Happy Holidays!

We hope all of you have a fun wood-filled holiday break.

Just a reminder:

We will be closed until January 2nd.

We will reopen the shop on Sat. January 2nd 9:30-1:00 and will be open regular hours starting the following Monday-January 4th.

Please feel free to send us an email @ tropicalexotichardwoods@yahoo.com and we will try to get back to during the break. If not, see you all January 2nd!

We have some neat new woods that just came in and will be sending out a "New Stuff" reminder the first week of January.

Not signed up for our Newsletter/New Stuff Updates?

Click here to sign yourself up and receive updates of New Arrivals and Specials.

Before and After-Black Walnut Slab

We know it sometimes hard to tell what the finished color and figure will look like on some of our unsurfaced slabs.

Yet you can't really go wrong with Walnut, no matter how water stained or oxidized it may be.

We know that once sanded properly there is always some great color and grain on almost any walnut slab.

before

We recommended this small walnut slab to a customer who was looking for simple, dark, and inexpensive slab for a coffee table.

We knew the slab would turn out great once finished, and even talked the customer out of purchasing a more expensive slab since we knew this was exactly what he was looking for.

after

Here is some finished shot of the table constructed next door at Tassajara Designs


Luckily there was enough length on the slab to construct the legs as well. The customer was contemplating purchasing a second walnut slab for the base, but after a few recalculations decided on constructing everything out of the same slab.

We think it turned out great!

Please feel free to give us a call and we can tell you a little more about some the other walnut slabs we have in stock.

760 -434-3030


You can also CLICK HERE to browse our "slabs" page on our website for an up-t- date listing of all the exciting new slabs we have here at the shop.

Primavera Nested Bowl Set by Edward Ducharme

Edward Ducharme and his gorgeous set of
Nested Turned Primavera Bowls :

When we saw these bowls we were just blown away.

They were all turned out of a full log of figured primavera that we brought in about a year ago.



We knew these logs were nice, but we didn't think they would be this nice!

Top to bottom, each bowl is filled with tight figure with colors ranging from deep amber gold to hints of red, orange and even some black spalted streaks

Just great looking stuff!

We have always thought of primavera as a great turning wood and is a great option for both novice and experience turners

We think these bowls speak for themselves in terms of the beauty of the wood-

-easy to turn
-very stable
-glues and stains easily (if thats what your after)
-one of the most non-toxic exotics around
-and its color only gets deeper and richer as it ages.

The list goes on and on-Just a great all around wood for any application ranging from wood turning to cabinets to musical instruments to even solid natural edged table tops!

Here is a shot of the logs when they first came in:


Want to try working with some primavera?

If you want to wood turn-
We still have a few of these full logs still available with the same figure as the nesting bowls above as well as standard size bowl blanks and 1.5" and 2" turning squares in assorted lengths.

Also may want to try-

-Primavera acoustic guitar sets
-Large natural edged Slabs for table tops, desks, etc
-4/4 and 8/4 dimensional lumber for cabinet work, boxes or related applications

Just give us a call at 760-434-3030 and we gladly help you find some pieces to try out.

Tatajuba Bowl

Sent by customer Tom Breneman. Tatajuba is a great turning wood that has an almost blond-"wenge" like grain with these unique dark "blotches" throughout the wood.

Batch#1-Redwood Slabs

 Redwood Slabs

ALL AVAILABLE SLABS ARE NOW LISTED ON OUR ONLINE STORE

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT WE HAVE IN STOCK

Click here for an up-to-date listing of all slabs that are currently in stock

Below are example photos of what our Redwood slabs look like: 

Curly Redwood slabs

Curly Redwood from Old Central California logs cut down nearly 100 years ago.
This stuff is drier than dry and has some pretty nice figure.

These slabs have been sitting outside on a plot of land for years, and you can still see all that curly figure through the water marks, dirt etc

Can you imagine what they will look like once you sand them?


The following closeup shots are of wetted section to show figure, but will get stronger once sanded.

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see below for examples of some of the other slabs we received in this past shipment.
Although these particular slabs have sold,WE CAN GET MORE!

Just contact us for more info and we can put your name down on a waiting list to get priority when the new load comes in.
760 434 3030
tropicalexotichardwoods@yahoo.com

Obviously the new stock will not look exactly like the pieces pictured below, but they should be pretty close

Curly Redwood and Figured Walnut Slab

These guys just came in today.

Gorgeous bone-dry Curly Redwood up to 10 foot long!

& a very figure semi-round Walnut Slab

Stay tuned for our New Stuff email next week for more details or come on by and check it out yourself

Parota Carving

We promise we are not pulling your leg...This is in fact Parota.

We know the color looks like koa, the figure resembles it as well, but its Parota.

Been looking for large pieces of koa but can't seem to find them?

Might want to try some parota, its pretty stuff.

And did we mention its about a quarter of the price of koa!

Give us a call if you want more information

760-434-3030

Before and After-Primavera Slab

What a Difference a day makes!

One day this Primavera slab is leaning up against a wall in the rough with water/dirt marks hiding the true beauty in the figure.

After about an hour through the wide belt sander, its becomes easy to see why primavera is one of our best looking slabs!


Here is the slab in the rough.

Its very hard to see the figure unless you have worked with it in the past or have seen a finished piece.




Here is the same slab after the wide belt sander.

Look at that figure and color!

Can you imagine what it will look like with a proper finish?

The best part about Primavera is that it ages beautifully.

The patina just gets richer with age and tends to match up nicely with almost any other wood since it is has a very neutral color.

A favorite combination of ours is Primavera with Teak or Primavera with some type of walnut or walnut like wood.

Other reasons why Primavera is a great wood option is it works with almost any finish, glues easily, is a great carving wood and even has a very pleasant aroma.

Just a very nice material that is under the radar in the wood world.

Give us a call if you want to learn more.
760-434-3030

4/4 and 8/4 Swiss Pear Slabs

Swiss Pear Slabs
***Update***

All Swiss Pear now Priced at $9.00/BF
50% off regular Price

Very traditional wood from Europe that is used in everything from fine furniture to musical instruments to decorative inlay work.

Excellent wood to work with as it carves well, glues easily, can be stained with ease and polishes nicely to a high finish.

Is usually found in only small dimensions, so we were very happy to get a hold of these slabs!

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Assortment of Swiss Pear Slabs available in both 4/4 and 8/4
in random widths and lengths up to 150"!

Please feel free to give with the size your after,

and we can give you a quote for the wood and shipping

***We can also arrange to have them sanded and/or finished***
760-434-3030

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***Please note***
Most of the Swiss Pear Slabs are in the rough and unsurfaced and may or may not have some water marks.

Because of this it may be hard to see the figure.

Here are some closeup shots of a small swiss pear slab we sanded and sprayed with denatured alcohol to show the figure/color:







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Here are some examples of the Swiss Pear slabs in stock

Again they are available in both
4/4 and 8/4 in random widths and lengths up to 150"

On Sale $9.00/BF-50% off regular price

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Armless Cocobolo Rocker By Walt Wogee

Walt Wogee just sent us some pictures of this special armless cocobolo and ebony rocker he made for a client.

He mentioned that the client wanted it without arms so he could play his guitar while sitting in the rocker.

We asked Walt to let us know a little more about this chair and how he constructed it, how the cocobolo worked for him, etc.

This is what he said in his email:

"Cutting, milling, grinding, and sanding the cocobolo did not present any significant problems. I developed a mild allergy to the dust/oil in the wood which gave me a rash on my neck, and arms. A visit to Kaiser provided some ointment to help with the rash and taking a break from the chair caused it to go away.

I ended up wearing a long sleeve shirt, overalls buttoned up to my neck, form fitting gloves, and a full face mask with air circulation when I did any shaping with my grinder or sanding. I also always had my random orbit sanders hooked up to my Festool vacuum.

I used epoxy for all of the joints with a combination of biscuits or dowels. The leg to set joints are reinforced by screws like Sam Maloof. I glued up up the laminated back slats and runners with TiteBound 3. I used acetone or alcohol to wipe down all of the surfaces to be glued before applying the glue. I sanded progressively to 600 before I finished it with 2 coats of Watco Wipe on Poly followed by MiniWax Paste Wax. For my other chairs and other projects from different woods and I like to use 3 or 4 coats of Deft Poly-Oil and then apply the wax."

Walt is a retired high school science teacher and and long time wood worker.

To contact Walt Wogee for more on his Rockers, his number is 909-336-1065

Batch#1-Other Slabs at the Shop

Other Slabs
Here at the Shop

ALL AVAILABLE SLABS ARE NOW LISTED ON OUR ONLINE STORE
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT WE HAVE IN STOCK

Close up shots of Sanded-Black Heart Sassafras

(this is a good indication of what BHS will look like with a finish:
Deep walnut-like browns and contrastong dark streaks)






Here are some BEFORE/AFTER shots of couple of slabs of Black Heart Sassafras that have been through a wide belt sander*.

*please keep in mind this with only a 60 grit belt, so you can imagine how that figure is going to only get stronger once you get up to 220, 320, etc.


No finish yet but the amazing figure that has made BHS one of our best sellers is pretty easy to see.

(slab in the rough)



(slab after the wide-belt sander
Color will get darker with a finish)

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(slab in the rough)


(slab after the wide-belt sander
Color will get darker with a finish)

Feel free to call us if you have any questions
760-434-3030

New Balsa!

The New Load of Balsa has finally arrived. Its been in short supply for quite sometime now, so its nice to get a big load of surfboard quality stock in large sizes.

All piece are 9'6" - 10" long

and widths range from 3-5.75"

Feel free to drop by our shop to dig through the stack.
Give us a call if you want anymore information.

Game Board by Al Kalian

Al Kalian from Roseville California just sent us these pictures of his game board/table he made using some of our woods.

He used some Ziricote and Olive, and Macassar Ebony for the base.

Bocote & Cocobolo Slabs Batch #1

Bocote & Cocobolo

Natural & Straight Edged Slabs

ALL AVAILABLE SLABS ARE NOW LISTED ON OUR ONLINE STORE

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT WE HAVE IN STOCK

Click here for an up-to-date listing of all slabs that are currently in stock

Below are example photos of what our Bocote & Cocobolo slabs look like: