Carvings by Richard Howell

As a self taught woodcarver/sculptor, Richard Howell learned his trade by assisting many indigenous woodcarvers throughout the islands of the Indo-Pacific over the years while he followed a career in fisheries development.

(Richard Howell with a gorgeous custom carving)

Specializing in 3D and Bas relief carvings that reflect the the legends, myths and technologies of the Indo-Pacific Cultures, Rich relies heavily on the use of traditional woodcarving techniques that produce more aesthetically and satisfing results.


(Carving out of a solid slab of Parota)

Rich carves a variety of indigenous Hawaiian woods in his carvings such as Koa, Milo and Ohai as well as numerous exotic species such as Ebony, Parota, Cocobolo, Mahogany and Primavera.

(Here is a before shot of a solid slab of Koa we sold Rich a few years ago)

(Here is the same Koa Slab with one of Rich's intricate carvings!)




(Cocobolo Sea Turtle)


Richard's works can be found in numerous private collections throughout Hawaii, the continental USA and Canada.

(Custom carving done for a customer here in San Diego out a beautiful figured Slab of Parota)

(Another amazing carving out of Parota)

(Scaled down replica of an old Duke Kahanamoku surfboard out of Parota)



Interested in having a custom carving done by Richard Howell?

Please visit his website at www.oceania-art.com or contact him directly at rmhowell92040@yahoo.com


To see some of our Parota Slabs Click here to see our
"Slabs Page" on our Website
(Scroll down about half way down the page to see the Parota)

Purpleheart Surfboard Fin by John Cherry

I just had to snag these pictures off of the John Cherry Woodcraft Blog, sorry John :)

Looks like some of our Ribbon Figured Purpleheart on this gorgeous wood surfboard fin.

John Cherry is an amazing craftsman who stops by the shop from time to time to pick up some neat exotics for his projects.

Some of the things he can do with wood are truly amazing. Just a great craftsman.


We still have one Large Ribbon Figured Purpleheart Slab still available at the shop.

Click here to see if it is still available. If you scroll down and don't see it, it's probably been sold.

To see more of his latest projects check out his blog at http://woodenshipsbyjcherry.blogspot.com/

Bubinga Slabs-Batch #1

Bubinga

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 Bubinga slabs look like:

Table by Phil Audia

Table by Phil Audia

Table by Phil Audia

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.