? and what is he asking ?? PM me I/m interested , or is it another bow maker ?there are a few others in your area regards ernie

Nope... Same Paul. His shop is about two blocks from my house.

Michael,
If the lumber is large enough for guitar back and side sets and you decide you want to sell some to help offset your costs, I'd be interested. I could just drive over and pick it up, so no shipping required!

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George :-)

I bought a piece that I can get some FB's and bridge blanks from. The colour is a little blandish, though.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

After looking at the stock, most of it is slab sawn, though plenty wide enough. I've proposed an offer to Paul to get enough stock to build 5-6 instruments. We will see what happens. You are always welcome to stop by the shop for a visit anyway.

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By slab sawn do you mean flat sawn? Because slab sawn can be or contain vertical grain, diagonal grain, or flat grain.
A slab of Pernambuco could be a great thing indeed.

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

I/m guessing michael means it/s not quarter sawn vertical grain 90 deg stock

I'm planning to inspect the stock more thoroughly Monday or Tuesday. There are probably 10, 4/4 x 16" x 48" slabs that appear to be predominately flat sawn. I'll take a scraper along next time to help confirm. FWI, he's asking $25 a pound for the stock.

$25 a pound = approx $125 bd ft ?

Pretty close...

I "figured" that.

I was being rhetorical.

L.

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Here's some food for thought - YMMV!

It's a very rare and these days regulated wood..... It's key in function (and tradition) to the violin bow maker crowd.

I know some very decent Luthiers who like it for guitars, nothing wrong with that, everyone should do what they wish, that's my plan....

But.... and again YMMV if it were me.... I would be inclined to save this beautiful material for the violin crowd and use any one of a number of great choices that we guitar makers have available to us. Might just save you so coin too.

Again your milage may vary. Off to do the morning drive so I can go hug a tree and then fix a Benedetto in the shop.

I agree, but Michael said that these boards are violin bow rejects, and guitar backs are the next best use Though it could possibly be used by bowmakers in training, who don't yet need mastergrade wood.

The tap tone is up there with Brazilian. I rather like the orange color, but it does lack visual character. Try giving it a simple wipe-on shellac finish. I see mirror gloss as a window into the wood, ideal for highly figured woods where it's fascinating to watch how the light reflects as you move it. But if there's nothing in there to look at, then a bit of surface texture is more aesthetically pleasing. Sort of an old-timey vibe.

Bowmakers use lower grade pernam to practice on , as bending tends to break sticks. Ask me how I know? gets expensive making mistakes.There are other brazilian woods that could be substituted for pernam while training to be a bowmaker

Paul has better than a thousand master bow blanks on hand. He figures he's never gonna be able to get through it all, but isn't ready to part with any of them yet. He started out with 300 tons of the stuff. This is what's left...

I'll report back once I've had time to evaluate the stock more thoroughly.

Michael let me know if the POC is quartersawn an suitable enough for ukes/small gtrs. I will buy the whole lot tnx

It that a type-o or did he really have 600,000 lbs.!?! That would be millions of dollars of stock. I should have gotten into bowmaking.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Bryan,

Nope, Not a type-o...

Bow makers are only interested in the densest and stiffest stuff. Some of the bow makers I know trained on Osage Orange wood. It's very like pernambuco, but where it grows in the US they tend to use it for fence posts, which are said to out last the holes...

I rather like the wood a lot. Speaking with others they say it is very vibrant.
Not going to touch mine until i know how to make guitars.
Thought i would include a couple pics of the sets i have. Pictures are a little blah, in person they look like they are on fire!

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!