Is This Rosewood?

[zendo]

A neighbour of mine gave me two logs of wood he had out in the open in his backyard for 15 years. He said it was Rosewood he collected from the North Central Queensland (coastal) area where it was used for fence posts because no termites could eat through it. It also didn't rot at all in those 15 years. My research so far has suggested Rosewood mahogany (Dysoxylum fraserianum) because from his description of where the wood was it seemed to be native. It is very dense and extremely heavy and there is enough for very many guitar fingerboards if it is suitable. Photo enclosed of a small cut piece. Any suggestions welcomed.

[woodrat]

Hi Robert, There are a couple of conflicting and confusing things here. I thought that Rose Mahogany was mainly constrained to NSW (but I could be wrong!) It is a very small tree in the picture with sap showing on both edges which is surprising because Rosewood Mahogany, Rose Mahogany,NSW rosewood as its variously called was mostly cut from very big trees. Down here (mid north coast NSW) it was used as fenceposts. My first three guitars had necks made of it that I sawed out of a piece that had laid on the ground for anout 80 yeard since the early days of the settlement of the Comboyne Plateau . Apart from greying outside it was perfect inside although there was some internal fracturing which happens with this wood...I just worked around the cracks. Does it have a sweet spicy fragrant smell? Dysoxolym Fraseranum has a distinct smell. You also mentioned that it was hard. Rose Mahogany would not be called hard like Gidgee or other desert hardwoods but it can be reasonably hard if it grew in a dry area. Mostly though if it came from a rainforest it was not that hard. There are a few points based on my experience with Dysoxolym Fraseranum or Rosewood as it does get called. They were mighty trees here back a hundred years ago although it didn't get the status as a cabinet timber that Red Cedar got it certainly got used for trim in houses etc. The post office and the motor registry in Wauchope both have Rosewood paneled ceilings and its characteristic smell is there still today when you walk in, especially the Post Office. Its a bit hard to tell from the pic but let us know what the planed smell is like.

John

[Dominic]

Nice colour. Looks like the same colour as the Asian rosewood that Gilet sometimes sells. Can't recall the name at the moment but I love it. Like John said, I'd be cutting it and have a smell. Is that sap wood on each side? So these are pretty small trees?
Hope it works out for you.
Cheers
Dom

[stopper]

I agree. The smell is very distictive. The set below is from one of those older big trees that woodrat mentioned. The colour can vary a lot. Smaller trees can be paler in colour. The block you have pictured does look a lot like NSW rosewood.
cheers
Steve

[J.F. Custom]

Hmmm.

To my thinking, you may have "Desert Rosewood" - Alectryon Oleifolius I believe. The combination of the small piece you have and your comments on "extremely dense and heavy" make me lean this way.

As others have mentioned, Rose Mahogany/NSW Scented Rosewood/Coastal Rosewood (all common names referring to Dysoxylum Fraseranum) were very large trees - not to suggest you couldn't have a branch mind you, but Desert Rosewood is generally quite small and gnarly with a creamy or yellowish sap.

But mostly I would definitely not describe the "Scented Rosewood" as extremely dense or heavy - more on the moderate heavy side. At a guess, perhaps average of 800kg/m3 compared to the Desert Rosewood which is more like 1300kg/m3.

Although you say this timber came from a coastal property, it may not have originated there. Many of the outback timbers were used for fencing due to their durability and got around in that form. The picture certainly looks like the desert variety.

That'd be my guess but difficult to say with certainty from one small picture and the general ambiguity of common names. If it is and you can get a piece blemish free and long enough - may be good fretboard material!

Hope it helps.

Jeremy.