Geographic Distribution:
The wood commonly known by wood workers as Hububalli is known as Loxopterygium sagotii to botanists and other scientists.
L. sagotii is native to northern South America (Venezuela, French Guiana, Surinam, Guyana).
For the sake of simplicity and common understanding I will refer to L. sagotii from here forward using the common name Hububalli.
General Characteristics:
The heartwood of Hububalli is generally of a light reddish brown, commonly featuring darker streaks.
Hububalli Interior
Hububalli grain is generally straight, but may also be interlocked or wavy.
Hububalli presents a uniform texture with a reported good natural luster.
While Hububalli rates moderately durable to durable in its resistance to rot, it displays only moderate to poor resistance to insect attacks.
Working Characteristics:
Hububalli is reported to be an overall easy to work wood with power powered and hand tools.
Hububalli is reported to glue, turn, and finish well. Hububalli is even reported to a natural polish we well, a characteristic usually only seen in much oiler woods.
Hububalli is not reported to have any distinctive scent when being worked.
Pricing and Availability:
Huluballi is not frequently imported or available. When available, Hububalli is generally only available as smaller turning blanks. Expect prices for Hububalli to be low to moderate for an imported hardwood.
In this blog, I almost always recommend several vendors with whom I have done considerable business and in whom I have great confidence. These vendors are: West Penn Hardwoods, Bell Forest Products, NC Wood, WoodTurningz, Amazon Exotic Hardwoods, Griffin Exotic Wood, Exotic Woods USA, Got Wood?, and Wood Turning Blanks 4U.
At this time, the only vendor I am familiar with that is selling Hububalli is Amazon Exotic Hardwoods, which is the same vendor who sold me my piece of Hububalli. Prices are quite reasonable with the largest piece available being the 6x6x3, the same blank I had, for $17.50.
Woodfinder is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers. In your search for Huluballi 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:
When available, or in its native areas, Hububalli is commonly used to make furniture, cabinetry, flooring, veneer, and turned objects.
Sustainability:
Hububalli is NOT listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices nor is it listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List.
To the best of my knowledge, the United States government does not place any restrictions on Hububalli.
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.