Bubinga

The biggest block of Bubinga currently offered by West Penn Hardwoods is an 8” x 8” x 2” for $33.12.  They also have spindles and dimensional lumber available.  If you were wondering what kind of prices a highly figured board of Bubinga commands, consider the 5/4 slab of waterfall Bubinga offered for $3,815.

Bell Forest Products is offering a wide range of spindle and dowel sizes of Bubinga, but the largest turning blank they offer is 6” x 6” x 2” for $18.00

The only offering from WoodTurningz is a 6” x 6” x 2” for $11.95.

Amazon Exotic Hardwoods offers a range of spindle sizes and several bowl blank sizes with the largest being 8” x 8” x 4” for $67.50.

Exotic Woods USA is offering a good range of sizes ranging from various spindles to the largest bowl blank of the bunch, a 12” x 12” x 3” for $135.80.

Got Wood? is only selling spindles of 3” x 3” x 12” for $22.50 and they have one left. I bought out the round bowl blanks some months ago.  Sorry about that.

Vendors not listed do not have any Bubinga offerings.

Woodfinder is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers.  In your search for Bubinga, this can be an invaluable resource provided you use multiple search terms to capture all the possible listings.  I can’t speak to the quality of any of the listed dealers, but Woodfinder does have the advantage of allowing searches to be performed based on location which might allow an interested buyer to visit a listed wood dealer in person to hand pick pieces at a comfortable price.

A significant problem with using Woodfinder is that many vendors are listed for woods that, upon further investigation, they do not offer.  I don’t know if perhaps once they did and they didn’t update their listings or if some vendors use a standardized list of woods that include most everything conceivable with the idea that once you land on their page you will find something you want to buy even if you didn’t know it beforehand.  It happens to me all the time!

Common Uses:

Bubinga is commonly used in applications such as veneers, inlays, fine furniture, cabinetry, turnings, and other specialty items.  Bubinga may also be used as a substitute for more expensive true rosewoods of the Dalbergia genus, all of which are now also restricted from export.

Waterfall Bubinga Slab

Since Bubinga trees can grow so large, natural-edge slabs of the wood have also been used in tabletops and other specialized projects.

Sustainability:

The three Guibourtia species yielding Bubinga ARE now listed as being endangered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II but it does not appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

To the best of my knowledge, Bubinga is not subject to any additional special restrictions by any United States government agency but the CITES ruling will be enforced by United States authorities.

The Appendix II listing means that Bubinga can no longer be moved across international borders, and since Bubinga comes exclusively from areas outside of the United States, it is now illegal to import it and that includes finished items made from Bubinga.  If you see Bubinga wood or items made from it offered from sale and export to the United States, proceed no further.

I realize that inherent in working with wood is the killing of a part of the natural world that may be slow to return and if I become deeply concerned about this fact, I will have to find a new hobby.  I hope that such a time does not come to pass or at least not any time soon.  In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors.  I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay, because of uncertain sourcing and documentation, as well as the potential, even likelihood, of material being misidentified in order to achieve a higher selling price.