Wood of The Month: Cocobolo

Cocobolo is a stunning and unique hardwood that has become a prized material among woodworkers. Chances are you’ve seen this wood in many artisan products such as jewelry, executive pens, bowls, furniture and instruments! Cocobolo is a dense oily wood which polishes to a high gloss without any finish, a feature not many woods have. These oils present a challenge if you’re looking to glue Cocobolo, but using acetone to wipe down the joints will draw out the oils allowing you to use a two part epoxy to adhere pieces together. Cocobolo isn’t used in wind and string instruments solely because of its beauty. The wood itself has wonderful tonal qualities that help create a crisp sound.

Cocobolo grows along the Gulf of Mexico, near the Sierra Madres and in Central America.  Cocobolo has a variegated grain pattern with colors that range from red and orange to sometimes purple with black grain lines. Mexican Cocobolo is the most sought after because of its consistent grain, while its Central American counterpart can be a flat orange or orange brown.

Mexican cocobolo is the highest quality cocobolo available and is what we offer at AdvantageLumber.com. It is kiln dried and is less prone to checking. Much of the Cocobolo harvested in Mexico is done so by “hand logging.” This is logging without any heavy machinery. Each Cocobolo tree can be as much as 3 miles apart which makes the use of heavy machinery futile because it would mean creating roads to each individual tree. This process of “hand logging” is what makes Cocobolo a sustainable wood of low impact to the environment.

At AdvantageLumber.com we offer a variety of sizes and widths of Cocobolo. Give us a call today to see what is available for your next woodworking project!